LAVA to fete Gore Vidal at Musso & Frank Grill Aug. 9

LAVA hosts a Gore Vidal memorial at his favorite literary haunt, The Musso &
Frank Grill

WHAT: An Homage to Gore Vidal, hosted by LAVA ­ The Los Angeles Visionaries
Association (hosts of the LAVA Salon at Musso & Frank, recently named L.A.'s
"Best Literary Salon" by Los Angeles Magazine)

WHERE: Musso & Frank Grill, 6667 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028.

WHEN: Thursday, August 9, 8-10pm.

COST: Attendance is free and reservations are not required. The bar will be
serving drinks and the restaurant serving food. Reservations are suggested
if you wish to order dinner. To reserve, call Musso & Frank at (323)
467-7788.

FOR MORE INFO: Contact Kim Cooper, amscray@gmail.com, 323-223-2767.

EVENT LINK: http://lavatransforms.org/gorevidalmemorial


There is simply no Hollywood restaurant more closely tied to
the city's literary legacy than Musso & Frank--a favorite of Faulkner,
Fitzgerald, Fante, Hellman, Hammett, Chandler, Cain, Saroyan, Parker, West,
as well as a new generation of luminaries.

In recent years, there has been one regular patron who neatly bridged the
gap between the old literary world and the new: the essayist, novelist,
playwright, screenwriter and bon vivant Gore Vidal.

Gore Vidal's July 31 death at the age of 86 leaves a lingering sadness at
the bar that he loved, and a sense that glasses should be raised one last
time in his honor.

And so on Thursday, August 9, LAVA ­ The Los Angeles Visionaries
Association, hosts of the quarterly LAVA Salon at Musso & Frank, invite
friends and fans of Gore Vidal to gather in Musso's new room to celebrate
the life and work of this incomparable American intellect.

Posting on the Musso & Frank Facebook page this week, 4th generation
proprietor and General Manager Mark Echeverria shared a lovely memorial to
his friend and patron:

"It is with great sorrow that The Musso & Frank Grill acknowledges the
passing of a patron, and dear friend, Gore Vidal. Mr. Vidal passed away at
his home in the Hollywood Hills on Tuesday night at the age of 86. Over the
past several years I had the pleasure of many lively conversations with him
which stretched well into the night. Keeping politics aside, we discussed
the history of Musso's, as well as Mr. Vidal's friendship with many notable
writers including Tennessee Williams. He told me stories of the two of them
running amuck at the Musso's bar, trying to outdo each other in every way
they could. Mr. Vidal was one of the last ties to the old Hollywood writers
and I will be forever grateful that I had the chance to meet him and to call
him a friend.

Although a piece of Hollywood is forever lost with Mr. Vidal, a path is
paved for the next generation. Mr. Vidal himself was always pleased to hear
that young writers had found their way into Musso's looking for some of the
same creative inspiration that he himself had absorbed from the restaurant
over the years. He supported the search for 'The Next Hollywood Writer
Generation.'

I believe we should ALL raise a chilled Grey Goose Martini in honor of Mr.
Vidal and The Golden Age of writers and their material. We salute the next
generation as he always did. Our hearts go out to those who knew and loved
Gore Vidal, and we invite you all to stop in to Musso's to share your
stories about this remarkable man."

Please join LAVA and Musso & Frank in paying our last respects to Gore Vidal
on the evening of August 9 at Musso's in Hollywood--or wherever you happen
to be.

For more about the LAVA Salon at Musso & Frank, including the upcoming
October 15 Salon "Jim Tully: A Hobo in Hollywood," visit
http://lavatransforms.org/mussosalon4

ABOUT LAVA: Through participation in LAVA, a select group of creative
professionals come together to promote cultural programming that speaks to
the urban experience while promoting positive public space. LAVA's creative
partners share a love for L.A. and unique ideas for exploring it in their
work. Formed by social historians RICHARD SCHAVE and KIM COOPER --
proprietors of Esotouric bus adventures and the 1947project time travel blog
series (including On Bunker Hill and In SRO Land) -- LAVA brings together
L.A.'s most visionary promoters, artists, writers and thinkers.


Applications from prospective LAVA members are being taken at
http://lavatransforms.org/apply

To learn more about LAVA, please visit http://www.lavatransforms.org