Chuck Bunn
Before I start this update, I need to say a word about my friend Chuck Bunn. Chuck was part of the original Daybreakers line-up, back in ‘66, our bass player and high-harmony guy, and he left the band summer of ‘67, shortly before we went to Nashville to record “Psychedelic Siren” – he was off to college out of state, and after that to the U.S. Army. In later years he joined us in Crusin’ – first in the ‘80s, again in the ‘90s, and for the last three years he’s been part of the current line-up.
Chuck returned to the band after the reunion of the original Daybreakers for the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction concert in 2008. He informed me that he was battling cancer, but that he had it under control. And frankly he was the same feisty, energetic, stubborn, indispensable guy, and showed no signs of infirmity. I’d been playing keyboard bass, and our rhythm guitarist/co-lead singer Andy Landers was about to leave the band, so I thought Chuck would make a good addition. Playing bass with the band gave him something to do, even to live for (he retired early upon getting his medical news), only he wasn’t just a good addition, he was a great one. The kind of band member who steps up and keeps equipment in repair and builds gizmos and drives the van and generally keeps things going, like my late buddy Paul Thomas used to do.
But about three months ago, Chuck’s battle turned a nasty corner, and he began to fail. His last two gigs were tough – he sat down through most of them, the farthest thing from his style. His last gig was the recent, very well-received Bouchercon dance at St. Louis. He passed away Sunday morning. He had been a soldier, a teacher, a contractor, a plant worker, a husband, a father, certainly a friend, and all those things are important. More important than rock ‘n’ roll. But Chuck might well say there isn’t anything more important than rock ‘n’ roll. And it never did any good arguing with him, so we’ll leave it at that.
The Consummata and More
There’s a great display of Hard Case Crime covers with commentary by Charles Ardai himself on the Huffington Post. Amazingly, one day last week (I believe Friday) the CONSUMMATA cover was on the front page of the Post! Either they don’t know Mickey’s politics…or they do know mine.
I have done a dizzying number of interviews in support of THE CONSUMMATA and QUARRY’S EX. Sometimes these are phoners, other times I answer an e-mail list of questions, and in one case below, it’s a podcast of the actual interview. I have endeavored to vary my responses, but some repetition is gonna turn up. Trust me.
Here’s a podcast from Film School Rejects.
Boing Boing asked me to write about other authors I read – this one was picked up in part and in whole a bunch of places, probably because of my frankness. This is worth checking out.
Here’s a nice follow-up to the Boing Boing piece by writer Max Gladstone.
There was also a lot of general CONSUMMATA coverage, like this blog post from my pal Ed Gorman.
And there were almost as many reviews – all favorable – of THE CONSUMMATA as interviews with me. Like this one at Guilty Conscience.
And this one at Mostly Fiction.
Fandomania weighted in with its own review.
The terrific pulp serenade posted a CONSUMMATA review, too.
Just to mix things up, here’s a nice review of BYE BYE, BABY by a high school student (darn good writer).
Finally, check out this posting on the Birth of Hard Case Crime from the wonderfully titled site, Boiled Hard.
M.A.C.
Tags: Bye Bye Baby, Crusin', Interviews, Nathan Heller, Quarry, Quarry's Ex, Reviews, The Consummata