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©1998, Laki Vazakas
I had videotaped some of Huncke's readings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but my concerted effort to document his life with Louis Cartwright commenced in the fall of 1993 when the two were living on 7th Street between Avenues C and D in New York. So the first part of my video reveals the domestic life shared by these two old friends.
In January of 1994, their domestic life was ruptured when Huncke was hospitalized with a broken shoulder and pneumonia. While Herbert convalesced with friends in the Chelsea Hotel, Louis lost his ballast and began a descent in addiction and paranoia, fueled by his fear that his older friend would die and leave him alone. The second part of my video chronicles Herbert's recovery and Louis's downward spiral.
Huncke never resettled into the 7th Street basement apartment, which became a drug den in his absence. Because of nonpayment of rent, Cartwright was evicted in late May of 1994. Early on the morning of June 6, Louis Cartwright was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant on Second Avenue, near the Kiev Restaurant.
Thanks to the efforts of Jeremiah Newton, Louis was buried in Cavalry Cemetery in Queens. Herbert was understandably too distraught to attend his friend's funeral.
Later in the summer of 1994, Herbert Huncke relocated to the Chelsea Hotel, where he would spend his final two years. Herbert revealed his resilience by continuing to write, to share his midnight stories. He recorded a CD ("From Dream To Dream") in Belgium and enjoyed successful European reading tours. Back home, he thrived in the company of many young friends and admirers. The final part of my video documents Herbert's creative life in the Chelsea, which lasted until his death, at the age of 81, on August 8, 1996.
Look for Huncke and Louis at video festivals near you. A ten-minute 'trailer' has been screened at The Whitney Museum, The Venice Biennale, The San Francisco Art Institute, and The Cinema de Balie in Amsterdam.
Friday, May 8, 8:30 PM
New York University's Cantor Film Center, 36 East 8th Street, Theater 200. Contact LakiVaz@aol.com for more information.
April 17 to 19th, 1998
Huncke and Louis will be screened at the 1998 Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina, from April 17 to 19th, 1998. The video will be shown Friday through Sunday at 5PM as part of the Screen Z program at Bessie's, 133
North Front Street. For further information, call the Cucalorus Info Line at: (910) 343-5995.
Excerpt from Cucalorus Film Festival program:
"Laki Vazakas's film Huncke and Louis is an honest, sometimes harrowing glimpse of Herbert Huncke's final years, the culmination of a life lived without compromise. Never straying from the life he chose to live, Vazakas's camera is witness to Huncke bravely keeping on even after his dear friend Louis Cartwright was murdered in 1994, and as his own life slowly winds down. In a society full of growing religious fervor that is evermore vitriolic for its self-righteous and oft-vindictive moralizing, Huncke seems more and more the anachronism. Herbert Huncke died on August 8, 1996, unrepentant at 81, shown in the film as a man who in his honest non-conformity and gentle repose is, even after death, an anecdote, an antidote, a shot in the arm, so to speak, for anyone who refuses to be bullied into accepting the forced "virtues" of those that feel they need to save us from ourselves."
BookZen The Herbert Huncke Reader Page
Literary Kicks Herbert Huncke Biography
Bohemian Ink Home Page – an on-line review of the history and future of experimental literature and poetry
Beat Generation FAQ and Resources
Cosmic Baseball Association's Huncke Page
Amazon.com Online Bookstore for ordering The Herbert Huncke Reader