Mr. Mojo Risin'

20" x 20" oil on canvas

As captain of the bee football team in high school, I didn't exactly fit the profile of a visual outsider. With the Vietnam War raging, I gave serious thought to the overly macho posturing of the US and found it excessive. When I first heard Jim sing "Break on Through to the Other Side," I was sure I knew exactly what he was talking about. I had an exhibition in Jim and Pamela's La Cienega Themis Gallery. Soon after, they asked me if I would live in their Topanga Canyon home and watched their dog Sage. During that period, I was studying film and Surrealist poetry at CSU San Francisco and would fly north to meet my professors on a regular basis. Jim's interest in Paris' literary scene led to long talks about poets there during the 20's. Next thing I knew, Jim's selling the house, moving to Paris to become a writer. That was the last time I saw him.