RIP Price Dunn, who led a storied life, as a lover of life, fine food and women, was the inspiration for Lee Mellon, the fictional protagonist of Richard Brautigan’s first novel, “A Confederate General From Big Sur.”

Here’s Brautigan:

“When I first heard about Big Sur, I didn’t know that it was part of the defunct Confederate States of America, a country that went out of style like an idea or a lampshade or some kind of food that people don’t cook anymore, once the favorite dish in thousands of homes.

“It was only through Lee Mellon that I found out the truth about Big Sur. Lee Mellon who is the battle flags and the drums of this book. Lee Mellon: a Confederate general in Big Sur….”

Dunn also worked briefly for Henry Miller’s friend Emil White and then briefly for the nascent Esalen Institute!!!

More about Dunn here in the Weekly.

(Photo of Richard Brautigan and Price Dunn – Carmel Valley, 1965.)