THE '60S REVISITED: Bread & Roses
founder Mimi Farina, battling cancer, can
look forward to David Hajdu's admiring
portrayal of her -- professionally and
personally -- in "Positively Fourth Street,"
which is to be published this spring by
Farrar, Straus & Giroux and will be
excerpted by Vanity Fair in May.
The book describes Joan Baez, Bob Dylan,
Mimi and Richard Farina -- especially
focusing on couples Joan & Bob, Mimi &
Richard -- in the '60s, as they came of age,
fell in love and became famous while the
counterculture was shaping folk music into
protest music.
Hajdu also wrote "Lush Life," a biography
of Billy Strayhorn. His sources included
the reclusive Thomas Pynchon, Farina's
college roommate and best man.
Vanity Fair publisher Graydon Carter, who
wants to throw a prepublication party for
the book, is dreaming of reuniting Baez,
Mimi Farina and Dylan (who never found
time to be interviewed). The book contains
some delicious vignettes that round out its
main story: Dylan took his name not from
Welsh poet Dylan Thomas but from
"Gunsmoke" hero Matt Dillon; when the
foursome went to visit novelist Henry
Miller, Dylan and Miller played pingpong.
Farina said that Miller didn't know who
Dylan was and "was only interested in
Joanie and Mimi -- in fact, he went after
them both."
Today would have been Richard Farina's
64th birthday.
In the Summer, When It Sizzles
"In Paris they practically encourage you to
smoke. What's not to love about the
place?"
- Johnny Depp, who lives in Paris with
Vanessa Paradis and their daughter, on
British Channel 1.
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