Charles Willeford's Turnaround

I love the story of how Charles Willeford wrote his first novel, High Priest of California, recounted by Lou Stathis in his introduction to the 1987 Re/Search edition. Seems that a roommate was tired of hearing Willeford always talk about writing a novel rather than actually writing the novel. "Aw, you ain't never gonna do it," said the friend, "so just shut up." Willeford realized: "I had no choice after that. I had to start writing."

At the time, Willeford was stationed at the Hamilton Air Force Base about 30 miles north of San Francisco. So on weekends, Willeford would travel down to the city in his power blue Buick convertible and take a room at the Powell Hotel, right at the base of the famous cable car turnaround on Powell Street. He'd divide his time between writing and fun. "Being thirty years old, "Willeford said, "with a blue convertible, a blue uniform, and blue eyes, I was just having the time of my life." More important, Willeford finished the novel. It was only 35,000, but that's exactly the right length for a book like High Priest. (Incidentally, James M. Cain's immortal The Postman Always Rings Twice was also 35,000 words.)

I visited San Francisco last summer, and spent a bit of time down at the cable car turnaround, having no idea that Willeford had written his first novel just a few steps away. For some reason I'm fascinated by the places writers write, as well as where they hung out and where specific novels were created. I know logically that it's the person and not the place... but I can't shake the feeling that some of that writerly vibe tends to linger there.

(Hey, I could have worse hobbies.)

Anyway, I've been keeping this quiet little Tumblr thing called (appropriately enough) Secret Dead Tumblr, where I simply post photos along these lines. I've focused on my favorites: David Goodis, Charles Bukowski, Raymond Chandler, Fredric Brown, Cain, Willeford, etc. Need to add a Hammett post, come to think of it.

But if you have any tips on where a notable writer worked/lived/played, I'm all ears.