are we most dis-respected after we die?

Scanner: Easy Rider is one of my all-time favorite movies. I guess it is the free spirit in me that yearns for jumping on a bike and riding to who knows where. Dennis Hopper is an American icon whose spirit will never die. His life did not end like the end of the movie. The guys in the pickup truck missed him this time. R

Amen, bruth'a. The squabbling over the remains. Is it not a tentative clinging to a Life ill-spent? It makes it seem as if the tickers were adding, clickety-click, throughout the life of the Dear Departed. I was lucky: My brother and I had long since cleared the house of all we wanted when Mama went on, and Pops could not bear the memory of staying in that Place of Them. We traded things back and forth over all the ensuing years, from 1981 to 2007, when Timmy, my last natal relative, also went on. He bequeathed me his massive collection of vintage Winchester rifles. His wife cut me off. Ditched me, and right in front of God and everyone, right there, in the Funeral Home, where she Presiiiiiiiiiiided over the casket. Appalling, and taken by much surprise, I knew the knowing of that Selfishness. You need them? -- Have them. I would not have sold them, I'd have cherished his loving care of restoration, re-machining to make perfectly capable of use, the tender oiling of the stocks and barrels, and all held within the beautiful, finial'd and carved Oak Cabinet that he also lovingly fashioned for them. C'est, and La Vie. I still have Daddy's Medals.

Love that movie, Love that Hopper. I also love your summation of the situation. I can just see that finger rising in defiance. Hopper was definitely the spirit of America. I miss him, too. Hope this sees the cover.

From a fellow Dennis Hopper fan, I hear ya, scanner. After Hopper made his first movie, he spent the money he made on art. His agent came to visit him at his apartment and when he saw all the art, he asked Hopper, "What's that?" Hopper replied, "It's art." His agent said, "That's not art. That's some shit. You can't be spending your money on shit and you don't know when you're going to make money again. You have to make a choice. Listen to me. It's me as your agent or you buying art." Hopper looked at him and said, "You're fired."
Those pieces of "shit"? All Andy Warhols. Before Andy Warhol was known by anyone.

He is an American Icon of highest order for me Scanner. He will never die in my heart.
I expect he stiffened up with that finger pointing towards the skies laughing away....

Great post. "Comes A Time" is a favorite of mine as well.

I don't know much about Dennis Hopper personally and I hope you're not confusing the man with his roles. The stories about art, about firing his agent and firing at Mao, would indicate that some of what we saw on screen was actually him.

I don't know about the fighting over the estate. That would indicate to me that the family had problems with each other, not just money. On one hand, I can't imagine fighting with my sister over whatever we eventually inherit. On the other, I've got kids who are very needy for attention (for reasons that include, in one case, severe physical disabilities and, in the other case, incomplete comprehension of why a disabled kid needs so much attention), and I suspect that jealousy could, down the road, lead to conflicts, assuming I'm capable of leaving much. My parents are also divorced and remarried - which happened in my adulthood rather than childhood - so I suppose it's possible there could be conflicts between the sets of kids who really don't know each other that well.

What I'm saying is that it isn't necessarily all about greed; there are other factors at work. Some of it may be about turf. Some may be about feeling slighted and just reacting to being hurt.

Have you ever seen a movie called The Dresser, with Albert Finney? If you have, there's something in that movie that would illustrate part of my point really well.

Sorry to add a second comment. Forgot something.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/neilyoung/comesatime.html

The recording above has the guitar loud in relation to the vocals, so here's a link to the lyrics.

Also, I should say that I loved certain things about Easy Rider, the main one of which is perhaps the best and most evocative use of rock music in a movie ever. My vote for the song most representative of the Sixties is Born To Be Wild, which I think may be the quintessential rock song. I know, people from around that era tend to vote for Stairway, but I prefer Born To Be Wild. (My vote for the second most evocative Sixties song is, oddly enough, the Byrds' cover of Dylan's My Back Pages because it does a perfect job of blending the feel of early Sixties folk with later Sixties rock. If you don't know what song I'm referring to, the chorus ends "but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.")

Elijah, unfortunately, money will make people anything!
Dave, I think I'll think that way too. Him and Fonda just riding away!
Songbird, it's so sad that that memory will stay with you. Thanks!
Mike, the only cover my work will ever see is the cover of the hard copy I make. The powers that be don't seem to like me much!
cartouche, I think he even talked Jack Nicholson into collecting.
Mis, I like to think that he would tell the world to bend over, put their heads between their legs and to kiss their own ass!
Michelle Coulter, thanks for stopping by. Another Young fan!
Kosher, I've read a lot about this. It started before he died. His wife and kids were fighting over him and his daughter even moved in his house and the wife and kid left. Just plain greed on someone's part, whose, who knows!

