(1892-1973)
Rosamunda of Toxandria
“Trippers and Askers”
Last night I went shopping with the realization that I am a Tolkien Author. I read the Trilogy while seated in a great chair before a large window overlocking Oakland. My friend, Brian Purvis. rescued me from ‘The Idle Hands’ commune that was founded by the Zorthian family, Nancy Harmen, Keith Purvis, and myself. For several days we drove around looking at large homes. Betty Zorthian offered to pay the rent. Her ex-husband, Jirayr Zorthian, was crowned ‘The Last Bohemian’. He was the the Grand Marshal of the Dooh Dah Parade The muralist, Thomas Hart Benton, was a inspiration to Jirayr . The Zorthian Ranch was Hobbitville to many who sought an alternative lifestyle.
It had to be April of 1967, that I entered another world, I never returned from. The book The Hobbit described the people of the Oakland Hills where my family lived on San Sebastian. Every weekend there were seven children putting on quite a show. I recall the robin in the blossoming plumb tree branch that turned the large window into a Chinese painting. I had stopped talking. I know I was enlightened.
I had yet to read a poem written by my grandfather, Royal Rosamond. My mother Rosemary kept her father hidden in a cedar chest, where lie at rest a bundle of Out West magazines. The woman who born me had read my astounding poems I wrote at twelve and thirteen. When would I be worthy?
I found Walt Whitman at Pfaff’s, in New York, on Broadway – and the King and Queen of Bohemia! Did Tolkien ever consider coming to America and paying honor to the poet that never inspired him. Did he know! Did he hear in the inner voice, the Lost Post? The Locked Bard? The Punished Soul? For Crimes We Must Know? For Freedoms – We Must Find? For Kinder Mothers? For The Father of Men?
All kind members of the Zorthian Family will find a home in my tale, about a woman called…
Rosamonda of Toxanadria
I have put her on the cusp of Tolkien and Morris, a genius who inspired the second man I most admire. But, I can not leave out Rossetti. How about – Miller?
Tolkien speaks of Death due to The Atomic Age. He is suggesting his readers have come to believe the ancient language of elves can save us – all! How about I just save the Poets and the Bohemians? The rest of you can all go – to hell?
But, there again lie the Evil Eye of Modor. Here come lesser, barefoot, folks…..once more! The love of a truer humility…conquers all?
We shall see. We shall see!
JP
To be continued.
6
It is not upon you alone the dark patches fall,
The dark threw its patches down upon me also,
The best I had done seem’d to me blank and suspicious,
My great thoughts as I supposed them, were they not in reality meagre?
Nor is it you alone who know what it is to be evil,
I am he who knew what it was to be evil,
I too knitted the old knot of contrariety,
Blabb’d, blush’d, resented, lied, stole, grudg’d,
Had guile, anger, lust, hot wishes I dared not speak,
Was wayward, vain, greedy, shallow, sly, cowardly, malignant,
The wolf, the snake, the hog, not wanting in me,
The cheating look, the frivolous word, the adulterous wish, not wanting,
Refusals, hates, postponements, meanness, laziness, none of these wanting,
Was one with the rest, the days and haps of the rest,
Was call’d by my nighest name by clear loud voices of young men as they saw me approaching or passing,
Felt their arms on my neck as I stood, or the negligent leaning of their flesh against me as I sat,
Saw many I loved in the street or ferry-boat or public assembly, yet never told them a word,
Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing, gnawing, sleeping,
Jirayr Zorthian, the Last Bohemian
“I have never, ever, I think, been in any cause to try to prove a point about how one should live…”
Who he was
Jirayr Zorthian was a bohemian artist and a significant figure in the history of the Los Angeles art scene. He was best known for Zorthian Ranch, his residence, and the annual party he would throw there.
Even Tolkien had inspiration for his works, and he freely admitted he was a great devotee of the work of William Morris, an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and English Arts and Crafts Movement. He loved Morris’s prose and poetry romances. Tolkien’s own work follows the general style and approach of Morris’s work. The Desolation of Smaug as portraying dragons as detrimental to landscape, has been noted as an explicit motif borrowed from Morris, just as countless fantasy authors borrow the modern concept of Orcs, Elves, and many other high fantasy motifs from Tolkien.
The King and Queen of Bohemia
Posted on December 30, 2024 by Royal Rosamond Press
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Alan the family: Alan Zorthian named Doo-Dah Parade Grand Marshal
from the Lightbringer Project
Alan Zorthian, architect, art lover and proprietor of Zorthian Ranch, will serve as Grand Marshal of the 36th Occasiona Pasadena Doo Dah Parade.
