On Saturday, March 17th, William (Gatz) Hjortsberg, a close and long-time friend of Richard Brautigan, will be reading from “Jubilee Hitchhiker: The Life and Times of Richard Brautigan”, his recent biography of the late author, published by Counterpoint Press.
The Museum is working with, among others, Dr. John Barber of the Washington State University Vancouver Creative Media & Digital Culture department to bring this event to Vancouver. Dr. Barber is working to provide live streaming of the event and real-time chat with the author in order to make this event accessible to those outside Vancouver.
Copies of “Jubilee Hitchhiker” are now on pre-sale through the museum and will also be available for purchase on the 17th.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: Jubilee Hitchhiker
Subtitle: The Life and Times of Richard Brautigan
Author: William Hjortsberg
Publisher: Counterpoint Press
ISBN-13: 978-1-58243-790-3
Format: Trade Cloth, 896 pages, 7 x 10
Pub date: April 1, 2012
Price: $38.00
Category: Biography & Autobiography
JUBILEE HITCHHIKER is a comprehensive biography of the late novelist and poet Richard Brautigan, author of Troutfishing in America and A Confederate General from Big Sur, among many other works. When Brautigan took his own life in September of 1984 his close friends and network of artists and writers were devastated though not entirely surprised. To many, Brautigan was shrouded in enigma, erratic and unpredictable in his habits and presentation. But his career was formidable, an inspiration to young writers like William Hjortsberg trying to get their start. Brautigan’s career wove its way through both the Beat-influenced San Francisco Renaissance in the 1950s and the “Flower Power” hippie movement of the 1960s, while he never claimed direct artistic involvement with either period.
JUBILEE HITCHHIKER also delves deeply into the spirited times in which Brautigan lived. As Hjortsberg guides us through his search to uncover Brautigan as a man the reader is pulled deeply into the writer’s world. Ultimately this is a work that seeks to connect the Brautigan known to his fans with the man who ended his life so abruptly in 1984 while revealing the close ties between his writing and the actual events of his life. Part history, part biography, and part memoir, JUBILEE HITCHHIKER etches the portrait of a man destroyed by his genius.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
William Hjortsberg is the author of eight books, including Alp, Gray Matters, and Falling Angel, as well as the screenplays “Legend” and “Thunder & Lightning.” He lives in Montana with his wife, painter Janie Camp.
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On Saturday, April 14th, 2012, archivist Richard H. Engeman will conduct a workshop on making your family photographs last longer than you will! 
This year’s dinner and auction will be held at Summit Grove Lodge in Ridgefield, Washington on May 12th at 5 pm.