Lorraine Gibson Cohen, daughter of Harry ‘The Hipster’ Gibson, has written her memoir about the oddballs, curios, misfits, and creative folks who she encounters during her life.
It’s the kind of book that has a character (with a big C – Character) on every page, from the members of Cohen’s family, through to those on the periphery of their life.
It’s a book that bursts with love for the 1960s and the unconventionality of the hipsters, civil rights supporters, and liberals who effected the change that would kick the stuffy, conservative 1950s into the long grass.
I hadn’t heard of Harry Gibson before, but his daughter brings him into our gaze through her loving and honest account of this jazz player, this unconventional dreamer and in the sharp vibrancy of her writing, focused in its details and in its sense of family (actual and found).
The story of Harry Gibson is one about jazz, exploration, and addiction, at a point when jazz was morphing into the rock ‘n’ roll scene that attracted the younger music lovers.
Gibson, born a Jew, adopted black music and its style early on, and affected an unusual singing style. He can be spotted in the 1940s’ film Junior Prom, one of those teen musicals made on Poverty Row, and there are several albums to listen to on YouTube if you want to find out more.
He’s Fats Waller, Cab Calloway and Jerry Lee Lewis all shook up in a box. Then, later in life, Harry the Hipster became a rock musician. A remarkable man, he lived until 1991.
Cohen clearly loves and reveres him, with great respect for his achievements while recognising that he, her long-suffering mother, and her siblings were real people with real personalities and failings.
Painting an entertaining picture of life at Culper Court, Cohen is the kind of person you want to spend time with, and she makes the story of her family a fascinating one.
The Hipster’s Legacy is hard to put down (metaphorically, I am reviewing from a PDF copy) and is fizzing with humour. “Handsome Harry the Hipster” would have found it ‘far out’ and ‘groovy’.
The Hipster’s Legacy by Lorraine Gibson Cohen is published by Plumtree Tales is available now with an accompanying website.