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Last Bohemian: The Life and Times of Jonathan David Batchelor Part 1
Julia Antoinette Rosenstein, author
Artist Jonathan Batchelor based his life not upon finances or money, but upon philosophy, love of art and music. He was an archetypal free-spirited non-conformist who thrived in the San Francisco Bay Area the latter half of the twentieth century. Part 1 of his biography takes the reader from his humble beginnings as the child of a vaudevillian actor and musician. Together father and son struggle through the depression; Jonathan finally finds stability and the means to earn a good living through the WPA. World War II brought about shipyard work which, once again, provided a consistent means to earn a living. Because the loquacious artist could not help but rant against the brutality of war, he was removed from the shipyards and sent to a conscientious objector camp in Waldport, Oregon. Camp #56 was nicknamed the "Fine Arts Camp" because other conscientious objectors were also artists, musicians, actors, sculptors, writers and poets. Mr. Batchelor made some lifelong friends at Waldport including Henry Miller and William Everson, the poet. Part 1 ends with his return to the Bay Area.