Richard Fariña

Later that day, while at a party to celebrate his wife Mimi's twenty-first birthday, Fariña saw a guest with a motorcycle, who later gave Fariña a ride up Carmel Valley Road, heading east toward Cachagua. At an S-turn the driver lost control. The motorcycle tipped over on the right side of the road, came back to the other side, and tore through a barbed wire fence into a field where a small vineyard now exists. The driver survived, but Fariña was killed instantly. According to Pynchon's preface to Been Down, the police said the motorcycle must have been traveling at, even though "a prudent speed" would have been. Fariña was buried in a simple grave; its marker emblazoned with a peace sign, at Monterey City Cemetery, in Monterey, California.<br /><br /> Fariña's widow helped to gather a collection of his final poetry and short stories, which was released as, Long Time Coming and a Long Time Gone. Read Less

Fairport Convention recorded "Reno, Nevada" for a BBC session in 1968 issued as part of their album, Heyday. The song featured both Iain Matthews and Sandy Denny who also recorded "The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood" for her album, Sandy. Matthews later recorded "Reno Nevada" and "Morgan the Pirate" for his album, "If You Saw Thro' My Eyes"; other Farina compositions appeared on subsequent solo albums and on recordings by Matthews' band, Plainsong. Read Less