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A MUST SEE TV AND/OR DVD–WILL MELT YOUR HEART Leave a comment
HBO is now showing a very powerful and moving documentary about Vito
Russo who wrote “The Celluloid Closet”, a bestseller about gays in the
movies. The film starts off on the light side showing a young boy
growing up naturally, loved by his parents and brother, knowing he was
gay in a time it wasn’t safe or easy being gay. The film sees him loving
life in New York, being an activist for gay rights and when he becomes a
best selling writer he started traveling around the world and continued
on the lecture circuit. You will rejoice when he finds love and, even
if you are a stone, you will have compassion for the twists and turns in
his life.
Seeing this movie you will see the history of a movement, of a
generation, of people who faced up to AIDS, fought it, fought the
government and got results. It will present a New York, a generation,
many of you may not be familiar with.
Whether you are gay, straight, male, female, Christian, Atheist,
black, white, old or young, I defy you not to become awash in tears the
last 45 minutes in the life of this man who gave his all for others
and, yet, feel hope for mankind that such a person lived among us.
SEE “VITO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF VITO RUSSO”–IT IS A MUST SEE FOR ALL–IT WILL BE REPEATED ON HBO AND IS AVAILABLE ON DVD.
7 DECADES PART 8 B MEMPHIS & RESTAURANTS Leave a comment
I would always think of Memphis as a town when in reality it
is a city which in the 1970s had a population of around 600,000 people.
The reason for that was after I had been in Tennessee for a few weeks I
was coming across the bridge over the Mississippi river from West
Memphis, Arkansas, after doing a meeting and decided to stop at the Peabody hotel for a drink and some cruising. The next
morning, the very next morning, the manager saw me getting into my car
and said to me, “I heard you had a good time at the Peabody last night.
Don’t forget this isn’t New York, it is a small town and people talk!”
Just a few months later–and don’t forget Martin Luther King
was assisinated in 1968 and this was a year and a couple of months
later–I was taking a trip into Mississippi when someone said to me,
“You’re a Jew, You’re a Yankee and you are Gay–well, at least you aren’t
a Black.” (Though it was another word she used!) I learned that in
Memphis, “We don’t talk behind their backs like you New Yorkers
do–’they’ know where we stand.” I’m glad to say that by the time I left
Memphis that attitude had changed quite a bit though there were some
still fighting the Civil War and slavery!
That was the bad and I would rather talk about all the good
and fun you can have in Memphis. I don’t remember the name of the place
but it was a bar with lockers where you could keep your bottles of booze
because, when I first moved there, Memphis was a dry city–you couldn’t
order alcohol is a restaurant but you could bring your own. Luckily it
was just a year or two before the laws were changed. Not being able to
drive with an open alcohol container lead to many people getting drunk
and loud in restaurants.
Talking about restaurants Memphis had a slew of good to great
ones. The best of all was Pappy’s Lobster Shack in Overton Square–and
it was a shack. Just like no two plates matched neither did wallpapers,
tiles on the floor and ceiling and everything was rickety BUT they
served the best Pompano en Pappillote and steamed Finn ‘N Haddie. There
was Justine’s, the world famous 5 star restaurant, serving French food
by Black waiters with white gloves (remember the time period) in a
plantation type home. Also, and similar but serving more American food,
the Four Flames. Everyone took out of towners to The Rendevouz downtown
for BBQ but I much preferred Corky’s. I don’t remember the name of the
motel out east past Germantown but they had a catfish restaurant that
served the best catfish I ever remember eating. And then for romance,
seeing Memphis at its best and some good prime ribs, there was the
revolving restaurant on the top of theUPbankbuilding on Poplar Avenue. I
remember Johnny and I being there the night Nixon resigned and left the
White House.
Last, but not least, there were two Italian restaurants in
Memphis. One was Gristanti’s taht had been there a long time and John
had come to WW and, if I remember correctly, lost 100 pounds, and put WW
recipes on his menu. Then there was Palazino’s that was less than 5
minutes from where I lived and opened after I had moved to Chatham
Village. I loved that place as it was comfortable, had good food and,
yes, they knew who I was and treated me special!
I really am trying to cut back on these posts but there is so
much to talk about when it comes to Memphis as a city so I’ll do one
more blog taking you for a tour in the 1970s when it was known as “The
Gateway To The South”—mmmmm–and now I live in Gateway in Fort
Lauderdale!!!