EIGHTIES LETTERS AND FAN DIARY |
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31: LATE FEBRUARY 1986 - photo enhancement by Bill Burns Tuesday 18th February With Avedon still pathetic and bed-ridden I began to feel a little stir-crazy so I took a walk up to the local Kensington shopping area. This was just as an excuse to get out of the house, which was why I ended up doing nothing more interesting than buying some brownies and checking out a couple of 7-11s. It was a fifteen to twenty minute walk each way, and neither coming nor going did I see another person on foot. This really underlines how alien and car-centric a country the US actually is. In the afternoon, Avedon's father Gary drove us to the Greenbelt. Here, Avedon's dentist checked her tooth and declared it OK for now but needing a root canal as soon as we got home. In the evening Avedon's friends Bob and Applesusan, Andy Beekan, and Jack Heneghan and wife Elaine came over and we all sat and jawed for several hours. Wednesday 19th February In the morning Gary drove us over to Darnstown so that Avedon could renew her driving license. Leaving to her to wait in a line, I trekked over to the nearby shopping centre and bought an atlas of the USA from Crown Books, one of those huge discount booksellers I envy the US for. When we got back, since Avedon still wasn't feeling up to doing anything, I decided to walk up to head into town and have a look around. To this end I set off for Grosvenor, the local Metro station. This was no longer a walk than I think nothing of making in London, but I'd barely gone halfway when Gary pulled up beside me and told me he'd drive me the rest of the way. Whether he was trying to discourage such strange foreign behaviour or felt it was his duty as a host I have no idea. I was much impressed by the Metro. Being much newer than London's essentially Victorian tube network it was clean, efficient, and had stations that were huge vaults in contrast to our much pokier ones. I got off at DuPont Circle and popped into Ollsen Books for a browse. By the time I emerged it was pissing down so I ducked into a Roy Rogers for a coke and a bacon cheeseburger (which was surprisingly good) to wait out the cloudburst. I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the area and chanced upon Farragut West Metro Center on 18th Street, which impressed me mightily. It had a huge atrium with a large star suspended in the middle of that space, and the concourse beneath boasted a wide range of eateries. It the evening it was over to Rick & Maryanne's house for a meal. As always Avedon's brother and his wife were a delight, and they greeted us with the news that they were expecting a baby. Coincidentally, so was her sister Sally, who lived on the west coast and who Avedon had been on the phone to earlier in the evening. Thursday 20th February The day started for me with a brief trip to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, which had deeply impressed me when I first encountered it on my TAFF trip and which remained awesome, followed by a burrito at Farragut West before getting back on the Metro. Ted White met me at Ballston Station and drove me back to 1014 N. Tuckahoe. Here I met Ted's daughter Kitten, and listened to tapes of Ted's band. Friday 21st February Drove to New Carrolton Station with Avedon's parents and though we rushed we still had to wait 25 minutes for the train back up to New York anyway. We were staying with Patrick & Teresa for a few more days prior to flying out on Wednesday's Virgin Atlantic flight, and they were there waiting for us at 7pm when we got into Penn Station.
On the A-train to their Fairview Avenue apartment in Washington Heights, in the far north of Manhattan, we encountered Susie Griffin, a friend of Avedon's. "Are you going to the party at Claremont's?" she asked. It turned out that Chris Claremont lived a few stops further on and - comics fans that we were - Avedon and I were tempted to tag along with her, but didn't.
Back at P&T's apartment we sat around chewing the fat with them, Tom Weber, and Victor Gonzalez into the early hours. Those final few days were probably the most enjoyable I've spent in New York and I got to do a few touristy things I hadn't got around to during my TAFF trip.
Saturday 22nd February P&T, Victor, Avedon and I went strolling through Central Park.
In the course of that particular stroll we came across something that P&T themselves hadn't encountered before, namely a pseudo-castle of sorts that overlooked a frozen lake from atop a rocky knoll and which afforded a clear view of that famous Manhattan landmark, the Dakota, former home of John Lennon and Richard Bergeron. There were lots of squirrels in the park - Teresa and I fed them nuts, to Patrick's mock-disgust - and scampering over the rocks by a small waterfall: rats. We came across a stature of Alice, modelled after the Tenniel woodcuts by a Chinese artist and donated to New York by one of its wealthier residents, before making our way over to the Dakota. In the lobby was a visitor's book which Patrick signed "Claude Degler - Muncie Mutants", while Teresa wrote: "Hi, Dick. We can see your house from here!"
After this we went to a deli, where I had a delightful cheesecake, then walked through one of the more expensive areas of Manhattan and gawped at the rich folk. Surprisingly, I saw more Union Jacks here than I do in the UK. Leaving Teresa to shop for yarn the rest of us returned to Washington Heights where we all later gathered for an evening of chat.
