Tava and I were in the grocery line together.
Tava
was buying cottage cheese, and I was buying cheap meat.
We always joked that I ended up with
The cottage cheese,
and he ended up with
The cheap meat.
Seriously, Tava said he was out looking for a
lover/librarian type, not into the
Leather Scene,
depicted so well with our standard "Ramrod" sign of the day.
At the time, I worked for Xerox, and looked like
I never wore leather in my life
--
during the day!
Boy did I surprise Tava one night when invited to
Richard Peter's Party on our block!
In the early 1980's Xerox owned R. R. Bowker's
"Subject Guide to Books in Print."
I'm on their
Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition,
and even suggested adding
the term
"AIDS"
as a subject heading,
for the first time to that publication
instead of
"Immune Deficiency Disorders,"
previously used.
So Tava met his
librarian, of sorts. Well at least a bibliographer. But I digress.
For some reason, it took me a long time to unlock my
bike that day. When Tava came out of the market,
our hazel eyes met! He was so attractive - of course I waited for him to come out of the market!
First thing he asked me to do was come to his house,
then to stay the weekend, and before
I left for work Monday morning,
wrote me a note on a shoebox cover:
"Why don't you move in with me for good?"
Needless to say we fell in love and I moved in.
We stayed together for nine terrific, wild and crazy years.
Recently, I found an invitation list in
Tava's own handwriting
that was probably a mailing for one
of his art openings.
Unfortunately, by the early eighties,
He had decided either to stop rubbing elbows with this elite group,
or felt that I wouldn't be
comfortable with them.
He was probably right!
I did tend to speak my mind at art galleries, and
would
frankly tell artists which of their works I liked,
and which one's I didn't like!
Tava said that just
"Wasn't done,"
and it would probably be better if
he didn't take me along to the next opening.
Either way, I never hung out with many of the people we knew.
Certainly I only knew a few of the names on his list.
But the list is a virtual
Who's Who
of the New York Social Registry and Art Scene of the time period:
Peter Allen
I actually met him and Liza way before I met Tava and hung out at Reno Sweeney's on 13 st
[odd that I owned a restaurant on 13 st called Divertimento Bistro that also offered music]
Anyway, Peter Allen [on the piano] and Liza [singing] were often appearing there in the early seventies.
My former lover before Tava, Pat
[wish I knew where Pat was now - or even if he is still with us]
still hounded his former lover,
"Moose"
[not his real name - but we called him that].
"Moose" was a waiter at Reno Sweeney's.
So, Pat followed him like a puppy dog - and we visited "Moose" often there.
Nureyev
I used to date his secretary, Collin, fist fucking each other at the Essex House way back in my attractive days, and Collin and I saw Pink Flamingos for the first time with Nureyev.
Tava and I also knew
Neel Bates, Arthur Bell,
Copy Berg, Jackie Curtis, Candy Darling, William De Kooning,
Georgio De Stangelo, Divine, Fiorucci's Ralph Solano,
Malcolm Forbes, Michael Fusco, John Glines,
Bob Guccione, Mick Jagger, Christopher Makos,
Robert Mapplethorpe, Liza Minelli,
Larry Ree (Madame/Tracadora Ballet),
Francisco Scavullo, Andy Warhol, Helen Whitney,
Holly Woodlawn, Angus Whyte -- to name a few.
Talk about "Name Dropping!"
Excuse me, please!
Senator Jacob Javitz and his wife were also on Tava's list,
for God's sake!
The Tava and Andy Warhol Photo
I scanned for your enjoyment and can be found on the home page of this site.
I
still have the funky
Gold Tophat with the Red Satin Ribbon
[see photo]
Mick Jagger almost wore during
The Altamont Concert,
when the
Hell's Angels
"over protected" the Rolling Stones.
Would love to have proof of this, if anyone has any for me - to certify the hat was given by Mick.
Anyway, Tava's invitation list was gleamed from his "little black book" by me after he passed on.
I remember his anecdote about luncheon with
Janis Joplin
one time.
Mick Jagger
was gracious enough to donate clothing
through Tava for charity.
Tava was also Godfather to one of Mick's children.
I believe he told Tava he could keep
The Tophat
[and other clothing]
When Tava asked him for it.
During the nine years we lived together,
Tava always kept me away from his past social connections.
I believed he felt that I wouldn't
have fit in -- much like one of his art theme characters,
Enkidu
who didn't fit in at
King Gilgamesh's
court, at first.
I guess I could still use more refining even now,
but at the time
I resented Tava's attitude and disagreed strongly with what I thought were his
Arrogant Snobby Philosophies.
Like Gilgamesh and Enkidu,
we fought bitterly and loved madly in the early
years, and
"Pulled The Bull Apart Between Us"
[See Tava's Art Print # 53]
Like Gilgamesh and Enkidu did in their Myth!
We were always
"Pushing our love over the borderline,"
as Madonna's song,
my favorite at the time,
kept screaming at me.
Yet, somehow,
Tava and I
always stayed together.
Now I know why!
-- We had found that rare gift --
True Love Between Men.
