Bunker Hill historic, crime and literary walking tour August 5, 2007

We will meet at Wells Fargo Tower at 11 am Sunday, August 5th.

Tour will last approximately 90 minutes. This is a $10 walking tour with a fair amount of climbing due to the grade on the hill. Please visit us online to reserve or buy a ticket.

Before Kerouac, before Bukowski, there was John Fante, author of "Ask the Dust," "Dreams of Bunker Hill," "Full of Life," "The Road to Los Angeles" and "Wait Until Spring, Bandini." This five-novel cycle, written over sixty years, introduced the world to Arturo Bandini, an outspoken, down-and-out Mr. Hyde to Fante’s Dr. Jekyll. As Bunker Hill’s prodigal son, Fante-as-Bandini chronicles a forgotten Los Angeles neighborhood teeming with immigrants, criminals and dreamers like himself. With genuine compassion and wonderful craft, he sketches the hopes and dreams which fly round their heads, and in the process finds his own voice, a revelation which carries him all the way to Hollywood. On this 90 minute walking tour, we’ll explore the memories of Fante’s Bunker Hill, a neighborhood that has been erased, flattened, its mansions torn down, long since redeveloped by corporate and civic interests. Through visits to historic locations and crime scenes, we’ll evoke the ghosts of old Los Angeles and contrast the shiny new skyscrapers with the gritty hotels and flophouses they replaced.

Official Website: http://www.esotouric.com/bunkerwalk-8-5-07