March 26, 2011
Once in a while I feel inspired to pay tribute to a person who belongs to the world, and today I want to write a little something to honor Elizabeth Taylor, who has just passed away. Cleopatra, with her in the starring role, made a big impression on me, and from the moment I came to live in this country, I was always aware of Elizabeth Taylor. In my many years of living in the Dakota, I was fortunate to meet a great many actors and actresses, writers and artists, but I never had the privilege to meet her. I did, however, have many encounters with Tennessee Williams, and knew that she had starred in his Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. When I type her name into the computer to look at images, up come countless pictures of her. She was beautiful, and she was a very fine actress, one of the last of a certain type of star that there don’t seem to be too many of left. But more than for her beauty and her talent, I admire Elizabeth Taylor for the kind of life she lived and all that she gave of herself beyond movie making. As an activist and someone who truly seemed to love people, she did immeasurable good. I remember very well a period when so many people were getting sick with a mysterious illness, one that took the lives of a lot of artists and actors, and that many people were very afraid of it. Elizabeth Taylor did something monumental when she stood by Rock Hudson when he was ill and made AIDS her personal cause. She took away the stigma of that sickness and helped to fight it, perhaps more than anyone else. I admire her activism and her great devotion to her humanitarian efforts as much as I admire her long and wonderful career.
In memory of Elizabeth Taylor
You are outstanding at paying tributes. I must say.
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