The Weather Continues . . . : Conclusion: John Lahr DELIBERATELY Wrote about Tennessee Williams' Death in a Way That He KNEW I Could Completely DESTROY (as was my job)!!!

Starting this more pleasantly, Allan Gurganus, author of 'Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All' bought his Victorian-style home for $199,500, and then embarked on a massive renovation. John Gessner for The Wall Street Journal

Durham, NC artist David Terry

Iconic image of David Terry, my former lover and Sewanee alumnus -- sometimes called "Rafael Cherry" in this blog.

>>> ADDED LATER: David Terry, the "Truman Capote of North Carolina", just emailed me, and claims we were never lovers, so I feel forced to change "lover" to "serial trick". ~ Scott

So David Terry first told me I am related to Mr. Gurganus in the 1990s, but only in the last few years did I see the connection in the book THE KENAN FAMILY. Gurganus's book was very loosely based on my great-grandparents, Murphy (who had saved for years and then bought and freed two slaves before volunteering to fight for the South -- he was not wealthy at all), and Julia Kenan.

And Mr. Gurganus is or was a major Gay Rights Activist -- as is Dan Keenan Savage, whose middle name suggests he is far more distantly related to me -- he having the Irish form of my last name.

Dan Keenan Savage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Savage

"At Christmastime each year, Michael Malone, a longtime TV writer, and Allan Gurganus, a bestselling novelist, put on a production of "A Christmas Carol" at an Episcopal church in Hillsborough, N.C. Mr. Gurganus plays Scrooge, and Mr. Malone plays nearly all the other characters. Jill McCorkle, another bestselling novelist, holds the record for perfect attendance."

Read more here: http://online.wsj.com/articles/hillsborough-n-c-americas-little-literary-town-1410972910

>>> TAKING CARE OF EACH OTHER:

Last night, Testosteroni became concerned about my emotional stability after he read the most previous blog posting, and called at about 9:00 PM, finding me FINE and not pickled in alcohol or on the moon from pot.

And last night, I tried to access www.whalestalecapemay.com, the website of the business I founded with Chuck Pritchard, Hilary Russell -- both Denison grads like me -- and a silent partner (I sold my portion to Chuck and Hilary in 1978), and it was DOWN which it has so far remained. I called them this morning and manager Karen Packer said all is fine, but they are having trouble with their server.

The Pritchards: Chuck, Hilary, Colin, and Travis. Is that a photo of George W. Bush that they staged this with???

Click to enlarge.

While it is TRUE there are many mysterious things about how I came to know Hilary Russell, came to Cape May, and eventually was believed by Hilary's "High Presbyterian" mother to be about to be MARRIED to Hilary when everyone ELSE knew I was gay (and questions about a homing device once apparently placed in a boat I was on -- nearly KILLING me for my mother), the bottom line is that not only did I get GREAT STORIES out of it all, but:

I am perfectly OK -- OK???

But it is time to show some appreciation for BOTH the Pritchard and Russell sides of that family, remembering that Chuck's Mom, Kay (Katherine W.), also a Denison grad (as is Travis), was so truly "Christian Charitable" about us "left-over hippies" that she gave Hilary a plate to hang on the wall with a bunch of lilies-of-the-valley blooms turned into little faces -- all hanging upside-down, and saying "Many Peoplia, Upside-Downia".

And I learned that Travis and Colin (who seem much like my nephew Connor Michael Kenan, who traveled in S.E. Asia for half a year -- and other places as well), are now both working at "The Tale", no doubt to take it over, eventually.

Chuck's father, Leland Stanford Pritchard, owned a men's clothing store on Capital Hill -- after being an army Quartermaster in WWII. Pritchard's Haberdashery -- as I think it was named -- was THE PLACE Congressmen and Senators came for PERFECT SOUTHERN STYLE, COMFORT, and SERVICE -- until the whole area was torn up when the subway was constructed.

Leland's middle name "Stanford" has to do with some tangential connection to Stanford University in California (although I have never heard the details on that), and he was raised in Wilson, North Carolina, a town which at THAT time, was entirely dominated by Kenan-surnamed politicians.

Hilary's mother, Barbara, was from a long line of strong Presbyterian women -- her own mother having gotten sick of her first family in the East, so up and moved to California and started another family. I remember the frequent stories in the 1970s of this woman whose only name I know was that she was called "Nanna", frequently ran away from her nursing home, nekkid in her wheelchair.

And Barbara met Kenneth Russell, and seeing the potential, gave him the middle name of "Seton" (he'd been given no middle name), which might have been from Barbara's family, but is rather "high-falutin" sounding (and even Catholic, when you think of Seton Hall University), and next thing you know -- he's "Special Assistant" to the President of Sterling Drugs -- and as ALL people know, my mother and her Catholic Church like to over-drug people so that they can't THINK or VOTE right.

No WONDER my mother tried to arrange that marriage -- and thank GOD the rest of us had and have SENSE!!!

Chuck's best college friend was Ernest Kelly III, who was Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' (Republican) long-term Aide -- so interesting political connections there, no???

From 2011: http://scottkenan.blogspot.mx/2011/10/honoring-crazed-presbyterian-women.html

Ernest B. Kelly III

And to get back to Ernie Kelly for a minute, I just found THIS about his retirement in 2002 (Ernie had also worked for COMSAT), from ASCENT, a trade organization who, if you now follow its link in this article -- is a computer firm (and more), in Latin America -- so different than in 2002, I assume!!!

VERY mysterious (but nice "Dick-Cheney-style" grimace)!!!

>>> AND NOW TO JOHN LAHR/TENNESSEE WILLIAMS:

Realizing that John Lahr HAD TO KNOW that Lee Eastman (who is NOT mentioned in his book -- and I remember Lee's apartment with the four giant Motherwell paintings in the dining room), was Tennessee Williams' lawyer for many, many years -- passing him off to his son, John Eastman, when Lee retired shortly before I began working for Tennessee in 1981, DID know Tennessee Williams well (Lahr claims the opposite on page 595). But Lahr DOES make clear that John Eastman acted IN TANDEM with Maria St. Just -- they were TOTAL EPISCOPALIAN/SEWANEE/CIA/REPUBLICAN PARTY ALLIES.

In any case, John Lahr is too smart and too good a writer to have so sloppily covered these Episcopalian/CIA tracks. I have to ASSUME, that he deliberately left them EASY for me to pick apart -- and I SALUTE HIM and THANK HIM (and so does "posterity")!!!

Scott