David

I found a small sunny apartment in Echo Park near downtown Los Angeles. I bought some beautiful beads and began making necklaces and earrings which I sold to boutiques. Hippies were still in bloom and beads were very much in vogue.

I was not quite alone. l had a siamese cat which Albert and I had bought as a kitten. He had always wanted one, and now I was glad to have her. Annabelle was good company. Louise and I went to movies, lunches, and shopping. Time passed and I stopped feeling sorry for myself, although I missed him terribly. Louise was right, it had been a good move.
I answered the phone one day and it was David, the man who had made the tape for Albert's LSD sessions. "I have some business in L.A. and I wondered if I could stay at your place for a few days.", he asked. Pretty bold, I thought.

"Well, I don't know. My place is very small. I guess you could sleep on the floor.", I heard myself say. I had known David and his wife, Francis, for quite a few years, even before I'd met. Albert. Albert didn't approve of them; they drank too much, but David and l used to exchange and discuss books we had read. And Frances was fun. She played the guitar and sang. l visited them occasionally.

I recall a strange incident. One day George von Physter, who had been "ranch foreman" for our place in Topanga was having a boat launching party at the ship yard in Coronado for his refurbished Monterey boat. Afterward David and Francis drove me home. As I sat in the back swat and looked at the back of their heads I thought, "what is he doing with her ?" It was a sort of deja vu feeling, as if I had known him before, and yet it was the first time we had met. Much later, when Francis became ill and was advised to stop drinking, she sobered up and looked around and decided to divorce him, a move her brothers had been telling her to take, I was a witness for her.

"Yes, Your Honor, he always drank before breakfast."

"Divorce granted."

David 2

And now, here he was on my doorstep, or rather, on my floor. I never did find out what his 'business" in L.A. was but after three nights he was in my bed. I needed some loving and so did he.

Born in Memphis Tennessee, life on his father's rice experimental farm in Arkansas was too dull for him so he grabbed a saxophone and went to New Orleans as soon as he could. Both Mom and Daddy were not too happy with him after he'd told Mom he saw Daddy with another woman.

The nine room house on the hill above my apartment became vacant and the landlord, who had lived there as a boy, asked if we would like it. The rent was unbelievably low. "You know what it means if we take the house.", David said.; "Are you sure you want to?" I knew he meant we would really be living together then.

"Well, don't you think it's a great place? " I answered. "I think we can make it."

"Let's give it a go.", he replied. It was the house that brought us closer together. Perched on a hill, looking down Echo Park Blvd to Sunset, it was the first house in the area. Old but well built, large living room with grand piano, four bedrooms, sunroom, huge kitchen, space, space, space. Indescribable, but we knew we both wanted to live there. Behind the house, I made a terraced garden which furnished us with more Swiss chard than anyone really wanted but cash was scarce and it was good food. David liked it cooked with pork till it was unrecognizable, but it did taste good Southern style.

Louise accused me of jumping into bed with the first man who came along but it wasn't like that. lt may seem strange that as much as I missed Albert, I undertook another relationship so soon, but I had been married most of my life and it was natural to me to have a man as the focus of my life. I hadn't sought him. He was not unknown to me we had met years before. I recall when Francis divorced him, she said, I still love David but 1 can't live with him. I believed I could.
We were compatible in many ways; we shared books, music and our sex life was intensely satisfying. Who could ask for more. We were both at loose ends. The house tied up the ends.

David 3

We hired a couple of hippies to tote our possessions up the hill. Most of it was mine. David complained of a bad back and begged off. Sheldon would have classified as an extreme ectomorph, tall, slender and more mental than physical. Born the Aquarius, Pisces cusp. A poet, a raconteur, and a voice which had earned him years on early radio.

Then the fun began. David wasn't working and I didn't have much to contribute to the household but it must be true that nature abhors a vacuum because, when the rent became due, someone would show up needing a place to stay and with enough to pay the rent for another month.

The first was a man and his black pregnant wife. I don't remember where they (were) me from but there they were. She used to do something to perm hair which smelled as if it were being fried. Other than that, all went well until one day the man told David he didn't treat me well enough. That was a mistake. David, with indignation in his mellifluous voice replied, "If she doesn't like the way I treat her she'll tell me. Out. Pack up and go."

