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By Leon Emo

On a second trip to New York City with Paul "the Blue Man" Karason, this scribe and the Blue Man's group had a chance to visit unique, and as I would discover later, haunted Greenwich Village.

Once a true rural village, it is now surrounded by skyscrapers on the west side of lower Manhattan. Pronounced "gren-ich" or simply called "the Village," it was home to bohemian types and Beat Generation poets and writers.

The usual wild and winding (in and out of traffic) cab ride took us to the Village. Washington Square Park is the hub of the area. Many celebrities, including screen stars, Uma Thurman, Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman have homes near the park.

But we (or at least yours truly) were searching for history, both literary and musical. In addition to San Francisco's North Beach in the 1950s, Greenwich Village became a hangout for writers Jack Kerouac, James Baldwin, Truman Capote and others. Famous Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, staggering into the Chelsea Hotel from the Village, claimed to a friend, "I've had eighteen straight whiskies. I think that is a record." One thing that is documented, the alcoholic writer did collapse at the White Horse Tavern in November of 1953.

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Leon Emo Columnist, Correspondent, Photographer Contact him at leon_emo (at) yahoo.com The Madera Tribune online subscription To subscribe or log on, CLICK HERE. For more information first, CLICK HERE.