A rare picture.....

I just found this picture. Photographed on Haight St. San Francisco, in '68 are (L) Michael McClure, and (R) Richard Brautigan. The photo was taken by McClure's cousin Rhyder.

McClure is best known for his controversial '60's play The Beard (a beard is a person who goes out on dates with someone, to disguise the other person's infidelities or sexual orientation). The basis for the play is Billy The Kid meeting Jean Harlow in the great hereafter, resulting in soul searching dialog between the two , and a sexual episode between them in the end. McClure was constantly busted for it's content when it was performed in SF, and LA back then. Now, nobody would think twice about it's content.

But, most of you will know McClure for his book Freewheelin' Frank-Secretary Of The Angels, As Told To Michael McClure By Frank Reynolds. McClure also penned the lyrics for Janis Joplin's song Mercedes Benz. McClure was a prolific writer, and many of his poems and stories have been used for many TV and movie plots.

Richard Brautigan was a Beat poet and author who made the transition into the San Francisco "scene" in the '60's. His best known works are Trout Fishing In America, and Revenge Of The Lawn. GO TO YOUR BOOKSTORE, BUY THEM, and READ THESE BOOKS! They are great works.

Michael McClure is still writing and touring, but unfortunately, Richard Brautigan committed suicide in Bolinas, CA., in 1984.