Next, two gay sisters and a dyke. Things got a bit out or hand one afternoon when David and I were in bed having a "matinee". The two girls came in and joined us. Then a couple of men friends of David's arrived and things got real busy. The dyke was nowhere in sight and one of the fellows, who had brought a ham with him, knowing of our lack of currency, went to bat with both of the sisters. l guess you could call an orgy, but I rather liked it.

Unfortunately, the dyke, a rather surly person, had a way of stomping through the house with her big boots on, till the a day came when David could stand it no longer. If that dyke clomps through the house once more in those boots, out they go. She did.

David 4

Then there was the time we let our house be used as a set for a porn movie. It paid well and we always needed money. The couple who were staying with us at that time were hiding out from her parents, who lived in La Jolla, and didn't think the young man was a suitable mate for her. They had money and he didn't . I'm happy to report that they are now happily married and have a beautiful daughter and all is forgiven. Also, in residence was Mike Brian, one time guitarist with Benny Goodman's band. He became a permanent guest.

We spent the sunny afternoon sunbathing on the sunporch while whatever happened, happened in the rest of the house.

A Mexican family lived next door to us and they lived their lives at the top of their voices. The son was always in trouble. The daughter was hanging out the wash. And we heard her clearly say, "You big shit, don't do that."

Immediately from the house, "What did I do now?"

"Not you, I was talking to the sun." It had just gone under a cloud.

David picked up a few odd jobs and I picked up a crochet hook and taught myself how to use it. I made caps and hats, and then ponchos and shawls which were well accepted by a boutique on Sunset Blvd. They were all originals as I hadn't yet learned to read patterns, and sold as fast as l could make them.

The girl who ran the shop which sold my things decided she wanted to go back to Oregon. And that's when I decided to go into business. The Crochet Workshop was born.

I reasoned that there must be many women who crocheted and knitted at home who would like to have a little income. l rented the shop and, with my son's help, decorated and painted, built some fixtures and then put an advertisement in the paper. New shop opening, need consignments of knits and crocheted items. Phone. David and l took calls for the next few days, making appointments. Of course they brought their best handiwork. I had shawls, sweaters, lace tablecloths, scarves, baby things, dresses, hats, al on consignment. I had xeroxed an agreement of terms and soon l had more than enough to stock the store.

I found a small sunny apartment in Echo Park near downtown Los Angeles. I bought some beautiful beads and began making necklaces and earrings which I sold to boutiques. Hippies were still in bloom and beads were very much in vogue.

I was not quite alone. l had a siamese cat which Albert and I had bought as a kitten. He had always wanted one, and now I was glad to have her. Annabelle was good company. Louise and I went to movies, lunches, and shopping. Time passed and I stopped feeling sorry for myself, although I missed him terribly. Louise was right, it had been a good move.

I answered the phone one day and it was David, the man who had made the tape for Albert's LSD sessions. "I have some business in L.A. and I wondered if I could stay at your place for a few days.", he asked. Pretty bold, I thought.

"Well, I don't know. My place is very small. I guess you could sleep on the floor.", I heard myself say. I had known David and his wife, Francis, for quite a few years, even before I'd met. Albert. Albert didn't approve of them; they drank too much, but David and l used to exchange and discuss books we had read. And Frances was fun. She played the guitar and sang. l visited them occasionally.

I recall a strange incident. One day George von Physter, who had been "ranch foreman" for our place in Topanga was having a boat launching party at the ship yard in Coronado for his refurbished Monterey boat. Afterward David and Francis drove me home. As I sat in the back swat and looked at the back of their heads I thought, "what is he doing with her ?" It was a sort of deja vu feeling, as if I had known him before, and yet it was the first time we had met. Much later, when Francis became ill and was advised to stop drinking, she sobered up and looked around and decided to divorce him, a move her brothers had been telling her to take, I was a witness for her.

"Yes, Your Honor, he always drank before breakfast."

"Divorce granted."

