There are people that you are supposed to know and understand why it is important to know these people. Studs Turkel was one of those people and we just lost him this week.
This guy is another person I have heard of, seen on 1960 and 1970s television interview shows. I had a vague sense of who he was. So when I saw in the newspaper that he was going to be on campus I ran out of excuses. I grab old faithful and jumped a #780.
In this short clip, Gore Vidal is explaining that even with an unusual name you still can be confused with someone else. There is that and the fact that when an 83 year old man talks about "doing me" you tend to pay attention.
The video was recorded at Pasadena City College at an ACLU sponsored gathering. I also bought his book so that I could know his writings beyond what is commonly believed about him.
This is my day 2 contribution to VloMo08, a video a day for the month of November. Recycling is encourage and some days dang near necessary.
I just got to do it, stay on task. Yeah. It is either this or the laundry. Hell of a choice.
Ah, dear Vidal. Wise and witty. Looking so much older now and I note wheelchair bound. I've read many of his books down the years. He's well known in Europe and is often the subject of documentaries and interviews in the UK. He's known 'everyone' down the years and is a scathing and insightful critic of his own country and its administrations.
ReplyDeleteFantastic that you got this footage of the great learned one. Would love to have been there. Wonderful stuff. Thank you...(oh, and hello, by the way). :)
I have more. There is a passage where he is talking about the elections and his frustrations with the two parties. I hope to find it for today or tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by.