… to the anonymous person (at least anonymous – in that I cannot send him a private “thank you” email – and his name is unfamiliar to me) who sent me Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon<\/i> – which I have never read (ducking from whatever Emily is throwing at my head right now).<\/p>\n
I am THRILLED – to have a copy now. THRILLED and I will dig in right away (well, after I finish Underworld<\/i>).<\/p>\n
To you out there … whoever you are … thank you so much for reading my blog, and taking the time to send me a little something. It does mean the world to me … and I hope you read this.<\/p>\n
One clue as to who he is … It was because of this post I wrote a while back (one I am quite proud of) about Laurette Taylor <\/a>– an almost-forgotten stage actress who created the role of Amanda in the first production of Glass Menagerie<\/i>. Anyone who saw that landmark production went away from it forever changed. Her acting is STILL talked about by those who saw her perform.<\/p>\n And yet … Laurette Taylor … the name has vanished a bit into the mists of history …<\/p>\n However – this gentleman had read that post, and was touched by the fact that someone else out there was “carrying the torch” for Laurette.<\/p>\n It’s always hurt me a bit that she is not more remembered (even though I never saw the woman act in my life – she died in the 1940s) … and so I wrote that post. Beautifully, I continue to get emails from people about it, people thanking me for writing about this woman, thanking me for sharing their passion for her …. “Laurette Taylor” shows up on my Google search logs on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n Maybe I’m nuts, but I feel like singing with joy about all of that. Her reputation as an artist is important to me … She was one of those people who propelled the art to a new level, much as Brando did, or Eleanora Duse.<\/p>\n Regardless, I’m rambling. I’ve been up since 5 am. I’m leaving tonight. ARRRRGH. I’m losing it!!!<\/p>\n Just wanted to say to my fellow Laurette-Taylor-admirer, who was kind of enough to send me Darkness at Noon<\/i>: Thank you! It’s been on my “must-read-this-book-one-day” list for about 6 years … and it’s coming across the Atlantic with me tonight. I’ll read it on the plane.<\/p>\n Thank you so much.<\/p>\n \n \n(If you’re interested, I’ve written a couple other posts about this great American actress. Here they are:<\/p>\n Tennessee Williams – that “nice little guy”<\/a> (This post is a book excerpt describing the first night Glass Menagerie<\/i> was ever done – an ice-encrusted night in Chicago)<\/p>\n Glass Menagerie, continued<\/a> (This post describes when the play returned to Broadway … Laurette Taylor’s triumphant return to Broadway after years of obscurity. She died the following year.)<\/p>\n Long live the memory of Laurette.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" … to the anonymous person (at least anonymous – in that I cannot send him a private “thank you” email – and his name is unfamiliar to me) who sent me Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon – which I have … Continue reading