tip-toeing into this new place

Melissa Sue

Founding member
i'm going to have to print the first one off at the office tomorrow... unless i can turn the laptop upside down... lol.

the second one was great - i would have melted.
thanks so much for sharing.
 

Bukfan

"The law is wrong; I am right"
Wauw! Those letters are really something...
Looking forward to hear more!
 

mystery girl

Founding member
Sorry it came out upside down. My husband says you should be able to rotate the pdf file when it's open. It might be a while before I share more letters. I am kind of protective with them; I don't know why. Well, onward. Someone called the police. I got inside these total strangers' living room and she came on me again! I think we went down on the floor again, but this time someone helped her off me. I was shaking all over. She was out there, still in her bra, talking it up with the cops. The cops came in the neighbors little bungalow and asked me if I wanted to press charges.I said No, thanks. So there I was with these young people (like myself). Linda was still crying and yelling but it slacked off. I was in shock. I never went back to his place. Someone went over there and got my things. I may think of some stuff you guys would like but right now I'm so tired I can't think. Goodbye, for now, good night and good luck. I will be back.
 
this is nothin but a buncha outstanding beauty.

and also, mysterygirl - understand that i extend my personal thanks for such a slab a wonderment.

though it does make me ponder for a second, an only a brief one at that, about how i'd feel about such documents of pure feeling, bein shared in my absence.

mixed is how i imagine the batch of those horrible things [feelings] would be.

but thank you.
 

mystery girl

Founding member
About all this; I shoved everything Bukowski away for almost 30 years not because of any slobbering lost love thing. Not by any means. I was given a gift when this woman chased me out of his life. All the good things and all the blessings I have received have nothing to do with Hank. Except maybe for his letters, they were something. But after he wrote that book "Women", I don't know, it came out not so long after the last time I spoke with him by telephone. I think it was when I left NY and ended up in Lake Tahoe. (Not actually in the lake, of course.) This story was I think about me, but maybe it was combination character but there wasn't much there that wasn't me. He wrote an awful, untrue thing, and since he was unable to function, you know, THAT way, what he made up was a stabbing big lie, very painful. It is a miracle that I have anything of his. Of course this old wound has healed. And then one day I saw a documentary on TV about him and the end said something like In Memory of Charles Bukowski....I thought God, he died a few years ago and I didn't even know it. Well, I'm glad you guys liked the letter and am happy to have been able to share that with kind friends who appreciate a good thing. God bless you all. I forgot to tell you...when she (LK) fell away from me that afternoon her blouse came off in my hands. I did not notice it until a while afterwards. I just wanted to tell you that because you might have wondered why she was outside yelling at the police in her bra. She went back and I stayed with those really nice people for another week, and he never came over, never called. Why was I suprised? He had someone who really cared for him, and I was like, well, a fan. See y'all later.
 
I was just thinking about this thread the other day. Thank you mystery girl, I read the second note and I like it more than I've ever liked his writing. I just don't get poetry in general, but that was quite romantic what he wrote.

EDIT: Okay, I guess it wasn't exactly poetry (as poetic as it may have sounded), but it's writing of his that I understand without it really being a narrative.
 

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
Wow. I hadn't seen this thread before. Great stuff. Mysterygirl, please tell us more! The letter is wonderful (the non-upside down one; I'll have to flip the other over to read it). I hope someday your complete story of what it was like being his girl friend and his letters to you are published, assuming you'd want that. If not, if you've said all you'll say, then it would be good to at least read all of the letters. Thanks for sharing this with us.
 

mjp

Founding member
Here they are with the upside-down one right side up.

May27-1975.jpg



May27-1975-2.jpg
 

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
Thanks, mjp. Another fine letter. He sure knew how to sweet talk them, although I think he was being sincere. No wonder women travelled to be with him.
 

mystery girl

Founding member
It's nice to get some new feedback. I haven't been on here for a while. I just read that letter again and it gave me that "erkkk!" feeling, the one you get when you wish you had done ANYTHING but what you did. He was soo good at the b.s., hard to put into words the effect of HIS words. It would've probably been really great if we had just written the letters and never actually met. Anyway, my kids are in college and they are working but I could really use some extra cash to help them, and I'm thinking again of selling all, or part of the letters and other stuff. What do you guys think. I'm not going through any dealers.
 

mjp

Founding member
The price for letters has gone up somewhat lately, but I still don't think it's where it should be (in relation to the poem manuscripts), or will be in the future. If you can hold on to them, I would.

When the poem manuscripts started selling for $1000+ plenty of people who sold them six months earlier for $100 were kicking themselves. Not that I would expect a similar overnight jump in the letter value, but in a few years...you never know.
 

Bukfan

"The law is wrong; I am right"
Don't sell the letters. I think you will be sorry one day if you sell them. Maybe some day you would like to show them to your children and grandchildren or re-read them yourself and reminish ( and they will certainly not decrease in value as time goes by).
I speak from experience. Many years ago a famous artist send me a signed drawing. Some years later I needed money and sold it. To this day I still regret it! So if I were you I would keep them...
 
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mystery girl

Founding member
Thank you guys so much for what you say. You're honest and kind. I believe you're right. I'll try to hang onto them at least for a while. I did have them appraised by a reputable person - the number he gave us for the 22 letters and everything else was $20,000 to $25,000. Of course an appraisal doesn't mean that's what you'll get, and he told me that, too. I also think that his poems, letters, etc. floating around out there aren't being sold for what they're worth. I'll try to be patient. Yes, hardship does build character! Thank you all again for your wisdom and advice.
 

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
Mystery Girl: Given the high interest content -- emotional love letters -- they should be worth at least $1,000 each and will only go up in value. Hang on as long as you can. It would be great to see them printed as a group someday.
 
Ahhhhh.
I hadn't seen this before. Mysterygirl, this was just fantastic.
Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, hold on to those letters as long as you can and let someone skilled restore the painting!
 

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
I agree with HankD -- let a pro open up the painting. If done carefully by a restorer, any damage that remains will probably not hurt the value because there's such a good story behind it -- folding and mailing it while still wet, in his excitment. It'll be like a bullet hole in a Warhol painting.
 
I have been away for a couple of weeks, and lordy! The things I missed! This is the best thread I have read on this forum. Thanks for sharing this mystery girl. The letters! Magnificent. Ok, I'm going to read them again!
 
Imagine of someone tried to do this today. Hook, line and sinker back in 2006; and many, many posts before a letter showed up to prove any kind of legitimacy...

And as to the upside down pdf: couldn't you just print it out and turn the paper rightside up? Just asking. There were printers back in 2006, if my memory serves.
 
that's what i was thinking while reading the first handful of posts: why is everyone falling for this? it seemed totally fake to me, like the person was just reading from Women or something. but as it went on it seemed to be legit. but, couldn't the person have bought that letter and pretended like it was to them? bit of a stetch, yes, and the story seems authentic...
 
There is an air of authenticity to it. Maybe mjp had tracked an ip address to a certain neighborhood, sent out a few bloodhounds (only those that have purchased orangutans earmarked for Buk's raid on Entebbe {memory fails here}), and see? I'm not as good as he is at this.
 
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