This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Abathtub (talk | contribs) at 15:34, 28 September 2005. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 15:34, 28 September 2005 by Abathtub (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Richard Farina was an influential and important figure in both the Counter culture scene of the early to mid sixties as well as the budding folk rock scene of the same time. He is best known for his novel "Been Down So Long it Seems Like Up to Me". The book published in 1966, two days before his death in a motorcycle accident has become somewhat of a cult classic among those who follow sixties and counterculture literature. His lifestyle was one of a beatnik combined with that of a hippie. He was a proponent of using substances such as LSD and other mind altering drugs. He was born in Brooklyn in New York City and went to the prestigous Brooklyn Tech High School and then earned himself an acedemic scholarship to Cornell University where he first entered as an engineering student. While he was there he published a few short stories for some of the local literary magazines as well as for magazines such as The Transatlantic Review and Mademoiselle. Since his death his his work has been kept alive by friend and literary confidant Thomas Pynchon who wrote an introduction to a recent paperback version of Been Down as well as well as dedicating Gravity's Rainbow to Richard's memory, a novel hailed by many scholars and critics to be among the most important American novels of all time. Richard married Mimi Baez, younger sister of Joan Baez and the two were together at the time of Richard's death. Richard was also a close friend of Bob Dylan--their friendship is the topic of a book by David Hadju called "Positively Fourth Street."
www.richardandmimi.com