David 2

And now, here he was on my doorstep, or rather, on my floor. I never did find out what his 'business" in L.A. was but after three nights he was in my bed. I needed some loving and so did he.

Born in Memphis Tennessee, life on his father's rice experimental farm in Arkansas was too dull for him so he grabbed a saxophone and went to New Orleans as soon as he could. Both Mom and Daddy were not too happy with him after he'd told Mom he saw Daddy with another woman.

The nine room house on the hill above my apartment became vacant and the landlord, who had lived there as a boy, asked if we would like it. The rent was unbelievably low. "You know what it means if we take the house.", David said.; "Are you sure you want to?" I knew he meant we would really be living together then.

"Well, don't you think it's a great place? " I answered. "I think we can make it."

"Let's give it a go.", he replied. It was the house that brought us closer together. Perched on a hill, looking down Echo Park Blvd to Sunset, it was the first house in the area. Old but well built, large living room with grand piano, four bedrooms, sunroom, huge kitchen, space, space, space. Indescribable, but we knew we both wanted to live there. Behind the house, I made a terraced garden which furnished us with more Swiss chard than anyone really wanted but cash was scarce and it was good food. David liked it cooked with pork till it was unrecognizable, but it did taste good Southern style.

Louise accused me of jumping into bed with the first man who came along but it wasn't like that. lt may seem strange that as much as I missed Albert, I undertook another relationship so soon, but I had been married most of my life and it was natural to me to have a man as the focus of my life. I hadn't sought him. He was not unknown to me we had met years before. I recall when Francis divorced him, she said, I still love David but 1 can't live with him. I believed I could.
We were compatible in many ways; we shared books, music and our sex life was intensely satisfying. Who could ask for more. We were both at loose ends. The house tied up the ends.

David 3

We hired a couple of hippies to tote our possessions up the hill. Most of it was mine. David complained of a bad back and begged off. Sheldon would have classified as an extreme ectomorph, tall, slender and more mental than physical. Born the Aquarius, Pisces cusp. A poet, a raconteur, and a voice which had earned him years on early radio.

Then the fun began. David wasn't working and I didn't have much to contribute to the household but it must be true that nature abhors a vacuum because, when the rent became due, someone would show up needing a place to stay and with enough to pay the rent for another month.

The first was a man and his black pregnant wife. I don't remember where they (were) me from but there they were. She used to do something to perm hair which smelled as if it were being fried. Other than that, all went well until one day the man told David he didn't treat me well enough. That was a mistake. David, with indignation in his mellifluous voice replied, "If she doesn't like the way I treat her she'll tell me. Out. Pack up and go."

Next, two gay sisters and a dyke. Things got a bit out or hand one afternoon when David and I were in bed having a "matinee". The two girls came in and joined us. Then a couple of men friends of David's arrived and things got real busy. The dyke was nowhere in sight and one of the fellows, who had brought a ham with him, knowing of our lack of currency, went to bat with both of the sisters. l guess you could call an orgy, but I rather liked it.

Unfortunately, the dyke, a rather surly person, had a way of stomping through the house with her big boots on, till the a day came when David could stand it no longer. If that dyke clomps through the house once more in those boots, out they go. She did.

David 4

Then there was the time we let our house be used as a set for a porn movie. It paid well and we always needed money. The couple who were staying with us at that time were hiding out from her parents, who lived in La Jolla, and didn't think the young man was a suitable mate for her. They had money and he didn't . I'm happy to report that they are now happily married and have a beautiful daughter and all is forgiven. Also, in residence was Mike Brian, one time guitarist with Denny Goodman's band. He became a permanent guest.

We spent the sunny afternoon sunbathing on the sunporch while whatever happened, happened in the rest of the house.

A Mexican family lived next door to us and they lived their lives at the top of their voices. The son was always in trouble. The daughter was hanging out the wash. And we heard her clearly say, "You big shit, don't do that."

Immediately from the house, "What did I do now?"

"Not you, I was talking to the sun." It had just gone under a cloud.

David picked up a few odd jobs and I picked up a crochet hook and taught myself how to use it. I made caps and hats, and then ponchos and shawls which were well accepted by a boutique on Sunset Blvd. They were all originals as I hadn't yet learned to read patterns, and sold as fast as l could make them.

