Author: adtaylor
Happy Birthday in Spirit Sweet Brother Peter
On May 30 I posted about the 16th Anniversary of my brother, Peter’s death after being a long term AIDS survivor – and that was back in the day when not too many people were “surviving”. Had he not died just shy of his 56th birthday, my brother Peter would have turned 72 years old today. I was at the #LOFTLGBTCenter Pride event last Saturday promoting #YofiFest and came across a number of exhibitors who were providing information about how to stay healthy and stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Throughout his 20+ years of dealing with the onset on AIDS, helping dozens of friends die, dealing with his own guilt depression at “not dying” and then making himself a guinea pig for experimental drugs, he did ultimately die way before his time. I recognize that there are many medications now and many people are “living” with AIDS – but please realize that AIDS did not go away – and people are still contracting, spreading and dying from AIDS.
Sixteen Years Ago Today the World Lost a Beautiful Person
Sixteen years ago on Memorial Day Monday you left this earth sweet Peter. And I miss you every day. You were a veteran of the US Navy and although you didn’t die in combat, I do think of you as someone who died in service to humanity. I think about how you lived with AIDS for twenty years – how you cared for so many sick and dying friends in the 1980’s & 1990’s – how you volunteered in clinical trials for AZT and all of the crazy drug cocktails to try to find a cure for the virus – how you never thought you would see the year 2000 but you did at least for a few months. I remember you those final days under hospice care in your little cottage, surrounded by those who you loved and who love you still – how you remained defiant till the end – determined to live every ounce of your wonderful life possible before giving in to the pancreatic cancer that took you so quickly. I miss the fact that my children have missed knowing you in person. I feel sad that you died just before being able to witness the fruits of your many years of activism and advocacy for LGBT rights. I miss your laugh. I miss your shoulder to cry on. I miss your joy, your love of nature, your sense of adventure, the funny way you danced. I miss your sarcasm. I miss your spirit. I miss your love. Thus I keep you in my heart always. Rest in peace sweet brother.
The Banana Man
Back then we called him The Banana Man. He was a creepy guy who never revealed his name. I had broken the cardinal rule that my mother repeated day after day while I was a kid growing up in 1970’s New York City.
“Don’t talk to strangers,” she’d say, “unless you want to get raped or kidnapped or killed.” Anytime there was a news story about a missing child my mother would nod knowingly. “See! The kid probably went with a stranger. Probably raped and dead by now! Those poor parents, what they must be going through!” Then would come her tirade. “You better not talk to strangers. You better not put me through that! If I find out you talked to a stranger, I’ll kill you myself!”
So, I am sure you can appreciate why I never told my mother about The Banana Man during the two-year period he stalked me.
Finding Yia Yia – Reading at Gerald Jones Exhibit
The Mount Vernon Arts & Culture, Inc. held an opening reception in the Rotunda of Mount Vernon City Hall on March 18th. Gerald Jones, a guest artist whose work is currently on exhibit at City Hall was present at the event, led by Mayor Ernest D. Davis and Cynthia Burgos, Chair of the Fine Arts Committee.
Recipe for Lasagne
I am about to share with you my family recipe that originated at Angelina’s Restaurant in 1936 and was also served in our other Greenwich Village establishment, La Marionetta Pizzeria when it opened in 1961. Carrying on the tradition, I made and served this same lasagne throughout my professional catering days – including to Gwyneth Paltrow during her sixteenth birthday party aboard the Yacht Mariner III in September of 1988. And I continue to make and serve it today – just ask my kids and their friends who have been eating it for the past week! The photo of lasagne – displayed in the actual stoneware dish it would have been served in at the restaurants – was taken by my son Colin Taylor. Here is the recipe…
I learned the proper way to set a table at Angelina’s Restaurant before I knew my ABCs.
The restaurant was established at 41 Greenwich Avenue between Perry and Charles Streets in NYC in 1936, where it remained, owned and operated by my mother’s family for more than fifty years.
Angelina Morra, the namesake, was my great grandmother. She was an orphan and illiterate who came to America fromPiedmont, Italy in the early 1900’s, like so many other European immigrants in search of a better life. According to family folklore, she worked fourteen-hour days first as a scrubwoman,
Etan Patz’ Disappearance
Those of you who know me since I was a kid and those of you who know me as a writer know that from the time I was 12 to 14 I was stalked by Jose Ramos, the person who up until very recently was believed to be involved with the Etan Patz disappearance.
Daily Voice Coverage of Finding Yia Yia: A Greek Tragedy
I am thrilled that New Rochelle Daily Voice lists my upcoming talk and class on their website. The event, scheduled for Feb. 10th at 3:30 PM is free.
At it, I will discuss my forthcoming work, “Finding Yia Yia: A Greek Tragedy,” in which I share the story of my attempts to untangle my family’s secrets and honor the memory of my grandmother – often in the face of resistance from my family members.
This program is free and open to the public. Refreshments are served at 3:30; program begins at 4:00pm.
View the details here:
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Feb 10th Reading: At Home on the Sound
In 1935, 30 year old Greek immigrant and mother of two young children, Mary Derecas was brutally stabbed to death in her New York City apartment. More than 75 years later, Mary’s granddaughter Angela Derecas Taylor of New Rochelle set out to learn about the grandmother she never knew; locate the unmarked grave in a Potter’s Field; and grapple with the shocking revelation of the murderer’s identity.
Angela will visit At Home on the Sound to discuss her forthcoming work, Finding Yia Yia: A Greek Tragedy, in which she shares the story of her attempts to untangle her family’s secrets and honor the memory of her grandmother – often in the face of resistance from her own father and aunt, the murder victim’s children.
This program is free and open to the public
Where: Larchmont Avenue Church, Russell Hall, 60 Forest Park Ave, Larchmont. To reach Russell Hall, use the Forest Park Avenue door of the church near Wendt Avenue.
When: Refreshments are served at 3:30; program begins at 4:00pm.