James Lough is the author of book
This Ain't No Holiday Inn. It's sort of an oral history of the famous Chelsea Hotel in NYC. The Chelsea was renowned as an
residence hotel that intentionally sought out and welcomed writers, singers, actors and other Bohemian types into a melting pot of crazy ideas and interesting companion.
Since every book in the
Gold Wings are Murder series will be set at a hotel, inn or resort, I thought it would be a good idea to ask Lough about one of the most famous hotels in American history. Here is what he had to say.
Question: In my mystery novel
Gold Wings are Murder, the heroes are bikers who ride around the country and every place they stay seems to be haunted. What famous resident would be loath to leave the Chelsea Hotel, even in death?
Answer: Many famous residents were loath to leave the Chelsea, living or dead. It was cheap and artist-friendly! But I would say Nancy Spungeon, ex-girlfriend of Sid Vicious, has probably stuck around. She was murdered there and probably has some scores to settle. Resident Paul Volmer said his girlfriend took some LSD and he found her chatting away, alone, in the hallway to some unknown presence.
"Who are you talking to," Paul said, as he gingerly took her by the elbow.
"Oh, Nancy," she said.
Q. Bohemian means someone from Bohemia (Czechoslovakia), but it also means gypsy, Romani or socially unconventional artist, actor or anarchist. Where do all the Bohemian's live today?
A. Bohemians aren't gone, but, sadly, they're an endangered species. Especially in big vibrant US cities like New York and San Francisco, which both have rich Bohemian histories, but are far too expensive for real Bohemians to live in cold water flats, enjoy the street life, the multiple cultures, and the camaraderie and mentorship of other artists. Some say we can get that on the web, but it's only a pale imitation of the real thing.
Q. If the ghosts of novelist Thomas Wolfe, humorist Mark Twain, actress Sarah Bernhard and musician Dee Dee Ramone (all one time residents of the Chelsea Hotel) sat down for spectral dinner, what would they talk about?
A. If Mark Twain, Sarah Bernhard, Thomas Wolfe, and Dee Dee Ramone sat down for a spectral dinner, they'd probably first talk about how much--or how little--rent they paid! Then they'd go on to the ghastly gap between rich and poor in the nation. They'd ask Sarah how it was to sleep in her casket under that glass pyramid built above her penthouse suite. Dee Dee would probably ask if he could lie in there with her. Wolfe would scold Dee Dee for making such a rude request, and then Wolfe would ask her for the same favor. Twain would sit back, light his cigar, his eyes gleaming with wicked mirth. Then they'd have dessert.
Q. You are designing your very own residential hotel. What does it look like, where would you put it, and who would you let live there for free--if they only would?
A. My utopian residential hotel would be in Las Truchas, New Mexico, where the spirits are thick. I would reserve permanent rooms for David Bowie and the ghosts of Emily Dickinson, Rembrandt, and Dave Chapelle. The rest of the artists would be fledglings, young artists who were not born wealthy and did not grow up with the advantages that many successful artists did. It would be a multi-storied adobe affair kind of like Mesa Verde with log ladders between the apartments and kivas in the basement for sacred ceremonies. A deadwood sign hangs over the gate: "The Last Resort."
Q. Do you have another oral history book in the works? Or ... What's next for James Lough?
A. I don't have an oral history in the works now, but we're working on getting
This Ain't No Holiday Inn made into a TV series. My next book is a collection of insightful, inspirational, and wickedly witty aphorisms called
Short Flights. It will be published in November 2015 by Schaffner Press.
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It was a pleasure to talk with James Lough. His book This
Aint' No Holiday Inn earned 4.5 stars with 23 reviews at Amazon.com.
Click here to check it out.
