The above photo, by Pedar Ness, captures a moment in the Mid 1970s in the kitchen of the P. J. O'Rourke, Alan Rose, Alan "Gab" Wellikoff apartment in Greenwich Village, NYC. For me it was a scene of many a seltzer bottle battle, aimless hanging out, a stop on the road to Cuttyhunk Island, hippie babes, debauchery, etc. Gab and P.J. were writers and Alan a conceptual graphic artist.
These guys were kind and hospitable to the waves of itinerant hippies, ne'er-do-wells, scoundrels, aspiring musicians and con artists of the day who plied their goods and services up and down the I-95 corridor by thumb or junker seeking fame, fortune or both. Everyone involved seemed larger-than-life; and in that period, needless to say, we all lived dramatically.
Updating their lives to the present, P.J. and Gab are still writers and Alan Rose is as conceptual as ever.
Copyright © 2003 Robert J. Friedman
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