I'd write a piece abt the 2 Edith Wilsons I saw as a boy. their stories. how they overlapped (or didn't). & how those biographies resonated with the history of our nation.
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson. perhaps the most powerful First Lady.
Edith Wilson. jazz singer who for years portrayd Aunt Jemima.
is not just one of the best gay film festivals but one of the best film festivals. this is its 18th year. & this year I finally became a sponsor. one reason is to pay back for all the years of richness it's given me.
but I also feel a responsibility in these dark times to support the arts. as the slide into a dictatorship has become quicker I fear for the well being of the LGBTQ community & the future of the arts.
this weekend & next I'll stay away from the news & see film after film.
travel has lost its appeal. with age I have less patience. while I may still desire being other places the getting there increases my anxiety levels.
but this past weekend I did my first overnite since the Big Birthday Road Trip. I visitd the Dana Point home of dear friend Estee. & we were really busy.
I'll highlight a trio of adventures.
walking the beach of an ocean is both intense & calming. the feel of the water on bare feet & the fresh smell are intoxicating.
on my final nite there we were lucky to get last minute seats for Festival of Arts' gala to support Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach. special guest was actor Jason Ritter. we arr'd as he was being photographd on the red carpet. afterward a girl askd for his autograph. I observd & when he was finishd I calld his name. he lookd at me & I told him that I'd met his grandfather (singing cowboy & actor Tex Ritter) when I was a boy. he came close as I spoke & seemd delightd to hear my story of his grandfather's appearance in Lorain OH 70 years ago. later I learnd that the fellow in the background of this photo is his brother Tyler who is also an actor. I love the looks on their faces.
I was staying at one of the bungalows beside the pool at Chateau Marmont in the fall of 1998. that famous pool where Garbo did laps. where legend claims Tab met Tony. I slippd on a speedo & walkd the few steps from my front door to the pool. there was someone else there. I cautiously got in trying not to get too close to the other guest. but I got close enuf to discover that it was Terence Stamp. I sd "good morning" & allowd him to do his thing. after a bit he nodded "bye" as he got out. he walkd to where his towel was & removed his suit to dry off. I tried to remain calm & not stare but kept thinking "my god.... I've just seen Billy Budd naked."
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| I took this at a Hollywood festival of his films |
all weekend the internet was taken over by the 50th anniversary of "A Chorus Line" opening on Broadway. I was one of the lucky ones. I first saw that great musical in its original staging at the Public Theater. from almost the beginning it was sold out. but I got in because one of its creators -- James Kirkwood Jr. -- gave me one of his house seats. & there I was sitting next to him while theater history was being made.
Jimmy was the son of silent screen stars Lila Lee & James Kirkwood. lovely Lila had her share of troubles. so her son came to my home town to live with his aunt for a few years. he graduatd from Elyria High School 19 years before I did. (one of his classmates lived next door to my parents.)
I was in high school when Jimmy came to town to visit his aunt. of course I met him. he signd my copy of Daniel Blum's Pictorial History of Television -- just as his mother had signd by copies of Blum's volumes on the silents & the talkies.
his Aunt Peg gave me some of her theater books (she had appeard on Broadway opposite Al Jolson) as well as photos from her brief time in Hollywood. one was a striking photo of Nita Naldi who playd the other woman in "Blood and Sand" in which Lila was Valentino's wife. it had a sweet inscription to Jimmy. I had it on my walls for years. when I went to Buffalo for the try-out of his play "P.S. Your Cat is Dead" I brought it as a gift. I felt he really shd have it again.
here is a detail from the poster of that show. the pen he was using faild & he finishd signing in another. the ink from the first has faded so badly it's nearly gone. but it says "Alex -- with appreciation -- I mean coming to Buffalo is beyond THE CALL OF DUTY." seeing that always reminds me of the Buffalo line he put in the other show he was working on then -- "A Chous Line."
from Wanderbuch :
10 aug 86: Charlemont
Scene: The kitchen & adjoining study in the Berkshires farmhouse of a playwright.
Time: Morning.
Jean-Claude (seatd in front of a word processor in his study): Give me an Italian name.
Alex (pouring hot water into an ironstone cup): Marcello.
Jean-Claude: No. People wd think Mastroianni.
Alex: Giuseppe.
Jean-Claude: Too long.
Alex: Paolo.
Jean-Claude: Hmmmmmmmm. Short & soft. (He types the name on the machine.)
Alex: (Dunks an Earl Grey teabag in the cup.)
*. *. *
after J-C leads David & I in yoga exercises followed by a watermelon feast he reads the newest version of the opening of "The Traveller." this time the traveller addresses the audience directly which he didn't last nite. I smile when the Joe Chaikin character talking on the phone to an Italian reporter addresses him as Paolo.
(Jean-Claude's cats cuddle beside my Wanderbuch 2)