Scanner, my fellow rock 'n roller...loved,loved,loved your remembrance of Hopper along with Neil's soundtrack. I listened to it while reading. So perfect. I saw a feature on Hopper and his art collection on TV well before he died. An amazing collection. I hope his kids have something sentimental to keep of their father's like you did with your dad's medals.

Kosher, "Born to be Wild" is right and for the Vietnam War you had the Stones, "Paint it Black". Great music back then my man!

Ever see him in "Giant"? Choir-boy looks, totally convincing.

I love it -- "I don't know if he was high, but..." That's the best beginning to a sentence ever!
Best Wishes,
Blittie

I don't know if he convinced him to collect or not, but I can tell you that Jack Nicholson has one of the largest private art collections in the United States. He is a very savvy collector.

What I remember is how great an actor he was, if given the right role. His work as Shooter in "Hoosiers" is a good example: precision-tuned, florescent in its subtlety, achingly vulnerable. Good post, Scanner--and I imagine him shooting the bird to the drones, too.

It is a rule of thumb, the more money to be inherited the more fighting there will be. The two siblings fighting over getting 20 million each, will slug it out nastier than the two receiving 2 thousand each. Go figure!
R

Hooper - Young , silver space ships flying - all of us to a new home in the sun.

Great tribute scanner. Easy Rider , 41 years ago, (6 in dog years),
looks a little dated now, the audience from back then is retiring now and a lot more conservative

Buffy

Dennis was an American icon who represented all that was good about America~a country which used to exist in reality for those of us who are old enough to remember it.
His attitudes and many of his characterizations were what life was and ought to still be.
America has been dead for some time and only lives within those of us whp still carry the true American spirit.
Unfortunately, we can now be harassed, arrested and/or beaten, tazed or shot just by being what a real American was.
Here's a comment I copied from another site.
It is accurate:
"Back before America became a police state you didn't need papers to travel between the states. I feel sorry for the young people of this nation who will never know an America where it wasn't demanded that you show your papers without probable cause and a warrant".

I'll always be an "Easy Rider" and a REAL American.

I loved "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head." Hopper was sick by the time he did it, but it was perfect for him, and prophetic. Authoritarian shebangs don't last very long, they all explode. Easy Rider Forever.
Rated.

This used to be a hay-ell of a good country...sssssssssssssstt...

Dennis was the finest American actor when he ws alive.
His first break, his twilightZone episode as a neoNazi haunted by Hitler's ghost, is compelling. Dennis was very young.
r.

Wait a sec. Does that say Editor's Pick at the top of the page--and well deserved it is. Loved Easy Rider and loved that Vincent Price and Dennis Hopper were both art collectors. Congratulations Mr. Scanner on a well-written piece.

cool tribute to Dennis Hopper. thanks.

Your last line made me laugh. I can visualize that. Nice piece. Excellent writing & congrats on the EP & cover.

I still have some of those birthday cards myself Scanner. Shooting Warhol's painting was a great idea but shooting Warhol would have been even better. Its not so much the loss of freedom which is so unpalatable. Freedom is a ambiguous word best left to be defined by poets. It is the subjugation of a once proud people by a group of inbreed pansy's whose only objective is material gain for themselves and their genetically defected offspring. This is what makes the war that is coming a categorical imperative.

I was sleeping when you write this.
GRETA PIECE AND WHOOHOOOO ON THE EP

w r o t e.. I am still half asleep

He spent a lot of time in New Mexico where he was a favorite son. I approved of his love of art and he had a discerning eye as evident in his world-class collection.

There must be a blue moon tonight.

Congratulations Scanner, on the EP!


`R

Ed I Tor finally got a clue and gave you an EP! Hooray!

And it is well deserved. This is some of your best writing, Scanner. I especially enjoyed this line: "I don't know if he was high, but I would have to be to do what he did."

Congratulations!

Lezlie

Haha! Don't ever cut me out of picking EP's, Brother! I've been on a roll lately and your work just keeps getting better and better. Cool!

I just got back in and was reading the comments when I saw this was an EP. If anybody in the world is surprised, it's me. I found this little article about three o'clock this morning and wrote it kind of fast. It took more time to edit than write. Emily told me that a lot goes into picking an EP. I will never figure it out, but it is appreciated. Thanks Ya'll!

