Poets/Writers

Jonathan Shaw (Gonzo Tattooist & Author)

Jonathan Dowling Shaw (born July 4, 1953) is an American tattoo artist and writer. He founded New York City’s oldest tattoo shop, Fun City Tattoo, in 1976, before tattooing was legal in the city. He is another Living Legend!

Shaw was born in 1953. His father was big band musician and bandleader Artie Shaw, and his mother was the musicians’ seventh wife, actress Doris Dowling. He was raised in Los Angeles, and from his own description had a very rough upbringing. His parents’ marriage dissolved when he was three years old, and he developed a heroin addiction in his teenage years, occupying his time with varied acts of juvenile delinquency. At age 19, while working at the Los Angeles Free Press, he met the author Charles Bukowski who inspired him to hitchhike from Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro in 1972. He arrived in South America, finding work as a deckhand and tattoo artist.
*info acquired from Wikipedia

*FULL DISCLAIMER* Jonathan Shaw DID NOT PAY ME FOR THIS AD. I listed him because he wrote an incredible blurb for Holding the Door for Barbarianas, by Mark Berriman! That, my friend, is worth infinitely more than a $50 AD. Thank You. Brother Berriman & I also scored some killer blurbs from Shane McGowan as well as Ohio Beat Poet Laureate John Burroughs! They can all be seen below, along with a link to the book.