Dust to dust?

Richard Schave, one of my friends from the 1947project, writes that the duplex at 826 S. Berendo, were John Fante wrote "Ask the Dust," is slated for demolition.

Read more about it here.

And here's a slide show on the Fante building.

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Comments

[Michael Kelly]

It is a shame that we care so little about preserving the history of our writers and artists. John Fante wrote some original stories about life in los angeles and of the dreams and hopes of a young men … he captured the spirit of the place.

It is fitting, I suppose, that Fante’s crummy little house now looks like a drug den that has been pissed upon by dope fiends…a metaphor for the fate of the serious artist and his work in America perhaps ?

Still, if you have read his book you can see him, his mother, his sister, and the dreams of a young man in the house… the house takes on a completely different feel if you know Fante because Fante’s ghost is there. Thank you for the pictures, you did a great job.

Poor Fante looks like a cadaverous specter in his later pictures … rest his soul … he dreamed bigger than most people, and found himself in a world almost totally irresponsive to his dreams.

I see I am the only one to post or notice this story -- heh...Nobody reads anymore.

[Peter McFerrin]

Who's the City Council member for this area--LaBonge? Renaming the intersection of 8th and Berendo as "John Fante Square" might be a start.

--Check out the update! Cheers, Larry