[Thompson made himself the centerpiece of his stories] to show that a regular person could be in the midst of the craziness of the time, ... He was our historian.

Franz Kline, who became known for his black and white paintings, did a whole series of gorgeous landscapes and wonderful portraits that may still hang in Greenwich Village.

Esquire, in a July, 1957 issue, has a photograph of me playing the French horn at the Five Spot.

At times I might play some kind of folkloric flute, although I didn't play those with the frequency or the skill then as I do now.

Allen Ginsberg was a world authority on the writing of William Blake, and had an incredible knowledge of classic literature and world politics.

A few years later, my Uncle David took me to the Earle Theatre to hear Duke Ellington.