literature
casa museo de pablo neruda
from pablo neruda posted in literature by corporate_sunshine
Now a museum celebrating his life, this was the home of the poet Pablo Neruda from 1939 to his death in 1973. The "Casa de Isla Negra" was named by Neruda to describe the black rocks right off the shore. It was here that Neruda lived with this third wife, singer Matilde Urrutia, and they are both buried on the property with a clear view of the beach.
In 1973, when armed forces loyal to the dictator Pinochet searched this home of Neruda's, he famously said:
"Look around—there's only one thing of danger for you here—poetry."
view full location details...mulberry street
from dr. seuss posted in literature by nevereatshreddedwheat
Dr. Seuss's first children's book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was published in 1937 after being rejected by over 30 publishers. It's about a boy named Marco who imagines a fantastic scene while on a walk to tell his father when he gets home, and it's based on the very ordinary Mulberry Street in Springfield, Massachusetts where Dr. Seuss grew up.
The house at 51 Mulberry was one of the oldest houses on the street dating back to around 1830. It was on the National Register of Historic Places, but it was demolished without permission in 1992.
view full location details...philip k. dick’s apartment
from philip k. dick posted in literature by nevereatshreddedwheat
Philip K. Dick lived in an apartment at 3028 Quartz Lane in Fullerton, California with his fifth wife Tessa from 1972 to 1976. Here, he drew from his time living at the "hermit house" to write A Scanner Darkly.
It was also here that he had the event that he would later refer to as 2-3-74 (for February-March 1974). While on sodium pentothal after having a wisdom tooth extracted, he had a bizarre religious experience triggered by the Jesus fish necklace worn by the girl delivering more pain medication. Later he claims he was told about his baby son's undiagnosed hernia (which it turned out he did have) while listening to "Strawberry Fields Forever" by the Beatles. He wrote about it endlessly in the eight million page Exegious and semi-fictionalized what he went through in his later books V.A.L.I.S. and Radio Free Albemuth.
stanley hotel
from stephen king posted in literature by chewing_the_scenery
Stephen King came up with the idea of what would become his third published novel The Shining after staying at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado with his wife in 1974. The hotel, which was about to close for its off-season, became the basis for the book's fictional Overlook Hotel. They were the only guests there, although King was able to have a drink in the bar served by a bartender named Grady.
Some of The Shining tv mini-series that aired in 1997 (starring Wings Steven Weber as Jack Torrance) was filmed at The Stanley.
The hotel is rumored to be haunted and if you stay there you can catch Stanley (no relation to the hotel) Kubrick's version of The Shining playing non-stop on channel 42.
view full location details...l’hotel at 13 rue des beaux-arts
from oscar wilde, jim morrison posted in literature by pete_nice
On November 30, 1900, the writer/bon vivant Oscar Wilde expired at this location at the age of 46 from cerebral meningitis. Of the location (then called Hôtel d'Alsace), Wilde said:
"My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or other of us has got to go."
Jim Morrison stayed at this location when he first arrived in Paris in March of 1971 before he moved to the right bank address of 17 rue Beautreillis.
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