Editing Lester Bangs (section)

==Early life==
Bangs was born in [[Escondido, California]]. He was the son of Norma Belle (''née'' Clifton) and Conway Leslie Bangs, a truck driver.<ref name= Blurt>{{cite book |title= Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic |year= 2000 |first= Jim |last= Derogatis |publisher= Broadway Books |location= New York |isbn= 0767905091 |url= https://archive.org/details/letitblurtlifeti0000dero |url-access= registration }}</ref>{{rp|3–4}} Both of his parents were from [[Texas]]: his father from [[Enloe, Texas|Enloe]] and his mother from [[Pecos County, Texas|Pecos County]].<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2000/jul/13/my-highschool-days-lester-bangs/ |title= My Highschool Days With Lester Bangs |work= [[San Diego Reader]] |date= July 13, 2000 |access-date= November 7, 2012}}</ref> Norma Belle was a devout [[Jehovah's Witness]]. Conway died in a fire when his son was young. When Bangs was 11, he moved with his mother to [[El Cajon, California|El Cajon]], also in San Diego County.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mendoza |first=Bart |title=Lester Bangs: The El Cajon Years |url=http://sandiegotroubadour.com/2013/06/lester-bangs-the-el-cajon-years/ |work=San Diego Troubador |access-date=April 22, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-09 |title=Lester Bangs at 75: legacy of 'America's Greatest Rock Critic' endures four decades after his death |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2023/12/09/lester-bangs-at-75-legacy-of-americas-greatest-rock-critic-endures-four-decades-after-his-death/ |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=My El Cajon Valley High School days with Lester Bangs {{!}} San Diego Reader |url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2000/jul/13/my-highschool-days-lester-bangs/ |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=www.sandiegoreader.com |language=en}}</ref> 

His early interests and influences ranged from the [[Beat Generation]] (particularly [[William S. Burroughs]]) and jazz musicians [[John Coltrane]] and [[Miles Davis]], to [[comic books]] and [[science fiction]].<ref name= Bustillos /> He met [[Cameron Crowe]] while they were both contributing music pieces to ''[[The San Diego Door]]'', an [[underground newspaper]] of the late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barnes |first=Micha |date=25 September 2019 |title=The way Lester Bangs loved it |url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2019/sep/25/theater-anti-way-lester-bangs-loved-it/ |access-date=16 August 2024 |work=[[San Diego Reader]]}}</ref>