after Easter dinner

my nose

woke me a couple of times during the nite.  reports are that Santa Fe has been having the highest pollen count in the country.

Bob Hover (1934-2013)

I just learnd of his death last month via a Facebook posting from Christopher Riordan.

I was probably only abt 12 or so when I discoverd physique magazines at a corner cigar store on Broad St.  I subscribd to a couple -- including Body Beautiful. they came in plain brown wrappers. I believe it was here that I first saw Hover.  he often posed in tandem with his buddy Richard Harrison.  I was smitten.

both men soon began appearing in small parts in films.  Hover was under contract to Warner Brothers.  he was in "Toward the Unknown" & "Lafayette Escadrille." later he became a top model. his acting career ended in soap operas.

for years I searchd online for those famous physique shots of Hover & Harrison together. in my memory they are forever linkd. some have finally begun to appear on various sites.  seeing them takes me back to my boyhood & a time of stirrings. I will always be thankful to both of these men.

Cerrillos Hills State Park

first wearing of hiking hat purchasd a couple weeks ago at Bode's in Abiquiu

2 moments from today

opera house
Cerrillos
plaque mentioning Sarah Bernhardt performd there

No Pity Cafe
Madrid
red chili chocolate cake

Richard Griffiths (1947-2013)

BBC obit

Peter Duryea (1939-2013)

yesterday I was thinking abt seeing the bus & truck tour of "The Subject was Roses" at the Civic Theater in Akron many years ago. the lead was Dennis O'Keefe.  & his son was playd by the son of another Hollywood regular Dan Duryea.

Peter's career never reachd the heights of his father's.  but he's rememberd for appearing in the pilot for a series that was calld "Star Trek."

a few minutes ago I got an e-mail from James Robert Parish informing me of his death.

thx Rob

we're all looking at the Supreme Court today. historically the court is a mixd bag. they don't always get things right. & even tho public opinion is now on the side of marriage equality there remain on the bench a couple of authentic wingnuts.

whatever happens my community owes gratitude to many for getting us to this place. & today I want to single out Rob Reiner for his constant support. there are reports he was instrumental in getting former adversaries Boies & Olson together to work on this.

I took this picture from our local paper so the quality isn't the best.  that's Reiner posing on the left.  & if you look at the smaller figures in the background you'll see me.

the gift of friendship

I've lived more years than I ever expectd. & something I cherish more & more with each year is friendship.

a bit ago I opend the front door to go out to the mailbox. & there on my antique milk can were 2 packages.  one was from James Robert Parish.  from time to time he sends me movie clippings & assortd goodies. the other was from Bill Berger.  he sent me Easter candy.

these gifts lift me.  I have a tough time getting thru the first part of each year.  but with spring finally here & with dear old friends to buoy me I feel ready to proceed.

thank you Jim.  thank you Billy. bouquets to you both.

more Blum

the photo of my poem isn't clear.  but it's available in my book The Avalanche of Time.

Blum's silent screen

in Doctor Reefy's parlour on Third St
I leafd the pages of Blum
till his pictures of lost motion
spun a world I wantd

these lines are from "In the Beginning" -- the opening poem in It's all a Movie. over the years I've been generous in my praise of Daniel Blum because he was such an important part of my boyhood.

& a critical volume in my understanding of film was his A Pictorial History of the Silent Screen from 1953. my own copy -- signd by many of the stars from that era -- is now in Special Collections at Kent State University Libraries.

I was delightd to discover this morning that a PDF is available online. anyone who loves film & somehow missd out on knowing this book please take a look.  it's not an academic tome full of footnotes.  it's simply a collection of stills & portraits. but it was magic for a movie-mad boy. & I suspect it's still magic for others.

dreamt

Susan Graham commissiond me to write the lyrics for a song for her. her only specific was that I use the word "different."

"Outlaw Dreams"

Bree wrote to say the entire book has been put online

every time I see or hear the train go by not far from my house I remember photos I took 5 years ago of the tracks being put in.

now if the crazy government of this state wd finally open the million dollar Zia St station.

