I sat next to him in the forward cabin of a delta flight from La Guardia to Moisant field in the 80s
He had on his cream suit etc
We talked the whole way
Two southerners who called Manhattan temporary home....I’m not sure if he ever left till now...I did
He loved that my dad was a VMI grad and fighter pilot and me Ole Miss and mom Miss Mississippi...we talked about Richmond at length and he knew my dads best friend who was prominent there
I told him my first book of his was of course TEKAAT....He said he never figured he’d be the narrator of a generational bridge from the Beats to the Hippies....and that LSD made folks temporarily insane....I agreed quietly in my mind lol
He said Kesey was built like a bull and with same constitution and was in it for the girls....he thought
A really approachable guy......great writer
Three great books....not many writers get that ...
Man Bonfire sure foretold our future didn’t it?
My liberal Barnard teacher girlfriend was impressed with my experience ....
Wolfe was one of us...a natural conservative
And because he was so early out of the cannon, he got away with it to a degree no one writing today could do in the same city or venues.
Enjoyed your first-person account; and could almost picture it.
His work had profound influence. If universities were still teaching anything of quality, it would be required of all English majors. And sociology majors, journalism majors, art, architecture, city planning, history...
A natural conservative who was sucked into the black hole of Manhattan liberalism and never left.
Great post, thanks for telling us about that.