In 1971 I was living in a commune in Roxbury with several artists, when our friend Robert started raving about Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys who were going to play in Boston on New Years Eve. About five of us hippies showed up at this club, and found two people there. We sat in the front row and chit-chatted with Linda and her band as they set up, and thru the show. Last night, Larry tells me he played with the Stone Poneys, whose members lived in Play Del Rey in Mae Murray’s house – after it had been moved back from the sea. Keith and I went to visit my ex-brother-in-law at this Star’s home. There were oil wells in the backyard.
Trump has put together a Cabinet of Oil Execs and War Generals. Gordon Getty is a patron of the Arts, and was a friend of Christine and Garth Benton. Garth did the murals at the Getty Villa with the help of Shannon Sidle. We got to get up – and dance! Our show ain’t over till the Fat Lady sings!
Robert was good friends with the Velvet Underground, and suggested we go hear Jonathan Richman at a small club. I talked with Richman at the bar after a great show. He took my advice. Jonathan would play at the Shoe Factory where I lived with fifty artists. Mel Lyman and my kindred, Jessie Benton, lived in the famous commune up the street. Larry vaguely recalls coming to the Victorian where Keith and I lived with the Loading Zone.
My artistic ex married Thomas Pynchon, and did a life-size painting of her friend, Mimi Farina. These groupings of people are relative to the Ghost Ship tragedy that resulted in the eviction of many artists living in warehouses across America. I am going to author a paper and send it to Congressman Peter DeFazio, and Senator, Weyden. These multi-gifted groups need to be funded in a new WPA so they can create together in safe environments. Many studio heads were Jews who fled oppression in Europe. They put many people to work, and created the only American Renaissance
Jon Presco
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Poneys
Mae’s home at 13047 San Vincente Blvd., from a bird’s eye view.
Street view of the entrance to 13047 San Vincente Blvd.
In 1927, Mae built a castle on the sands in Playa Del Rey. Some said it resembled a mosque. Mae found herself in court when the city of Los Angeles said she had built the mansion too close to the water.
Mae’s castle on the sands in the distance.
Looking south.
When her finances were siphoned off and her career and marriage were in shambles, Mae’s beloved house was auctioned off. The sea threatened to retake its ground.
The sea was a constant threat to Mae’s seaside mansion.
The house was eventually moved back from the beach. It became a dorm house for Loyola University. It was later razed. I found the location (6300 Ocean Front Walk, Playa Del Rey) in 2012.
A view of the spot where Mae’s beachfront house once stood, 2012.
Hollywood knew the marriage of Prince and Princess Mdivani was in trouble when he knocked Mae to the floor at the fashionable Embassy Club at 6763 Hollywood Blvd.
The Embassy Club and Café Montmartre in the 1920s.
