When I first started writing Journey, American - the novel, not this Substack - my plan was for Journey Seeger to pass through his life and occasionally touch the lives of the characters we think of as creating our collective American history.
Louise Brooks, Charlie Chaplin, and real motorcycle and automobile racers were all meant to be bit parts as Journey tells his story to a group of young surfers in an old Malibu bar.
The year is 1966, and America had a long way to go before the sun went down on its century. Journey had already seen enough: young America and its brash entrance to World War I, the birth of Hollywood, and participating in a blood sport that is all but forgotten in 2024.
I did not count on Chaplin and Brooks wanting to stick around and be of Journey’s life, and not just on the periphery of his tale. As I read more about Brooks and Chaplin, then Buster Keaton, the more their stories became part of Journey’s story.
This is made somewhat easier since a person like Chaplin, in the right place and not liveried in his Tramp outfit, could go out to the world and participate in it if he chose to.
This was not so easy for Brooks, who was glamorous and astoundingly beautiful. She also loved the attention though she did not much care for journalists or autograph seekers.
A world of no television, social media, or the internet is almost unimaginable now. Chaplin was as famous as a human being could get following the release of The Gold Rush (1925). He and the barely adult Brooks had to take walks in late-night New York because he of his fame. (I’m convinced these late-night walks were the model for the all-night walk Woody Allena and Diane Keaton famously took in Manhattan.) In smaller places with fewer newspapers and nosy paparazzi, he could live a bit of a real life.
This has amazed me. I never intended for these historical characters to want to live again in my pages. There are more to come, I’m sure. I know Elvis and The Beatles will play large roles, but I marvel at who might surprise me.
Next Sunday is Christmas. It is cold in Santa Fe and we have had snow twice and it has done us the honor of hanging around longer than any year I can remember. Usually, it hides on the south side of homes, but there are still brave sunbathed spots.
If we don’t talk, enjoy the holiday.
I have never been to Malibu! Thank you for telling me about this. I'm certain it will be helpful.
Have a wonderful holiday! Have I ever asked you if you have been to Neptune's Net in Malibu. Famous haunt for bikers and surfers. I used to housesit for a friend who had a condo just a short walk away from NN! Great place.