Status Updates From James Dean: Little Boy Lost...

“The Night Watch.” As a fellow night owl, I really appreciated this proclivity of Dean’s. Barney’s Beanery was also a favorite spot. Googie’s sounded like a real gas, that would have been cool to see. But at least we had The Den! Jimmy just linked up with Dennis Stock, a young photographer who decided to propose the idea of a photo essay on Dean to Life Magazine. The rest is history.

Things only get crazier when Elia Kazan takes him out to LA for “…Eden”

“Oh God, my ass hurts.” Hahaha. The shit the guy put himself through, it’s no wonder he was so troubled. Sometimes I think these ‘tortured souls’ do it to themselves. They blame the tragedies of their upbringing, like James losing his mother — but, in actuality, I believe they just enjoy the chaos and use the pain as an excuse for their deviant behavior.

Fascinating. You often think you know about a public figure but then you pick up a book like this and getting transported to another time. As if you’re sitting with Martin Landau and Jimmy Dean at Cromwell’s. Smoking cigarettes and drawing crude sketches of one another.