INTERVIEW : 2012-08-28 Joseph Arthur's Van repossessed in New York (by Tyler Kane)
Joseph Arthur's Van Repossessed in New York
Songwriter Working with Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski's Lawyer of Choice
Joseph Arthur, one of Paste‘s Greatest Living Songwriters, had his white 2003 Dodge Ram repossessed last week after leaving it at a Brooklyn garage for a repair. After the repair, the vehicle was moved from the shop to a nearby street and was later towed for unpaid parking tickets. After Arthur contacted the city of New York, representatives were unable to provide buyer information on the basis of a confidentiality agreement.
“The shop agreed to pay for [the towing fee], which was cool,” Arthur said. “But [my manager] didn’t really understand the severity of it, I guess. I went to Mexico, I was assuming I’d come home and it would be in my driveway. But I got a call the next day saying it had been sold.”
The vehicle held musical equipment, paintings and clothes. Some of the art included canvases and a set of tarot cards that Arthur was completing.
“I think the paintings were the worst to lose,” Arthur says. “You can’t replace those. Most musicians will say they have a kinship to their van. It has 90,000 miles on it, the shop said it could probably go for another 100,000. We’re hoping we can get it back and find the owner.”
In the meantime, Arthur has teamed up with Ron Kuby—you might know him better as the lawyer Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski’ requests by name in The Big Lebowski after he’s picked up in Malibu.
“The funny thing is, I didn’t know this, I’m not a movie memorizer guy,” Arthur said about the partnership. “But my friend got me and Ron Kuby together. He’s an interesting guy.”
Any information on Arthur’s belongings can be reported to Carla Parisi (kidlogicmedia@gmail.com) or Peter Wark (peter@dkd.com).
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