“The Soloist” author Steve Lopez, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times for the past decade, spoke Oct. 13, twice in the Fireside room at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and once in the Indoor Theater at 7 p.m., to explain more about himself and give an in-depth look at the relationship between himself and Nathaniel Ayers.
Ayers, a homeless man, turned out to be Lopez’s subject for the book “The Soloist.” A movie by the same title was based on the book.
At the beginning of his speech in the second presentation, he asked the audience, “How many of you read the book?” About 30 students and staff raised hands. Lopez then asked, “How many of you saw the movie?” Nearly everyone in attendance raised their hand. Lopez went on to ask one of the key differences in the movie to the book, and one audience member said, “Well, you’re not Robert Downey Jr.,” which was followed by an uproar of laughter.
Later in the speech, Lopez spoke of meeting Ayers.
“He was standing next to a shopping cart [filled with] his belongings and on the side of that cart there was a sign that said ‘Little Walt Disney Concert Hall.’ So that little slab of pavement, that piece of sidewalk is his stage [in downtown L.A.]. I did ask him why he played in that particular spot where it was so noisy, and it was even drizzling that day, and he said that he played their because, and he pointed, and said, ‘There is the Beethoven statue. I play here for inspiration.'”
Lopez said that he was just looking for a column idea, and he was unsure that their was a real story to be found here with Ayers, playing a violin with missing strings and not taking money for his work, but after having continued contact with Ayers, both of their lives changed.
In his closing, Lopez said that Ayers is still working on some of his mental problems: “Ayers is terrified of television screens, to him those are two-dimensional images that have got to be ghosts. And that is a window into how sick this man is – he cannot process a two-dimensional image. It’s terrifying. It’s another example of him seeing and hearing things and believing in conspiracies. He’s gone to see the ‘Soloist’ several times, never with his eyes open. But he likes the soundtrack to the ‘Soloist.’ “