OLE 1: Full-Page Original Art by Blazek, One Uncollected Poem, Two First Appearance Poems by Charles Bukowski (1964)

This is a unique copy of OLE 1 with an original color illustration by editor Doug Blazek on the inside rear cover. This was his first issue of OLE, so perhaps he was borrowing taking page from the playbook of Wormwood Review editor Marvin Malone. In any case, I think it’s a nice design and I’m surprised Blazek didn’t use his talent more often in his publications.

Published in 1964, OLE 1 features three Bukowski poems:

Age
Freedom
Watchdog

The poem Watch has yet to be published again.

Age was not published again for 43 years, when it appeared in The People Look Like Flowers At Last (2007).

Freedom would appear a few years later in The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over The Hills.

This is a low number in the run, stamped #06 out of 400 copies. Perhaps that why Blazek gave it some extra love.

Other contributors include Judson Crews, Ron Offen, Marvin Malone, and R.R. Cuscaden.

This copy is in Very Good ++ condition with toning around the edges of both covers, especially down the spine. But it’s a solid copy and the interior pages are clean.

Ole was published by Doug Blazek, a fellow poet and early proponent of Bukowski’s work. They were friends and had a lengthy correspondence between 1964 to 1968. As with several other writers, the relationship ended abruptly after their first meeting in person.

Blazek published Bukowski in all eight issues of Ole between 1964 and 1967, and was responsible for Bukowski’s return to prose, publishing the chapbooks CONFESSIONS OF A MAN INSANE ENOUGH TO LIVE WITH BEASTS and ALL THE ASSHOLES IN THE WORLD AND MINE.

In this issue, there are hand corrections throughout the chapbook by Blazek, including the end of Bukowski’s poem. In a letter to Blazek around the time of publication, Bukowski wrote:

“…don’t worry about the notched-up Ole, we are not mechanics, we are lazy, fumbling, aching from the shrill pipes and ugly whores, listen, try to get the CONTENT, that’s all…”

Box 11