Scanner-congratulations on the EP- well deserved.
Incidentally- in addition to being an art collector- Dennis Hopper was also an artist- started off in LA in the early 60's before he made it as an actor.
He'll be missed.

Ian, yes he was. I forgot to mention that. I saw a 20/20 or 48 hours or something and he showed his art he bought and his own which was pretty good. I bet they sell high. He probably would have bought one, he had an eye for the early artists. Thanks~

Scanner this is a great post. you so deserve the EP. Looks like at least one Ed i Tor finally saw that there is lots of great writing from other OSers than just the favorites. -RRR-

Great Piece! I am too young to have seen any Dennis Hopper films. Perhaps I should? Easy Rider looks like a good start! 8)

I believe you received an Editor's Pick. Congrats, nobody deserves it more and the post was great. When it comes to Easy Rider I will always think of it as Jack Nicholson's breakthrough. Rated. //=o)

The fight with his wife during his last days spoiled my image of the man. He just seemed mean spirited in the end.

Hopper was seriously cool — a true artist. that he was a republican since Reagan, and he voted for the George H. W. and George W. Bush doesn't diminish his legacy.
“because the reality of things going on around me is more interesting than the fantasies of the world I work in.”

~Dennis Hopper

Nice tribute to Dennis. I'll bet that if he can see all the fuss over his possessions, he is probably laughing up a storm right now!

Great piece, but I'm tired of the icons of my life dying off. We need to do something about this, but I just cant remember what.

Hopper was also a very talented photographer. He seemed to be an interesting man with a wide variety of interests. What a bitter irony that the man who made the most famous anti-establishment movie of all time is now just a source of income for his relatives.

Loved the Warhol story.

It's always so sad when children and exes fight over what is left. The few things I have from my parents I treasure, but they are small and meaningful only to me. Great piece of riding. I also love that Neil Young song - gets to me every time. R

I'm not familiar with the movie but reading your narration and your heart towards it... I assumed it's kind of something which once upon a time, it gave spice to the world...

Vultures flying over the remains. See it too many times. Hooper was a great actor and one of my favorites also. Yeah, he would give them all the finger.

Great post. Congratulations on the cover.

It's a wonder tall trees ain't layin' down.

Congrats on the cover. I am just starting to appreciate Hopper and Young, both-so, thanks for enhancing my admiration further. ~R

Congrats Scanner on the EP. Great post - i too was a big Dennis Hopper fan. i loved the story of the shot gun holes in the Chairman Mao painting.

Great piece Scanner. I am very into art and I appreciated this. Congrats on the EP.

Nice piece about Hopper and about what happens to families after death. Families will tear each other to pieces over stuff even when there is plenty for everyone.

Great post. Loved Easy rider. congrats on the EP.

Scandude on the cover, EP even. You've been discovered. It seems Hopper's passing is the beginning of fortune and fame for the scanman. How ironic, not to mention well deserved and so very un-Easy Rider.

Well deserve, excellent post.

More of the passing of an era. Congrats on the EP! Also: is it just me being weird, or does this photo make you think of Owen Wilson? To me, it's the same look around the eyes, though I know they could not be more different.

Congrats on the EP, Scanner! Thanks for the read. R

Love Dennis and I love that Neil Young song. Both of those guys are timeless hippies. Survivors who walked and talked their own ways and did so much better for doing so. I met and photographed Dennis Hopper a few times over the years in Toronto. He was so unlike many of the other movie celebrities. Willing to be photographed and share a good joke or time with anyone who was real. Unlike many like Shawn Penn who might at any moment smash you for taking his picture. I remember in Maine back in 1970 we used to play Easy Rider. I always played Dennis and thought Peter was just to plain.
Love the Warhol story too...Keep on keeping on and remember .She wore Blue Velvet......

I love "Comes a Time." Thanks for posting it.

Yeah, it is so sad that Dennis passed. It is sort of like the end of an era. He is probably somewhere in the cosmos now, listening to Jerry rifting on his guitar in some cosmic, heavenly, Dead show. Gawd bless him!

I read this yesterday but could not get back to comment, first off I loved this piece and secondly an EP! I love that they have found your writing and expect we will see many more to come.

Thanks everyone or stopping by. Most of us are at the age now where Hopper and Young were our generation. People can say what they will, but there was a time of freedom and hope. It didn't last long but it happened and it cannot be denied. It might be the rarest thing in human history, but it did happened. Thanks again!

"The man is clear in his head, but his soul is mad, man."

From Apocalypse Now.