(The artist Michael McCracken, courtesy Michael Rothenberg).
One of the most adventurous stories I pursued in the late 1970s was my search for the beatniks that lived in the old Abalone Factory in Princeton. I was especially searching for the artist Michael McCracken. Where was he? Who was he? What had happened to him?
It all began when Pete Douglas of the Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society told me about Michael McCracken “the beat leader out at Princeton” who suspected Pete because he was a probation officer who also owned the free wheeling Ebb Tide Cafe in Miramar.
Here are the links, 1-5: http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2006/12/05/1959-when-the-beat-scene-hit-miramar-beach-part-i/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2006/12/05/1959-when-the-beat-scene-hit-miramar-beach-part-ii/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2006/12/05/1959-when-the-beat-scene-hit-miramar-beach-part-iii/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2006/12/06/1959-when-the-beat-scene-hit-miramar-beach-part-iv/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2006/12/06/1959-when-the-beat-scene-hit-miramar-beach-part-v/
Michael McCracken’s name stuck with me. I had to find out more and turned to the San Francisco poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the owner of the famous City Lights Bookstore in North Beach. I wrote him a letter asking if he could direct me to someone who knew of McCracken’s whereabouts. One day I received a message back including the name of the exceptional artist Michael Bowen and a post office box address. That led to correspondence and a meeting with Bowen at his Bolinas residence. Quite an eccentric day.
Michael Bowen said that I should contact the famous San Francisco attorney Marvin Lewis, adding that Lewis had represented McCracken’s wife Carole in a legal case. I followed up and had the most unusual interview which I taped. Here are the links 1-9:
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2007/01/24/my-search-for-the-beatniks-who-lived-at-the-abalone-factory-princeton-by-the-sea-part-i/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2007/01/24/my-search-for-the-beatniks-who-lived-at-the-abalone-factory-princeton-by-the-sea-part-ii/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2007/01/24/my-search-for-the-beatniks-who-lived-at-the-abalone-factory-princeton-by-the-sea-part-iii/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2007/01/27/my-search-for-the-beatniks-who-lived-at-the-abalone-factory-princeton-by-the-sea-part-iv/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2007/01/28/my-search-for-the-beatniks-who-lived-at-the-abalone-factory-princeton-by-the-sea-part-v/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2007/01/29/my-search-for-the-beatniks-who-lived-at-the-abalone-factory-princeton-by-the-sea-part-vi/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2007/01/30/my-search-for-the-beatniks-who-lived-at-the-abalone-factory-princeton-by-the-sea-part-vii/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2007/01/31/my-search-for-the-beatniks-who-lived-at-the-abalone-factory-princeton-by-the-sea-part-viii/
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2007/01/31/my-search-for-the-beatniks-who-lived-at-the-abalone-factory-princeton-by-the-sea-part-ix-conclusion/