Zorthian, son of well-loved bohemian couple Jirayr and Dabney Zorthian, has been responsible for renewing the life of the unique multi-acre property in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in Altadena.
Alan grew up surrounded by artists and musicians and is no stranger to Doo Dah culture. Other Grand Marshals in the family include cousin, Savitri D., wife and collaborator with “Reverend Billy” and the Church of Stop Shopping who served in 2007, and of course Alan’s parents, Jirayr and Dabney, who each served in previous years.
Upon their passing, many have conjectured about the fate of Zorthian Ranch. Alan took leadership by building and reinforcing structures on the property, while providing an archive for the art and life of his well-known parents.
Alan also hosts an annual International Folk Music Festival, and has invited the Institute for Urban Ecology to create an urban farm on 22-acres of ranch property. Now the Zorthian Ranch not only remains the site of eclectic cultural gatherings, it will become a hub for ecological workshops and organic ‘growing.’
Upon being notified of his selection, Alan who sounded like he was in his car, paused then uttered, “I’m flabbergasted!” adding “I am not my parents but I gladly accept the honor!”
Parade organizer Tom Coston says Zorthian has all the qualities a Doo Grand Marshal should possess.”Alan has always been a big supporter and friend, he carries the Zorthian torch proudly and has Doo Dah in his DNA.” he explains.
The new Grand Marshal will lead hundreds of Doo Dah marchers and revelers on Saturday, April 27, stepping off at 11 AM in East Pasadena.
>Last year, dozens of inventive, if zany, art cars and floats accompanied a legion of frolickers past the mom-n-pop shops along East Pasadena’s shady tree-lined streets, including many first-time entries like the Moveable Feast, a dining room table on wheels, Machina Candeo, Conehead Rocket Sled, Hippie Cream, Easy Acres Chicken Sitters, Wisdom Arts Laboratory, combined bands of the 35thDragoon Guards, Mile High Bed, Cheesus Chrust Pizza Company, 2012-13 Queen Patrizzi Intergarlactica, Balkan Brass Band, and the Ladies Auxiliary for Cultural Enrichment, et.al.
Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a monumental achievement in the history of cinema, as he applied a variety of directorial techniques he honed on small-budgeted movies and applied them to the beloved fantasy series from author J.R.R. Tolkien. While Jackson understandably utilized a variety of his skills to bring the project to life, Jackson himself has confirmed that the entire impetus for pitching an adaptation of the series was based on how his production team on 1996’s The Frighteners had to purchase dozens of computers to develop the movie’s visual effects, sparking inspiration in Jackson about how he could make use of the equipment. There were other factors along the way that helped motivate Jackson, but that initial spark is all due to The Frighteners.
Why do you think Tolkien is not held in regard as high as other “genius” writers like Hemingway, Shakespeare, Melville, Whitman, Dante etc.?
In a way, i think Tolkien did something really unique. He managed to create an entire world of his own. He has influenced the fantasy genre (especially medieval fantasy) in a very profound and thorough way. He isn’t shabby as a writer, either. He possesses a good understanding of the English language, since he was a philology professor.
Royal Rose Of The World 2
Posted on December 19, 2021 by Royal Rosamond Press
Chapter Two – California Royalty
by
Vincent Rosamond Rice
I could tell Seyburne Zorthian sensed I was Californian Royalty, and thus she wanted to go with Nancy and I to meet my mother. Nancy had been to our home on San Sebastian one time, and up in the boys room Bill encouraged us to kiss. We were twelve, and I never kissed a girl before. Bill was very involved in Kathy Moline, but this did not detour Nancy from loving our friend – to death. The three of us looked at the idea Nancy and I would be lovers, she perhaps losing my virginity in that abandoned house on Athol that overlooked Lake Merritt? Such is the brilliance of the erotic light that outshines the light that lit our childhood days
Right away Rosemary has noticed Seyburne is rendering erotic landscapes around me, and surprised me by knowing who her parents were. Ten minutes after we got out of the car on Glendon, Rosemary is whispering in my ear.
“Marry her. She comes from money. You should be supported!”
How do you know, I wanted to ask, but, did the math. My mother spent many evenings up at the Beverly Hills Hotel, partying with that famous crowd. Had she met Jiryl Zorthian, the famous party animal at the Altadena ranch? Did this erotic artist see one of Rosemary’s infamous porno movies that she made for Big Bones Remmer – who knew all the Mafia guys? I was staying in Betty’s home. I dropped acid there, with her three children. Toby and I had this psychedelic gunfight that had everyone in stitches. I was liked, even adored.
