For friends and fans of John Lurie, there’s a disturbing article in the current issue of The New Yorker. The title of the piece is ‘Sleeping With Weapons’ and it’s a strange and sad tale. John has been in hiding for the past 18 months to avoid a former friend who is supposedly stalking him. In addition, he has a mysterious illness that has kept him a virtual prisoner in his apartment for the past six years, until now

For those of you unfamiliar with Lurie’s history, he’s been a significant and prolific member of New York’s downtown art scene since the 1970s. His band The Lounge Lizard’s were at the forefront of the late 70s New York ‘no-wave’  music scene. He starred in Jim Jarmusch’s pioneering indie film Stranger Than Paradise, along with more than a dozen other films. He hosted TV’s Fishing With John, has done film soundtracks and is a highly regarded painter. Now his own life is taken on a melodramatic turn that seems like a performance from hell.

The alleged stalker, John Perry, was Lurie’s closest friend. The two had a serious falling out and Lurie feared that Perry intended to kill him. John fled New York and for awhile moved into the Big Sur home belonging to Flea, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bass player. He then moved to Palm Springs, California. He’s been incognito ever since. His relationship with Perry sounds like a romance turned extremely toxic, but Lurie has made it clear that this was no love affair. The dynamic is weird, to say the least. What the hell happened? It remains unclear.

I’ve crossed paths many times with John during late-70s and John’s no shrinking violet. This is not the kind of man who is easily intimidated. So, there must be something seriously wrong to compel him to leave his home and hide out. I noticed in the past year that his Facebook messages were often angry rants that sounded like he was in the throes of either drink, exhaustion or deep frustration…perhaps all three. I knew there was a problem. He has since deleted his original Facebook page and replaced it with another. Strange behavior for a man who has always managed to handle being in the public eye.

Proving that you’re the target of a stalker is difficult, particularly if you’re male. According to friends who have spoken to him in the past year, Lurie wants his nightmare to go public because it’s the only way the cops will take the whole thing seriously. On the other hand, is John Perry actually stalking Lurie? And why hasn’t he been heard from? How much of this is in Lurie’s head?

You can read the article at The New Yorker’s website but you have to subscribe. Pick up the print addition or wait until it pops up on the internet for free. I’ll publish a link to the full article on Dangerous Minds once it becomes available on the net.

Here’ a scene from Jim Jarmusch’s Down By Law featuring Lurie and Tom Waits, followed by The Lounge Lizards performing live in Germany in 1989 and a 1979 interview on French TV.
 

 
Update on the John Lurie story.

Loved his Marvin Pontiac album and the whole identity spoof behind it.

http://www.strangeandbeautiful.com/marvin/

http://www.leisuresuit.net/Webzine/articles/marvin_pontiac.shtml

John gave me my best and first real NYC experience. I was 18 and fresh from MKE.  My cool friend, Amy C, took me to one of the many unnamed bars near 1st er 2nd Ave and A or B or maybe even C streets. It was the fall/winter of 1987.

I saw John in a bar and screwed up all my courage to approach him with something only naifs say, “You’re John Lurie”.  To which he replies with a sneer, “Yes. I am.”

what’s the name of is this tune?

Anyone?

It’s called “Big Heart.”

Thanks Winnie.

I’d forgotten how good they really were! Thanks and keep us posted on John.

brilliant stuff, Marvin Pontiac was a good album too,  thnks

I just read the New Yorker article, and can understand why Mr. Campbell would be concerned about an old acquaintance.

John Lurie certainly seems to have been going through a hard time in the last several years, but John Perry never said he was going to kill him. They were close friends who had a falling out, and both of them did things to prolong animosity. The relationship, as depicted in the New Yorker article, is a little more nuanced than this post suggests.

stexe,

my comments about Lurie are not based solely on The New Yorker piece. As you can imagine his friends are talking about this and everyone has a slightly different take on what’s going on. The consensus is that John IS going through a difficult time due to both his illness and falling out with John Perry. Obviously John is spooked enough about the situation that he’s left New York and is laying low. I’ve read accounts by two people that have spoken to John in the past year and they seem convinced that John’s concerns about Perry are bonafide. The problem is that neither Lurie or Perry are shedding any additional light on this publicly.

It’s hard to write about this without seeming to sensationalize it. But, until Perry or Lurie share the full story, there will be speculation.
There is no question that he DOES feel stalked by Perry.

I have my own concerns about Lurie based on some exchanges I had with him not long ago on Facebook.
He seemed to be going through a tough time.

I’ve e-mailed John Perry and hope to hear back from him.

Marc

that should have read:

“There is no question that Lurie DOES feel stalked by Perry.”

I chatted with Mr. Lurie over Facebook quite a few times. I even bought a print from him (which I love).

He is being too nice, to Perry, in my opinion. On Facebook, Lurie’s “friends” went up exponentionally for a while since I joined. Then the stalker joined and started printing, in my opinion, libel.

A fan page was later set up to support Mr. Lurie, but again, his stalker showed up with some of the most bizarre logic imaginable, and he basically said that John Lurie is making it all up, and he tried to embarass him. . .

I know people love the grey area. But, in this case, John Lurie is right, his stalker is wrong.

those of us who know both, including mutual friends, know that john lurie is creating something bigger than it actually is to get more attention.

i know what i am talking about.  john’s disappointed and hurt by the whole thing, but after their fallout, jp moved on, and lurie continued on with his merry little drama.

trust me, john perry stopped giving a shit about lurie a while ago, who has kept this story on life support to regain the limelight, including getting this article written.

tad friend interviewed loads of people who know both, and left these interviews out because they expose lurie’s bullshit.

the song is called “big heart” and can be found on “big heart - live in tokyo”, albeit in a different take.

“Proving that you’re the target of a stalker is difficult, particularly if you’re male.”

There is absolutely zero evidence for this and I suspect if anything, it’s the opposite, as law enforcement often assumes women have done something to lead their stalker on.

It’s strange to see so many people claiming to know the truth about this.
I’ve been hearing about this story from Mr. Lurie for the past year or more, since friending him on facebook.
He’s been straightforward and upfront about it, leaving no question in my mind that he is or was in fact being stalked by this John Perry.
As for John deleting his facebook account, that was because Perry got access to it…and continued printing his bizarre tales, even attempting to turn Lurie’s friends against him.
The assertion by “iknowbothjohns” that Lurie is milking this for attention just doesn’t make any sense.
If that were the case, Lurie would be appearing on television and in print talking about this. But he hasn’t.
John Lurie needs some people in his corner right now.
Think about it—Lurie’s real passion has been music, and due to his aggressive Lyme Disease, he’s been unable to play. He composed the Conan O’Brien theme song, but once that show was cancelled he lost the residuals on that. He’s trying to eke out a living by painting, but is forced to keep moving around because of this stalker. And this moving around has even kept JL from getting the kind of medical care he needs.
Let’s show some support.

From an outsider just now looking in, this is a story at once deeply layered and complex, but also easily fixed and petty. 

More interesting is that many people on both sides of the fence COULD have shut this drama down by not reacting, responding or taking sides.  However, they kept the sails of two dirty ships puffed up though the oddly disconnected over-connect of social networking, endless text messaging, and an ongoing need that arises, perhaps, out of sheer boredom. The story of the two Johns underscores the broader issue; that our collective boundaries have eroded and are replaced with a dysfunctional and deeply enmeshed society..

I read the story in the NYer and came away thinking it was utterly and completely ridiculous. I was confused why it even merited thousands of words in such a prestigious mag. Both of these men need to get over themselves.