The End of the Age of Photography (Pt. II)
The Digi and The End of the World as We Have Known and Loved it. These Digis are very attractive little buggers. The cameras have made “photography” as ubiquitous as mosquitoes, they are everywhere. It’s hard to believe they are part of the collapse of our civilization. I was just riding the PATH from Jersey … Read more
The End of the Age of Photography (Pt. I)
The End of the Age of Photography (Part One) Many years ago I was being driven along central park west in a NYC Taxi and talking with Robert Frank whom I sat beside. When I spoke of using words with photography, texts, as part of what were then called “photography books”, Robert said, “well, then … Read more
Danny Lyon – Like A Thief’s Dream, signed copies for sale
“I do not know of a book that cuts into and reveals the prison system and the subtle strange fates and characters of the guys. Not Mailer or Capote. Like your pictures you have a way of just letting the reality do the talking eloquently. “ Peter di Lissovoy “Like a Thief’s Dream” The amazing … Read more
“The Innocent Man”
This letter was written to Dinker (Harold Davey Cassell#73885) by Helen Vanlandingham. The story of McLaughlin and Jimmy Renton’s murder of an Arkansas policeman is told in “Like a Thief’s Dream”.Copies are available direclty from bleakbeauty.com. Dinker has just filed his last appeal. Helen is Don McLaughlin’s sister. Dinker has been in prison for thirty … Read more
Proud Daddy
My daughter, Gabrielle Lyon is Executive Director of Project Exploration which is located in Chicago. She created the organization along with her husband Dr. Paul Sereno in order to radically change how science is taught to young people. Much of Project X’s work involves working with inner city children, some of whom they take to … Read more
“I will not vote one penny for that war”
Yesterday I was speaking with Congressman John Lewis of Georgia by phone, mostly personal talk. Then I said; “How do you feel about what we are doing in Afghanistan?” And my old friend answered, “I will not vote one penny for that war”. How many other members of congress are non-violent? Why doesn’t the media … Read more
From New Mexico — Cambio means Change
Cambio means change — nickels and dimes for dollars, or centavos for pesos. Change happens slowly. Change is hard to see. Young people make change, but old people recognize it first. That is because old people remember the past. The way to change Amerika is to change the Media. Today on the radio here in … Read more
The Digital Dark Age
Trying to read Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel’s new Booker Prize winning novel I noticed the text was not centered on the page. On every page, there was at least an eighth of an inch of white space on the right side of the page, above the text, than there was on the left. In other … Read more
Google and the Narrowing of Knowledge
I am reading The Wilderness Warrior, Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America by Douglas Brinkley, a real page turner if you like to spend time in the American wilderness. You almost wish Teddy was president today. He’d take care of Global Warming. Probably shoot a couple people driving Hummers, and demolish a coal burning … Read more
“America the beautiful”
The best way to learn anything about America is to talk to someone else. Having breakfast in a diner in Greenport, Long Island, I talked to the cook. After making the eggs, he was outside to wash the windows. The young Latino’s teeth were spaced and crooked, his right arm covered with some fine Aztec … Read more
Google vs The Bikeriders
The Bikeriders 1968, The Destruction of Lower Manhattan 1969, and Conversations with the Dead 1971, were all out of print within two years of their publications. They had all been remaindered by their publishers and would remain out of print for at least twenty years each. “Conversations” is still out of print. Under Google’s new … Read more
Walter Cronkite RIP
Recently there was a ceremony to honor Walter Cronkite, who has passed away. “Everyone” was there, including our President Obama. Obama? What was he doing there? Walter is held up as an example for all journalists. I must have missed something. By the nineteen seventies, as I tried to understand what was happening to our … Read more