Sunday 23rd February Tom Weber and Victor Gonzalez were both in town but while Victor was with us in the park Tom was locked away in the offices of Chelsea House, slaving away over a hot typer at an article on children's literature that Patrick had commissioned him to do. In fact he stayed there that whole night working on it. Patrick phoned him at noon and it was agreed we'd meet him there later, which we did. On our way we encountered Vijay Bowen on the subway, headed elsewhere. The Chelsea House offices were on a dingy road off Christopher Street (New York's premier gay haunt, and quite visibly so). We found Tom bleary-eyed but pleased with what he'd accomplished. I've no doubt I cheered him up no end by airily dismissing his article for not mentioning Raymond Briggs.
Off to a Greek restaurant in the Village where I had something called 'pastitsios - a sort of Greek lasagna. After this the other went back to Washington Heights while Victor and I took the Staten Island Ferry for the view it afforded of the Manhattan skyline at night. On the way Victor had his first ever egg cream (which contains neither eggs nor cream), while I had chili and a chocolate doughnut on the way back, which for some reason made Victor queasy. Back at P&T's Tom played Firesign Theatre Records and National Lampoon's 'Radio Dinner', neither of which so much as raised a smile from me, I'm afraid. But then humour's a funny thing.
Monday 24th February After a slow start Victor, Avedon, Tom and I headed out, eating at a covered sidewalk-type cafe before meeting up with Patrick in Forbidden Planet. From there it was on to St Mark's Comics (as recommended by Stu Shiffman) before returning to Fairview Avenue. We tried ringing Stu but his line was out. Nevertheless he met up with us that evening and was able to tell us what that weekend's WiSCON had been like. We were also joined by Bill Wagner, fresh from a ski-trip with his girlfriend. After which we went out to eat, of course - American fans eat out *a lot*.
We'd originally intended to do this at pizza house 'V & T's' but during our subway ride there Bill remembered they didn't open on Mondays. So we ended up at a 'Smokey's', a barbecue place, where I had a medium sauce barbecue beef sandwich with some rather horrible fries. Why Americans seem incapable of making proper chips I'll never understand. There was the usual gathering at the apartment that evening, one of the advantages of having a bunch of fans living so close together.
Tuesday 25th February Rose later than ever, too late in fact for Avedon and I to do more than check out a couple of comic shops before trudging down through the bitter cold to Canal Street for a 6pm meet at The Tap Room, a bar run by The Manhattan Brewing Company where the beer was brewed on the premises and was OK, nothing special, but the still the best I drank while in the US. Inside we ascended to balcony level where Moshe Feder and P&T were already seated.
The Tap Room was a little peculiar with a large projector TV high in one corner and three large copper brewing vats incorporated into the whole design. We were joined later by Lou Stathis (tall, cool, and Greek), and later still by Stu, Bill Wagner, and Christopher Hatton. Lou left early, the rest of us heading back to Washington Height later. Bill fitted those he could into his car, leaving Patrick, Moshe, Christopher and I to the tender mercies of the subway system. Moshe and Christopher got off early to head home, leaving me and Patrick to travel the line alone. Surprisingly, we were the first back. Tom and Victor joined us later, the pair having spent all day visiting museums and the like.
Wednesday 26th February Met up with P&T at 3pm for a late lunch at 'Bagel And...' on Christopher Street - I had a bagel and a cream cheese omelette. We said our goodbyes, then Avedon and I had several hours to kill before our flight back to the UK. I made a final visit to Forbidden Planet where I was delighted to pick up MIRACLEMAN #6 and THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #1. The latter would not appear in UK comic shops for another week and though I've since decided that mini was on balance bad for Batman I was suitably smug about this at the time. The trip out to Newark Airport was not without its interest - all those lights - and after a few hours wait we were away.
Thursday 27th February Although the plane was half empty, and there was consequently room to stretch out across a row of seats, I got no sleep. What I did get however were great views of Ireland, Wales, and England as we completed the final stretch of our flight. I was in high spirits after this, though my mood was somewhat soured by the fuss Avedon made at Passport Control. It was freezing in the UK - I'd spotted frozen ponds and lakes as we came in to land - and it took hours for electric fires at home to drive out the cold. Avedon started to nod off early afternoon, but I held out 'til 5pm before going to bed. Awoke 9.45pm, heard Avedon pottering about, so got up to join her. We stayed up 'til just after midnight before crashing out. The next day, my first back at work, was tedious and boring. We later learned that while we'd been away David Bridges and Linda Blanchard had got married in Sheffield, and that Lucy Huntzinger and Phil Palmer were apparently discussing getting married so that she could come live in the UK. And that was it for February.
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