It may be just a matter of time before [iconic LA Bohemian] writer Charles Bukowski's favorite scribe John Fante gets his own square named after him. This week, LA City Councilmember Jan Perry (seconded by Jose Huizar) put forth a proposal to name the corner of Fifth St. and Grand, outside the Central Library downtown, John Fante Square. It would be located at the foot of the writer's former home on Bunker Hill (he moved to So. Cal in 1929). The request moves onto the Public Works Committee before receiving final approval.
If you never got hip to Fante's work, here's a very short primer. Robert Towne (Chinatown) made his book Ask the Dust into the film by the same name starring Colin Farrell, Salma Hayek and Donald Sutherland (2006). Towne has called the tome one of the greatest novels ever written about LA. Despite being a more obscure writer in his adopted home of Los Angeles, Fante has been honored by his own national festival in Italy.
Photo: Stephen Shugerman/Stringer/Getty Images
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