The girl who ran the shop which sold my things decided she wanted to go back to Oregon. And that's when I decided to go into business. The Crochet Workshop was born.

I reasoned that there must be many women who crocheted and knitted at home who would like to have a little income. l rented the shop and, with my son's help, decorated and painted, built some fixtures and then put an advertisement in the paper. New shop opening, need consignments of knits and crocheted items. Phone. David and l took calls for the next few days, making appointments. Of course they brought their best handiwork. I had shawls, sweaters, lace tablecloths, scarves, baby things, dresses, hats, al on consignment. I had xeroxed an agreement of terms and soon l had more than enough to stock the store.

3 David 1

I gave him the money. If I refuse, he will be angry. When he's angry I get angry and frightened and feel bad and usually give him the money.

May 77

Much later. We are now sharing the same roof. I do my thing, he does his. It hurts me to see him suffer but there's little I can do to help at this time. I am working to become independent and it is a full time job and I;m just beginning. Must take responsibility for myself so he can do the same. At first he was going to move out but changed his mind. I reminded him I hadn't asked him to leave, just that I was staying. Hopefully. The water bill is 6 months overdue, the phone bill is over $50 and due. Utilities are due too. I'm not cooking unless I feel like it. Have been fasting to get rid of a cold and have inadvertantly become vegetarian.

3 David 2

Especially now that the garden is almost self supporting.

He has been very ill with the same cold I caught from him. I was very unsolicitous and he resents that. No sympathy. There is good food in the house but he goes out and buys hamburgers and fries. He has a new drinking buddy, maybe. My life is gradually going to revolve around something else besides David. As Frances once said, "I still love him but I can't afford him." Neither can I afford him. He's an emotional yoyo and it's due to his hypoglycemia amply augmented with booze and candy. He hasn't been able to work all week and now it's Thursday. Maybe tomorrow. He wants to work weekends to make it up. He's got the fair the last two weeks of June. Hope he moves to Del Mar.

3 David 3

This time it's for real. I can't buy him anymore vitamins and see that he takes them. I don't have the money if I wanted to. I also don't have any money for his jug ever again. Maybe after awhile, I can feel more kindly but right now I've had it up to here with him. May God help him; he really needs it. Until he recognizes he needs help, not me, I don't think he will ever change and if he doesn't...

India 1

1976 India Street Poets Theatre

Welcome to this performance of India St Poets' Theatre, Brainchild of the late David Francis Banks.

One day in 1976 he looked around our spacious living room on the second level of India St and proclaimed it a great place for poetry readings.

A notice in the Reader to that effect produced an amazing array of poets from all parts of the city and ISPT was born. Among them were Austin Straus, Steve Kowitz, Shelley Savren, Elizabeth Evans, Don Propper, and many many more notables.

Thanks to a loosely formed group known as the I.S. Walkers a backup of suitable music was available. Robert Drewry classical bass, Manuel Mancillas flute and bongos, Hollister on clarinet and sax, and others as the spirit moved them.

There was always food for the hungry. And occasionally drink for the dry. I can still hear David loudly instructing a long winded reader, "One more!"

He ran a tight ship. No criticism was allowed and each reader was heard and applauded in turn, amateurs and pros alike.

India 2

Many stayed late for long evenings of discussion at the round table in the corner by the window seat.

Meetings were every Sunday for about a year, then once a month and when a boutique took over the space, we moved to Sidney's Coffee House thanks to a gracious gesture by Tim and Teg. Now it seems we may be looking for a new home as they are moving to San Francisco.
Our group has performed twice at the Calexico campus of San Diego State College. Acted a tableau of "Fall of the City" by Archibald MacLeish. Put on shows at Community Arts. The Poethon sparked by Papoleto Melendez. Opened the Marquis. Read at S.D. Rep Theatre. Performances in Old Town and Plum's Bookstore in Mission Hills, Educational Cultural Complex and Center for Women's Studies . Carrying on David's concept of poetry as theatre. And now, we are pleased to perform for you. Thank you and enjoy.