Tales From A Blackout

Artists and writers Jim Davis, Robert Branaman, Alan Russo, Dave Haselwood, Michael McClure, Bruce Conner, and Charles Plymell all spent time in a Wichita bar, A Blackout, formerly The Silver Dollar. So did musicians Mike Finnegan and Jerry Hahn. A Blackout Tavern, 2930 E. 21st, a fixture in Wichita's Movement since the 1950s, has been gone since the early 1980s. Pat O'Connor has collected several stories connected with the tavern into a book, **Tales From A Bla*ckout*. Wichita made its mark on the national counterculture, and the scenery of the 1950s and 1960s is accurately described in this book. From its days in Wichita's beat era, the bar was a gathering place for the unconventional--beat poets, folk singers and early acid rock bands. And there was a loyalty to the bar, shown in the bumper stickers that declared "I Drink At A Blackout" on a black and red flag.