OPEN CITY No. 3, May 19–25, 1967 — Bukowski at the Races, Grateful Dead, Captain Beefheart, UCLA Free Speech Riot

An issue of the Los Angeles underground weekly, featuring just the third appearance of Charles Bukowski's "Notes of a Dirty Old Man" — here still credited under his full name rather than the later stylized byline. The column is a full-page treatise on horse racing: Bukowski breaks down the mathematics of the 15% track take, the psychology of overlays and underlays, and the manipulation of crowds through fear and tight money. He offers a practical betting strategy, closing with a meditation on money as the most serious force in American society.

The front cover leads with an investigation into a staged right-wing flag-burning brawl on the UCLA campus, orchestrated to discredit the free speech movement. An interior notice previews the upcoming Griffith Park Love-In featuring the Grateful Dead, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, the Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Iron Butterfly, and Barry McGuire. The back cover calendar includes Ravi Shankar at the Music Center and a Bogart Film Festival. Large tabloid format, 17" x 11", black and white throughout.

Provenance: Mailing label on front cover addressed to John Bryan Sr. at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio — the editor's father at his place of work.

This copy is in great condition. There is a small tear on the left side of the horizontal fold and some light browning on the page edges.