{"id":4546,"date":"2021-02-09T12:38:23","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T17:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?p=4546"},"modified":"2021-02-09T12:38:23","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T17:38:23","slug":"the-funeral-of-hobo-dan-obrien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?p=4546","title":{"rendered":"The Funeral of Hobo Dan O&#8217;Brien"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> 
 We have here a curious bit of cultural history, and a glimpse of John&#8217;s life as a &#8220;youthful Greenwich Village poet.&#8221; \u00a0When he came to New York in his teens, he sold a few pieces to the <em>Hobo News<\/em> (later the<em> Bowery News<\/em>), and got to know some of the colorful characters in the hobo and Bowery subculture. In 1949, he read the eulogy at the funeral of Dan O&#8217;Brien, &#8220;King of the Hobos.&#8221; The event was covered by a couple of New York papers. Here&#8217;s a clipping from the <em>New York Sun<\/em>, November 4, 1949.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?attachment_id=4548\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4548\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4548\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"910\" height=\"611\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN1.jpg 910w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN1-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN1-768x516.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 910px) 100vw, 910px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?attachment_id=4549\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4549\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4549\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"917\" height=\"1720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN2.jpg 917w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN2-160x300.jpg 160w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN2-546x1024.jpg 546w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN2-768x1441.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN2-819x1536.jpg 819w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 917px) 100vw, 917px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And here&#8217;s the coverage from the <em>New York World-Telegram<\/em>, also on November 4, 1949. Note that Coney Island Willie is reading the <em>Bowery News.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?attachment_id=4550\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4550\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4550\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"950\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN3.jpg 950w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN3-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN3-768x483.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?attachment_id=4551\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4551\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4551\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"950\" height=\"470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN4.jpg 950w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN4-300x148.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN4-768x380.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?attachment_id=4558\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4558\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4558\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN5A.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"622\" height=\"1434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN5A.jpg 622w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN5A-130x300.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN5A-444x1024.jpg 444w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 622px) 100vw, 622px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>John saved the business cards of just about everyone he met. Here are the cards of Dan O&#8217;Brien, Prof. Giuseppe Ravita, Jim Crouch, and Harry Baronian, editor of the <em>Bowery News<\/em>. The note on the back of Harry Baronian&#8217;s card assured somebody named Alex that the young Keel was &#8220;okay.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?attachment_id=4553\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4553\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4553\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"521\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN6.jpg 521w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN6-300x170.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 521px) 100vw, 521px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?attachment_id=4554\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4554\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4554\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"582\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN7.jpg 582w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN7-300x174.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 582px) 100vw, 582px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?attachment_id=4560\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4560\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/CROUCH.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"513\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/CROUCH.jpg 513w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/CROUCH-300x165.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 513px) 100vw, 513px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?attachment_id=4555\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4555\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4555\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"520\" height=\"279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN8.jpg 520w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN8-300x161.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/?attachment_id=4556\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4556\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4556\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"519\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN9.jpg 519w, https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/OBRIEN9-300x173.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 519px) 100vw, 519px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have here a curious bit of cultural history, and a glimpse of John&#8217;s life as a &#8220;youthful Greenwich Village poet.&#8221; \u00a0When he came to New York in his teens, he sold a few pieces to the Hobo News (later the Bowery News), and got to know some of the colorful characters in the hobo [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4546"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4561,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4546\/revisions\/4561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnkeel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}