Thursday, March 3, 2016

in memory everything seems to happen to music






------------------- [excerpt, Interview with American playwright Tennessee Williams, in The Paris Review, 1981] ---------------




JOHN F. KENNEDY


I met President Kennedy through Gore Vidal, at the family estate in Palm Beach before he was president.  And then I met him at the White House, where he gave a great dinner party for André Malraux and invited all the literary people, the theater people.


John Kennedy was a great gentleman, a really good, gentle man.  On the way to see him we were caught in terrible traffic. 


Gore Vidal isn't a particularly good driver, though he's a good writer at times. 


So we were an hour late for lunch with Mr. Kennedy, and he acted as if we were on time. 


His manners were so impeccable, and Jackie was a tremendous charmer, and still is, I presume....




--------------------- [excerpt 2] --------------------




THE CARTER WHITE HOUSE


The first time I went there was some occasion when the film industry was being honored. 


At that time the Carters had not yet adjusted themselves to entertaining.  He's rather abstemious, Mr. Carter, which is the one major fault I found with him. 


We were only allowed to have one very small glass of what was purported to be a California Chablis.  I downed my glass in one swallow, and then tried to figure out how to get some more. ...










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{Tennessee Williams Interview, by Dotson Rader}


-30-

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