Really. Who gets their name stitched into the breasts of their shirts?
Howard Bloom does, and I’m glad for it. Because sitting across a coffee table, I can discreetly google him. Turns out Howard Bloom is indeed the name of the bloke wearing the shirt.
Born in 1943 in New York, Howard Bloom is credited (by wikipedia) as launching the career of Chaka Khan and Stephanie Mills, and for doing PR for Michael Jackson, Prince, and Bob Marley.
‘How I Accidentally Started the Sixties’ is one of his authored works (as is his wikipedia page, I’m beginning to suspect).
“Excuse me mate, but I was curious so I googled Howard Bloom. Did you happen to start Chaka Khan’s career and write three books about human history, evolution and a radical re-vision of capitalism?”
He did. And he’s right now writing a feature for the Washington Post, to which he presently returns, looking pleased.
The world is full of interesting narcissists. I think they should all have their names on their shirts.
Postscript: 'FUCK SUSTAINABILITY'
As the cafe closed and we chatted on the way out Howard stops to put on his layers. Jumper, Parka and Beanie: all emblazoned with his name.
Conversation with a man who dresses exclusively in his own personal brand is something of a one way street.
Fuck sustainability, Howard opines. Mother Nature does not build everlasting Edens for the eco-conscious. Mother Nature is a bitch. She’s tossed her children a major die-off every 26 million years or so, a total of 148 major die-offs that we’ve been able to count. She’s shocked this planet with six far bigger mass extinctions, six enormous holocausts of species.
Basically, at some point in the future, distant or imminent, we need to move to other planets and hedge our bets on this rock. Howard’s pretty serious about this. He and his mate Buzz Aldrin are trying to convince world leaders to invest in solar space energy that will help us expand life to asteroids, the moon and beyond. It’ll also be easier to construct buildings in zero gravity apparently. Glad someone’s thinking about the long term.
I bet Howard’s spacesuit will have his name stitched onto the breast.