Three years after hanging up my journalism hat (you know, the fedora with the little cardboard PRESS card sticking out of it), I still feel weird being on the receiving end of the questions. Sometimes it's difficult to articulate why you're drawn to something, be it a writer's work or a film or a piece of art. But the more I read about Goodis, and the more I devour books about Philadelphia history, the more connections I see between the man and his city. I'm happy to see him receive the attention he didn't quite receive during his relatively short life.
With that said... it's not too late to join us crazy-ass Goodis Guys this Sunday as we gather at his grave site to pay him tribute.
Organized by King Goodishead Lou Boxer, the memorial begins at 11 a.m. at Roosevelt Memorial Park (2701 Old Lincoln Highway, Trevose PA, literally down the road from the PA Turnpike and just beyond the border of Northeast Philadelphia).
After a brief service we'll jump into a bunch of cars (I have two or three seats open in my ultra-noir family minivan) to tour some Goodis sites in Philly, including the house where he wrote most of his novels, the hospital where he died, and the joint where he shot pool.
Then we'll gather at the amazing Port Richmond Bookstore (3037 Richmond Street) for drinks and snacks (I'll be bring a bunch of Yuengling Lager), noir talk, and book shopping. The place is a former movie theater and it is literally stuffed to the rafters with books. And appropriately enough, Port Richmond is the setting for Goodis's most famous novel, Shoot the Piano Player, a.k.a. Down There.
And while Harriet's Hut, the dive bar featured in that novel, doesn't exist, we do have Atlantis, the Lost Bar (2442 Frankford Avenue), which features Philly's own Yards on tap and cheap eats. We'll wrap things up there with lunch.
Hope you can join us. If you have any questions about the event, feel free to drop me a line. If you live nowhere near Philadelphia, pull a Goodis novel off the shelf and join us in spirit.
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