Judith Evelyn (1913-1967)

she was an important Broadway actress who had impressive credits in the early days of television.  her movie work ranged from "Female on the Beach" to "The Egyptian."  many will recall her screaming thru "The Tingler."

but on her centennial I particularly remember her small part in the Hitchcock classic "Rear Window."

be safe

just rec'd the current issue of Court Green. its dossier section this time is "Sex."  & the issue comes with a condom & on the casing "Read good poetry!"

found

here's the picture of Lila Lee I was looking for:

& here's one of Dorothy Malone on set:

"On Velvet Feet"

this is a little anthology of cat poems. it includes one of mine for Melina.

ordering info is here.

Plaza Blanca

while searching

for the Lila Lee photo (which I still haven't uncoverd) I found this.

in one of my earliest little films you see a photographer snapping away.  this is the only still photo I have from that faraway day.  the quality isn't great because it appears the photo is a transfer from a slide.

"Colorado Territory" (1949)

last nite I watchd this Raoul Walsh western which was partially shot in New Mexico.

I rememberd that many years ago Peg Tufford gave me some snapshots she took when she visitd the set with her sister Lila Lee.  so I huntd them down.  can't find the one Lila signd for me nor the one I gave Robert Nott for his book Last of the Cowboy Heroes.  but of the ones I did find here are a couple which have never been publishd before.

the star Joel McCrea

his leading lady Virginia Mayo with her husband Michael O'Shea

Polari brunch

just discoverd this photo in which I share the air with directors Yen Tan ("Pit Stop") & Malcolm Ingram ("Continental").

& here's a picture I took at the reception of PJ Raval ("Before You Know It") with my director Stephen Silha.

in bed with James Broughton

for reasons I don't understand You Tube won't allow this to appear.  so I sent it out via Facebook.

part of a team

promoting a film is hard work. everyone pitches in to do the big things as well as the mundane. in Austin we wore these green shirts. & everywhere we went we handed out postcards with show times.

back from Austin

where I spent a lot of time in bed

at the infamous Big Joy house

at world premiere of "Big Joy"

with Kyung Lee

amazing

to see a review of a poetry reading

Hidden Canyon hike

with Christopher Bennett

photos by L. Jim Miller

great entrance

by Ray Wise

"Helen at 90"

by Bill Berger

& his source: a photo I took of Mom holding a package he sent her

General Industries

is in the news again.

Dad workd there his whole life.  when I was just a kid I picketd the place when he was on strike.

just months after Dad died most of the factory was destroyd by fire.  

I took a brick from the rubble & brought it back to Santa Fe.  here it is with "Dad's Last Garden" in the distance.  that piece featurd Dad's pay stubs from General Industries.

today

Albuquerque
will be warmer
than Miami

good nite Elyria

one of Dad's things that I brought back to my house in Santa Fe was a hammer which I bought him for a long-ago holiday.  I bought it at the Sears store on Broad St because I'd gone there shopping with him many times.

Tom Mahl wrote the other day to say the building was torn down. & then the local paper ran this.

little by little the Elyria of my youth has disappeard. I've already written here abt the Y & my beloved public library. Hess & Hess drugstore where I bought movie magazines when I was a boy vanishd years ago. it's been decades since there were bears in Cascade Park. both downtown hotels (Sedaris & Graystone) are but memories. all 3 downtown movie theaters are long gone. all but one building of my high school has been demolishd. General Industries where Dad workd was destroyd by fire. & not so long before the onetime Sears building met the wrecking ball the camera from Loomis' was taken down.

there remain some touchstones to my past.  the courthouse still stands opposite Ely Park. The Hickories is the home of the historical society. & here I am in a 2006 photo taken in the lobby of the old post office:

the building now houses a bank but the new owners retaind the major architectural & design elements of the original post office which was essential to my boyhood.

when I return to my hometown what stays familiar is comforting. but each visit reveals erasures which are increasingly painful.