John Fante Square Unveiled at 5th and Grand Avenue in Downtown LA

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That's Vickie Fante-Cohen reading a passage from her father's novel Ask the Dust.
John Fante died in 1983. Today would have been his 101st birthday.
"Bunker Hill's prodigal son" was honored with the unveiling of Fante Square on 5th and Grand Avenue downtown.
"For some reason he often found an excuse to stop downtown," said Dan Fante.
Dan Fante remembers his fathers love of Bunker Hill.
"I knew he simply just wanted to be here, to walk through the Grand Central Market, to see Angels Flight, and maybe just to remember those early years. They were his best memories."
"John Fante was a beloved downtown Los Angeles writer who told the story of living in Bunker Hill," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, "sharing both the difficulties and the beauty of calling this area home."
Councilwoman Jan Perry spearheaded efforts to name the corner Fante Square.
"He immortalizes the tale of the Bunker Hill community," Perry said. "The homes and the people who shaped our own local history."
Bunker Hill wasn't what it is today, said Gordon Paterson, whose father lived with Fante in Bunker Hill. .
In those days Bunker Hill was described as a blighted slum that needed to be raised, Patterson said, "The residents there were lower income, many of them were artists, writers, elderly retired people. And I can look up Grand Avenue right now and I can almost see the old Bunker Hill."
Fante wrote about class and immigration issues he endured as an Italian American that still relevant today.
After the Fante Square unveiling, Family and fans walked in the very footsteps of Fante. They went on the Angels Flight railway, stopped at Grand Central Market for lunch and headed to King Edwards Salon in Skid Row for a drink. All are familiar scenes in Fante's novels.
Karen Marcus, Annenberg Radio News.