VARDA
                                         Zorbotic Janko Varda,
                                                    photo copyright Michael Bowen
"Thunderbird Boogie"
by Daniel Francis Eggink
    I first met Varda in 1957 at Nepenthe in Big Sur. Lolly and Bill Fassett had been friends with him and his wife, Virginia, for years and they filled me with tales of the amazing multi-talented Varda. Being a callow youth I wasn't too impressed by the old Bohemian.
    However, in the spring of 1966, while under the influence of L.S.D., I had a  cosmic experience involving the aging master.
   Theo, my large visigothic partner, and I had just finished dinner at the Ondine Restaurant in Sausalito by dropping a couple of tabs of "acid". We decided to cruise over to Varda's ferryboat and visit two girls who were taking care of the place while he was away in Greece. When we arrived something  very strange seemed to be happening. All the lights were on and the doors open but nobody was at home. Likewise, upstairs Allen Watts wasn't home. Theo and I  looked all over the boat and couldn't figure what was going on. Packing boxes were everywhere, some sealed and some open. Nothing was the way Varda kept it.

I remember saying
"something  is weird about all this. Maybe something has happened to Varda?"

Theo said
"So, what do we do?"

I said,
"Help yourself. Remember what happened when Modigliani died in Paris? Overnight his art was spread all over Paris. And it has always been a tradition amongst artists to treasure the artifacts of other artists."

We quickly moved among the shelves and boxes sorting out the treasure from what looked like treasure. Varda collected everything from tinfoil to real emeralds and solar batteries. The thing we soon discovered was Varda wasn't simply a decorative artist. He was a practicing magician.He had in his collection the bow of Ulysess, The hammer of Thor, Shiva's lingum,  (To be continued)
Nepenthe
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