The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship

Lopez gives background on himself, beginning with his time at a junior college in the San Francisco Bay Area. He transfers to San Jose State to study journalism and begins “a sportswriting career that didn’t last two years” (50). He becomes a newsreporter at the Oakland Tribune, where he feels more engaged. He embarks on a career as a news reporter where he finds a sense of purpose. He notes that the L.A.Times is currently undergoing staff cuts, a threat to the industry.

Lopez meets with Richard Van Horn, the president of the National Mental Health Association of L.A. He and his wife meet with Lopez in order to discuss the best course of action for Ayers. Van Horn runs the Village in Long Beach, another facility for the mentally ill homeless. Ayers visits the Village and sits in on a new walk-in patient named David, who suffers from depression and psychotic behavior. Dr. Ragins helps David get a hotel room nearby and gives him a referral for a doctor to treat his foot. Lopez speaks with Dr. Ragins and tells him about Ayers. Ragins assures Lopez that he is doing a lot of good for Ayers, and it will be a long process. 

Lopez worries about Ayers keeping the instruments, convinced he will get mugged. Lopez decides to spend the night with Ayers in the Toy District in an attempt to further understand him. Lopez enters the district in the evening, encountering drug dealers and prostitutes. Of one woman he says, “a young face is cracked, sunburned and coked out” (63). A rescue crew comes to take her away after she calls 911 and complains about her heart. He finally sees Ayers around 9 pm. They settle in an area among other people setting up camp for the night.

Lopez tries to convince Ayers that it would be better to sleep inside but does not make it far in the argument. Ayers prepares the space for sleep, sweeping the sidewalk with a broom. He lays out cardboard and a sleeping bag. He uses his old violin as a pillow. The two continue to speak, and Ayers recites a monologue from Hamlet.

Ayers goes to sleep, and Lopez begins to doze. He gets up and walks around Skid Row. Eventually, he checks into a hotel and spends the rest of the night there. 

Ayers describes one of Ayers’s Julliard classmates and friends, Joseph Russo. He shows musical promise at an early age as he plays the bass. He takes lessons from the renowned musician, Homer Mensch. Russo is accepted into Julliard on a partial scholarship, and he embraces the “full-time challenge” (74).

One day, he hears what he assumes to be Homer Mensch playing but discovers that it is Ayers. The two become friends. Russo invites Ayers and some fellow classmates back to Manhasset during a holiday break. During a party, Ayers accuses Russo of being a racist, which takes Russo completely off guard. He says of Ayers: “It was as if another person had crawled into his skin” (76). Ayers returns to his normal state after the incident.