I just returned from Santa Fe, yesterday. While there I stumbled into a bar with my wife to watch a little of the World Cup game between the US and Portugal. The bar had seen a lot of living. Evangelo's felt good like an old leather chair or a favorite coffee cup. We sat at the bar--an old, wooden one showing the age of the place. Behind the bar were several small framed family pictures, a stuffed armadillo holding a beer, and an antique cash register. On the wall was a famous photograph by W. Eugene Smith of a World War II soldier. The same photograph that had graced the covers of history books and commemorative stamps. The photo was of Sergeant Angelo Klonis, the original owner of the bar. There's lots of information about him online, so I won't repeat it here. Smith's photograph of Klonis hung high on the wall and large---a framed 16x20 at least not including the larger frame. As soon as I noticed the photograph, I looked up the name because I recognized that it must've been taken by an important photographer. This led to discussion with my wife. We looked around the place and noticed other interesting and curious hints. The man behind the bar that had served up our beers was present in more than a couple of pictures and one included Jeff Bridges. (Along with the title of the film, Crazy Heart.) Unknowingly, we'd stumbled into a fairly well-known bar famous for hosting the film Crazy Heart, but more so, being the bar owned and operated by Sgt. Angelo Klonis, an icon of World War II, and now operated by his son, Nick. Nick grew up playing soccer and could've been famous except for the injury that ended his career. Nick can be seen in a poster behind the drum set. We both agreed that this was a real treasure of our short weekend together in Santa Fe and look forward to returning.