Nancy and her family moved to Pasadena where she befriend Barry Zorthian, who became my friend Keith’s lover at the Idol Hands commune in San Francisco, where I brought the Royal Brass Lantern. Bill, Nancy, myself, and Angel played at being Beatniks. Angel took ballet lessons in SF, and hung out at the City Lights Bookstore. She was the thirteen year old mascot of the Ferlinghetti crowd. Angel wore black, and was the next generation. She was extremely mature for her age. We loved her Barret. She would give birth to Bill’s baby. She offered to fuck me so I would not lag behind. But, her boyfriend Tony showed up that almost fateful night. They got married. I was thirteen. We could not count our close encounters that would have made us fully adult. We could not wait to enact – our better way! We founded our coffee shop where we smoked pipes and talked about Beah Writers and their books. I was assigned Neil Cassidy’s identity. Then I was George Sterling to Bill’s London.
And so it went, as I followed the brilliance of my best friend, who was six foot three, blonde with blues eyes, and a IQ of 180. Bill was an Adonis, and he knew he was doomed due to the jealousy of others. Bill was Royalty of another kind. He went where no one could go. He lost his virginity to his French maid in Paris when he was eleven, When Bill went to jail for over a year. He shut Nancy and I out of his life. Something had gone terribly wrong, and his promise to alleyway tell us the truth, was a promise broken, Bill’s favorite book and movie was ‘Of Mice And Men’.
When speed came the Height Ashbury, it came to the Idol Hands, first. There was no greater tragedy. I fled the small maids room I lived in near the huge boiler in the basement. I left my belongings behind. I had gone to visit Brian Purvis in Oakland. I meant to go back. But Barry showed me the shooting kit her lover hid under their bed, and in tears, asked me to intervene.
This is the winter of 66. We buried Hippie on October, 6, 1967. I lost the brass lantern. I left it behind. A light had gone out that many still talk about. I saw it go. Goodbye my dear fantastic friends1
DEATH OF HIPPIES Hippy
‘Elders7 Gather To Proclaim End Of Era
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DEATH OF HIPPIES Hippy ‘Elders 7 Gather To Proclaim End Of Era
SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) Elders of San Francisco’s hippie community gathered today atop Buena Vista Hill to proclaim “the death of he hippie” with pomp and dramatics. As dawn brightened the splendid view, they ceremoniously complained that their famed Haight-Ashbury district has gone wrong. ‘ Then they moved down Haight Street, cleaning up trash, common since the summer invasion of tourists and thrill-seekers. Outside of some hippie shops, closed for the three-day funeral observance, were scrubbed with flourishes. Skirl) emblems tvere placed on windows. Later, a solemn funeral procession circled the district symbolically purging it of evil. Hippies were asked to drop things meaningful to them, feuch as their beads, in a huge coffin.
The only trouble is that the performance was some sort of a “put-on,” typical of the irreverent youth. Not all hip-pie-oriented shops closed and not all hippies participated. As the “day of death” plan was developed in lengthly meetings of Haight-Ashbury patriarchs, as the observance vas turned into more of a death of labels event than anything else. “We need a new image,” they said. “The hippies want to kill their world – known name, F rom death comes rebirth, they said. They now wish to be known as “free men.” Daniel Rifkin, manager of the Grateful Dead band, important in popularizing San Francisco rock music, complained that the hippie label was manufactured by mass media. He said the name was a way to lump all kinds of unconventional people “in the same bag” with drug-crazed and other nasty connotations. Further, the name is attracting too many phony hippies, said Arthur Lisch, a prime mover in the Diggers, who scrounged for food which they served free daily in Golden Gate Park.
“Many of the creative people are leaving,” he said. “At this point, the Haight-Ashbury is a box,” and estimated Unit San Francisco hippies are now operating about 20 different communes, each with more than a dozen in California. Lisch was saddened because Haight Street has been flooded with teeny hoppers, liquorswilling college students and hostility ridden motorcyclists. Violence, including murder and rape, have been on the upsurge. Relentless police raids now net 20 or 30 hippies a night on drug charges. On Monday night, the Crateful Dead’s residence, center for several hippie organizations, was busted by police and two performers were among 10 arrested because of a pound of marijuana found. The band held a news conference Thursday to state defiantly they were objects of police harrassment and that marijuana laws, “are seriously out of touch with reality.” “All we wish is to be free Americans endowed with ceratin unalienable rights among which somebody once said, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” they said. “Is that so frightening?”
Rosamond Press 
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