Emil White of Big Sur
A book by Joanne Fenton Humphrey

$25.00
plus $5.00 shipping & handling
116 pages, perfect bound, size 8.25” x 10.75”

In the mid 1980's, during my first of many drives on Highway One in Big Sur, I noticed a roadside sign that announced The Henry Miller Memorial Library. Being a fan of Miller's writing, I pulled off the road. I walked down a path to a rather small house in a clearing of redwoods and met Emil White, the owner of the cabin. As Emil talked about Miller, I realized I was in the presence of Henry's most devoted friend during his Big Sur years—the friend to whom Big Sur and the Oranges of  Hieronymus Bosch was dedicated.

Emil's paintings lined the walls of his house; he had painted marvelous panoramas of the northern California coast, as well as fanciful depictions of favorite European towns and cities. Even though he was color blind, Emil had an amazing sense of color. Over thirty of Emil's paintings are reproduced in full color in this book.

As Emil began to talk about his artistic, hedonistic life, I expressed the idea of collaborating with him on a biography. He was delighted. Several months later I returned and lived with Emil for two weeks. He told me about his art, his friendships, his politics, his travels—and his women. He had spent much of his life perfecting the art of seducing women.

This book is filled with Emil's anecdotes and recollections about his many friends and acquaintances—Allen Ginsberg, Joan Baez, Jack Kerouac, Jaime de Angulo, George Simenon, Kenneth Rexroth—as well as heretofore unpublished correspondence from Anais Nin and Lord Buckley. The introductory comments were written by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, another of Emil's friends.