Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Comic-Con co-founder Barry Alfonso, back in his hometown

His recently published A Voice of the Warm covers the life of Rod McKuen

Barry Alfonso-Roy Thomas-1975
Barry Alfonso-Roy Thomas-1975

“When we first came to San Diego, we lived in Golden Hill, then on Florida Street in the University Heights area. From there, we moved to a little bungalow on Eads Avenue in La Jolla. I would have to say the oddest and most memorable things happened when we lived there — this was the late ‘60s, when you would see hippies mingling on Girard Avenue [La Jolla] with rich retirees and Navy petty officers. I later lived in Pacific Beach and Bankers Hill.”

Carmine Infantino-Barry Alfonso-Jack Kirby-1973

That’s writer Barry Alfonso, back in his hometown for two panels at Comic-Con, with his memories of growing up. A comic book maven from a young age, Alfonso actually co-founded Comic-Con with several like-minded friends in 1970, at age 12. And by his teens he was writing music reviews for the La Jolla Light, San Diego Union, and Rolling Stone.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Asked about favorite local acts, he recalls “Tom Waits was already an L.A. resident by the time I started going to shows, but he was still thought of as a San Diego artist. I always liked his work. I was lucky to have friends in local music, particularly Jan Tonnesen, who played wonderful guitar for such worthy combos as the All-Human Orchestra and the Troy Dante Inferno.”

A Voice of the Warm - The Life of Rod McKuen

Hunting for cheap old LPs at Arcade Records downtown, and Swap-a-Tape on Midway Drive lead him to, among many other things, the work of Rod McKuen, that well-nigh-unclassifiable author-poet-singer-songwriter-actor-neo-classical composer who dominated the late ‘60s through the ‘70s. His name and often his words were on everything from greeting cards to travel bags.

Alfonso, who recently published A Voice of the Warm, the first-ever McKuen biography, elaborates: “McKuen’s words and music could make you feel good or a little melancholy. As I grew older and read Rolling Stone and similar publications, I figured out that McKuen wasn’t cool. He was more of a guilty pleasure or an ironic one.... I got the message that he was appreciated by unhip people who liked to have their heartstrings pulled. Rod was sort of taboo if you had a certain image of yourself as a sophisticated person. That’s what got me interested in him.”

Alfonso’s take on San Diego concludes, “It’s a town full of Theosophists, UFO cultists, dreamers, and comic book freaks. It’s a wonderful mixture of the exotic and the totally normal — like Rod McKuen, I might say.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Will Carlsbad re-open door to drive-thru eateries?

Chick-fil-A now compensates by using curbside mobil ordering
Next Article

Luxury addiction treatment on Country Rose Circle

Encinitas dry-out spa protected by federal law
Barry Alfonso-Roy Thomas-1975
Barry Alfonso-Roy Thomas-1975

“When we first came to San Diego, we lived in Golden Hill, then on Florida Street in the University Heights area. From there, we moved to a little bungalow on Eads Avenue in La Jolla. I would have to say the oddest and most memorable things happened when we lived there — this was the late ‘60s, when you would see hippies mingling on Girard Avenue [La Jolla] with rich retirees and Navy petty officers. I later lived in Pacific Beach and Bankers Hill.”

Carmine Infantino-Barry Alfonso-Jack Kirby-1973

That’s writer Barry Alfonso, back in his hometown for two panels at Comic-Con, with his memories of growing up. A comic book maven from a young age, Alfonso actually co-founded Comic-Con with several like-minded friends in 1970, at age 12. And by his teens he was writing music reviews for the La Jolla Light, San Diego Union, and Rolling Stone.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Asked about favorite local acts, he recalls “Tom Waits was already an L.A. resident by the time I started going to shows, but he was still thought of as a San Diego artist. I always liked his work. I was lucky to have friends in local music, particularly Jan Tonnesen, who played wonderful guitar for such worthy combos as the All-Human Orchestra and the Troy Dante Inferno.”

A Voice of the Warm - The Life of Rod McKuen

Hunting for cheap old LPs at Arcade Records downtown, and Swap-a-Tape on Midway Drive lead him to, among many other things, the work of Rod McKuen, that well-nigh-unclassifiable author-poet-singer-songwriter-actor-neo-classical composer who dominated the late ‘60s through the ‘70s. His name and often his words were on everything from greeting cards to travel bags.

Alfonso, who recently published A Voice of the Warm, the first-ever McKuen biography, elaborates: “McKuen’s words and music could make you feel good or a little melancholy. As I grew older and read Rolling Stone and similar publications, I figured out that McKuen wasn’t cool. He was more of a guilty pleasure or an ironic one.... I got the message that he was appreciated by unhip people who liked to have their heartstrings pulled. Rod was sort of taboo if you had a certain image of yourself as a sophisticated person. That’s what got me interested in him.”

Alfonso’s take on San Diego concludes, “It’s a town full of Theosophists, UFO cultists, dreamers, and comic book freaks. It’s a wonderful mixture of the exotic and the totally normal — like Rod McKuen, I might say.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Imperial Beach renters scramble

Hawaiian Gardens and Sussex Gardens inhabitants fear remodel evictions
Next Article

Luxury addiction treatment on Country Rose Circle

Encinitas dry-out spa protected by federal law
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader