an HVD memory

Henry     red pants     Trues     vodka-on-the rocks
and so much in love with his ladies

with Dietrich he sings in German

        "what would the word glamour mean
        without Dietrich?"

with Holiday he cries vodka tears

        "in 1959 she was dying at Lenox Hill Hospital
        and someone slipped in
        and gave her heroin"

with Mercer he finally laughs

        "she was an old fat lady when we met --
        55   70   60 . . . . she asked me to jitterbug.
        I said I couldn't dance then we jitterbugged"

dear drunk Henry     falling in love again
and asking for his ladies

(from Dec. '70: Ohio)

& he in turn wrote abt he & I & the last of those ladies -- Mabel Mercer -- in his contribution to A Keepsake for Alex Gildzen Upon His Retirement from Kent State University (1994).