From earliest childhood, I have rejoiced over the Santa Ana winds. I know those winds as the Eskimos know their snows.
-Eve Babitz
Eve Babitz was born on May 13, 1943, in Los Angeles, California the eldest daughter of Sol and Mae Babitz.
A precious young girl, Eve did not have a traditional upbringing. Mae Babitz, of Cuban ancestry, born Lily Mae Laviolette of Sour Lake, Texas, was an artist and conservationist. Her father, Sol Babitz, was a concert violinist and a musical scholar who worked for 20th Century Fox.
Babitz’s mother Mae hosted gatherings for poets and musicians in their upper-class suburban family home. Her father Sol jammed with Stuff Smith and Jelly Roll Morton influencing his daughter’s musical taste as well.
Igor Stravinsky a close friend of her parents was Eve’s godfather. Stravinsky regularly attended Mae’s lavish dinner parties where he secretly plied her 15-year-old daughter Eve with glasses of scotch under the table.
When Eve celebrated her 16th birthday Stravinsky slipped rose petals down her white decolletage. Essentially, she was a daughter of golden age Hollywood, the archetypal L.A. young woman.
She grew up combing Sunset Strip and body surfing at Roadside Beach. After completing her studies at Hollywood High, Eve dabbled in art.
She went on to design album covers for Buffalo Springfield, and to reinvent comedian Steve Martin’s wardrobe. Next, Eve processed photos and interpreted collage art record covers for Linda Ronstadt, and The Byrds.
Photo courtesy of Amazon
Eve enjoyed the limelight and became immersed in the L.A. scene. She became an influencer based on her appeal for dramatic preludes. In 1963, Eve turned the tables on her married lover Walter Hopps, when she decided to crash his art extravaganza. During the event, Eve posed nude while playing chess with Marcel DuChamp for photographer Julian Wasser. Marcel DuChamp also happened to be her lover’s favorite artist. When Walter Hopps discovered Eve together with Marcel DuChamp he nearly fainted.
Almost thirty years later, Eve turned the affair into the now-classic essay, “I Was a Naked Pawn for Art” which was issued in Esquire in 1991.
Eve traveled to France and New York City, but neither compared to her native city of angels- L.A.
People nowadays get upset at the idea of being in love with a city,” Eve wrote. “Especially Los Angeles. People think you should be in love with other people or your work or justice. I’ve been in love with people and ideas in several cities and learned that the lovers I’ve loved and the ideas I’ve embraced depended on where I was, how cold it was, and what I had to do to be able to stand it.”
In her way, Eve shone as brightly as the sun in her coastal community. She celebrated at night and wrote about her glamorous life during the daylight hours. Coincidentally, Joan Didion recommended an essay of Eve Babitz’s to the publishers of Rolling Stone Magazine.
Unfortunately, Eve indulged in excess drinking alcohol, smoking pot, and getting high on cocaine. She smoked cigarettes as well. While driving home from brunch with her family, Eve accidentally lit her skirt on fire. Eve underwent surgery to remove the damage to her skin.
Following her hospitalization, Eve became a recluse. She eventually managed to get sober, and rehabilitate. Thankfully, in 2012 writer Lili Anolik brought Eve Babitz back to life both literally and figuratively.
A fan of Eve’s writing, Lili spent years drawing Eve out of her seclusion and offered her a chance to begin again. In 2014 Lili profiled Eve in Vanity Fair. Thepublic response to Lili’s piece about Eve was favorable.
As a result of Lili’s manifestation of Eve’s literary contributions, Eve told BookForum in March of 2020,
My agent then got all the rights back to most of my work, had it republished, and now it’s been published all over the world. I was even nominated for a PEN Award for I Used to Be Charming (and I was a finalist.)
Eve Babitz passed away at the age of 78 on December 17th, 2021.
