101 Years Ago in Philadelphia

The view up South Broad Street, New Year's Day 1909. What's amazing is not how different everything looks... but how much of this area looks the same today.

(Photo from the Bain Collection at the Library of Congress. Click on the photo for a super-nifty higher-res image.)

Legends of the Underwood #14: Philip K. Dick

"[Phil] was a fluent writer, and his work came easily to him. He said that the idea for a novel came in one intuitive flash, but he couldn't tell it 'in under sixty thousand words. The words come out of my hands, not my brain. I write with my hands. I type 160 words a minute, the rate of a really good legal secretary.' One day he told me that he had typed sixty original manuscript pages without an error."

--From Anne R. Dick's Search for Philip K. Dick, 1928-1982 (Point Reyes Cypress Press). Dick's biographer, Lawrence Sutin, notes that in 1963 and 1964, Dick wrote eleven novels, eleven stories, two essays, two extended plot treatments, as well as "hundreds of letters and God knows what all else that may have been lost or destroyed along the way."

(Fourteenth in a series. Won't make it to 15 this calendar year, but hey, 14's not bad, right?)

Photo: copyright Nicole Panter.

Welome Home, Davey Boy

I've long known that noir legend David Goodis was born in Philly's Logan neighborhood. But until Lou Boxer and Aaron Finestone sent me the above photo, I never knew it was that part of Logan. And by "that part" I mean the notorious sinking homes of Logan. Seems that 80-plus years ago, some developer decided it would be okay to build a neighborhood on top of old creekbeds filled in with ash and garbage. Nice homes, mind you. Stately brick townhouses with green lawns. But over the years, the foundations began to collapse. Walls cracked. Gas pipes leaked. By the turn of this century, over 900 homes had been razed. And today, Logan is left with a 17-block preview of what the apocalypse will look like.

I wonder what David Goodis would have thought, had you plucked him out of the 1950s and dropped him at 10th and Loudon (the intersection near his birthplace) today, at the edge of 2010. He probably might have thought the H-bombs had finally been dropped. Or that someone had dropped a bomb on Logan specifically. Then he'd probably go off and write about it. Goodis was a genius when it came to capturing these dark, little slices of the city in his novels.

Anyway... this is but one of many fun, happy, bright tour stops on this year's Tour of Goodis's Philadelphia, a new part of the annual Goodis Graveside ceremony. I'll be there, along with organizers Boxer and Finestone and other noir-heads. We're meeting up at the Oak Lane Diner, 6528 Broad Street, at 11 a.m. on Sunday, January 10. If you can't make it, no worries. I'll be taking some photos and video of the tour stops. You know. Just in case you need a little pick-me-up.

(Photo: Lou Boxer)

Another Goodis Gathering

We're less than a month away from the second annual graveside ceremony honoring Philadelphia noir legend David Goodis (above left). You can read my coverage from last year's event here; I'll definitely be headed back this year. The details are in from Aaron Finestone and Lou Boxer:

"From the nearby Delaware a cold wind came lancing in, telling all alley cats they'd better find a heated cellar"

Shoot the Piano Player (Down There)

Sunday, January 10, 2010 is the 43rd anniversary of the funeral of David Goodis, the Prince of Noir. In his memory, the Noir Coalition of Philadelphia will re-enact his funeral and tour the slums, dives and streets-of-the-lost which he frequented. His characters will retreat from oblivion, as we learn what made David Goodis the brilliant writer who he was. Details will follow.

At 11 a.m., Hardcore Goodisheads will convene at the Oak Lane Diner, Broad Street and 66th Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19126, 215-424-1026, for a bleak, chilling, depressing tour of the hardboiled underbelly of David Goodis' Philadelphia.

At 2 p.m., we will gather at Roosevelt Memorial Park, 2701 Old Lincoln Highway, Trevose, PA 19053 (215-673-7500), just over the Bucks County line from Philadelphia. The grave is located at Section B-3, Lot 324, Grave 3 near the mausoleum.

At graveside, we will read excerpts from David Goodis' coldest, most gripping work. Bring your favorite, darkest passages from Goodis' novels and short stories.

After David's funeral, friends gathered at the Toddle House to remember David's outrageous humor and recount his devoted friendship. The Toddle House---at Broad and Belfield Streets in Logan---is now a vacant lot.

We will re-live the apres-funeral with lunch at the Club House Diner, 2495 Street Road (between Knights and Mechanicsville Road, 215-639-4287) in Bensalem, a few minutes from Roosevelt cemetery. Lunch (liquid and otherwise) begins at 3 p.m. We will adjourn at nightfall.

If you would be interested in tour or the luncheon or want more information, please email Louis Boxer at lboxer1@gmail.com or Aaron Finestone at aaron@microbrewjournalism.com . Your email is not binding. We just need estimates for the bus and the restaurant.

Join us for this Day with Dave. What better way to spend a cold day in January, alley cats and all.

Legends of the Underwood #13: Arthur J. Burks

"Average daily output of [Arthur J. Burks'] Underwood is four thousand words. In emergencies Burks can do three or four times this amount. Once, for example, Sky Fighters called him at ten in the morning and ordered three stories, a total of twelve thousand words. It got them by six in the evening, and Mr. Burks made two hundred and fifty dollars for his day's work. He never rereads his writings, either in manuscript or after they are published, and doesn't care what editors do to them."

--From "Burks of the Pulps," a Talk of the Town item in the February 15, 1936 issue of the New Yorker.

(Thirteenth in a series. Will we make it to fifteen by year's end?)

Made in Philadelphia: 1918

Image from TavernTrove.com.

A Date with Laurence Campbell

Last week I mentioned that my next novel, Expiration Date, would include a dozen pieces of original black and white art. Today I'm proud to share the name of the artist: Laurence Campbell, of Punisher MAX, Moon Knight and Wolverine fame (as well as 2000AD's Judge Dredd, Synnamon and Breathing Space). Until this project, Laurence and I have never worked together; I've just admired (okay, drooled over) his work from afar. My editor Axel Alonso showed me some of Laurence's work early on and I became an instant fan. When Laurence said he'd be willing to work with me on Expiration, I was like a kid at Christmas. When finished art started rolling in, I felt like I'd hit the lottery.

Above is just a sketch of an illustration from Expiration; for the full dose of Laurence Campbell, however, you need to pick up the Punisher MAX arc he did with Gregg Hurwitz (Girls in White Dresses) or check out his online gallery at getcampbell.com.

And keep checking back, because Laurence has graciously offered one of his original pages from Expiration Date to a lucky reader. Details to follow soon...