On the Passing of Edward Albee

On the Passing of Edward Albee 

Edward Albee, three time recepient for Pulitzer prize for drama. Photo credit: Academy of Achievement

On August 12^th, 2009, Ruth Ford passed away in the Dakota, where she had lived for many years and where she hosted her legendary salon. Since then I’ve usually written a little piece every year to commemorate the day of her passing, but this year I did not due to some personal circumstances, and I want to make up for that now with a note on the passing of Ruth’s friend Edward Albee. 

I never met Mr. Albee myself, but he was our neighbor when Charles and I would stay out at Montauk, and he resided there until the end of his life on September 16^th. During the time when Ruth was hosting her salons, Edward Albee was one of the favorite guests among the theatrical and literary luminaries—William Faulkner, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, and many others—who would come to enjoy those famous evenings at the Dakota.

One of the famous plays Edward Albee wrote is Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. It is safe to say that Ruth would have attended the opening night of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf on Broadway—starring Uta Hagen and Arthur Hill—and the premier of its movie version starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as well, because Ruth was always invited to those glamorous events and she always attended if she were in town. It is also a sure bet that the awards that Mr. Albee won for that play—the Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best play—would have been celebrated and talked about in Ruth’s elegant sitting room. 

Ruth definitely lived a charmed life surrounded by other charmed lives, and when she died, she left behind a huge library of plays—including those by Edward Albee—because reading plays was something she loved to do. Ruth enjoyed reading plays whether she intended to act in them or not, and it is well known that William Faulkner wrote his play Requiem for Nun specifically for Ruth. 

Edward Albee’s plays are almost constantly in production somewhere, and in that way he’ll live on in this world. Just as Ruth lives on through the movies she made in the 1940s, preserved forever on film and easy to find today. Wherever you are Ruth, I hope you are doing great things. And to you, Mr. Albee, bon voyage, good luck and break a leg!

Edward Albee 

March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016

Ruth Ford 

February 18, 1911 – August 12, 2009

-Indra Tamang

 09/27/2016

copyright © Indra Tamang 2016, all rights reserved.

A Little Something About Ruth

A Little Something About Ruth

The Portrait Heads of Ruth Ford by Pavel Tchelitchev (Vogue Magazine cover, March 15th, 1936)

Ruth Ford was born on this day—July 7^th,1911—in Brookhaven, Mississippi, and today in her memory I would like to share something about her that quite a few people might not know. The last play Ruth was in on the Broadway was in 1980, at the Martin Beck Theatre at 302 West 45^th Street. It was a short-lived production of Harold and Maude, a stage adaptation of the 1971 movie of same name, and in it Ruth played Harold’s mother, Mrs. Chasen. Apparently the play bombed, but it would have been hard to surpass a movie as popular as that one was (and still is) and even if it did bomb, the role Ruth had in that stage production makes an interesting curio from her life full of interesting achievements. 

West 45th Street is still full of theatres, including the old theatre where Ruth played Harold’s mother, the Martin Beck Theater. However, in 2003 it was re-named to honor the famous theatrical illustrator Al Hirschfeld. Martin Beck had been a Vaudeville promoter, and I know that Ruth and her brother Charles Henri Ford both loved vaudeville as children and saw as many shows as they could. Charles’s childhood diaries are filled with descriptions of the vaudeville shows they attended. 

As for Al Hirschfeld, Ruth was one of his many subjects. She was sketched by him for the 1938 run of the play The Shoemaker’s Holiday, in which she starred opposite Vincent Price. And she was again his subject in 1959 when she starred in Requiem for a Nun opposite her husband Zachary Scott. 

Ruth is part of a great theatrical history in New York, and West 45^th Street will always be a street where Ruth walked, on her way to the theatre. By sharing this bit of Ruth's theatrical trivia I am doing my own small part to keep her little flame lighted. 

Wherever you are Ruth, you are still part of New York and very much not forgotten.

Happy Birthday.

RUTH FORD

July 7, 1911 – August 12, 2009

INDRA TAMANG
07/07/2016

copyright © Indra Tamang 2016, all rights reserved.

My Recent Visit to Nepal

My Recent Visit to Nepal

Waving Nepal's Flag with Mr. Laxmi Narayan Silpakar, flag bearer of Kathmandu, at Basantapur Durbar Square.
Behind me is a temple reduced to rubble after the devastating earthquake.
Photo by Arjun Pakhrin, Radio Sagarmatha.

As many of you know, after the devastating earthquake in Nepal last year, I put together a fundraiser, Help Nepal Benefit Concert, to raise money to help the earthquake victims. The Concert, which was held on May 30^th, 2015, here in New York City, had performances by many famous Nepalese artists as well as American, British and Japanese musicians. We successfully raised $12,000 from the fundraiser. 

In October last year, I traveled to Kathmandu, and with the help of Tamang Artist Association of Nepal, a program was organized at Nepal Academy, Kamaladi, Kathmandu, where I was able to hand over the funds to the selected recipients personally.  The money was distributed among seven different earthquake impacted districts, where it will be used specifically for schools in small villages. I contributed a hundred thousand rupees myself to the Tamang Artist’s Association for their help, and my cousin from New York as well as well known social worker Mr. Banshalal Tamang made a generous contribution of his own. There was a good turnout for the program, with many speeches made by prominent Tamang figures, many famous tamang singers, although there were no performances. Mr. Rudra Singh Tamang, Chief and Executive Officer, Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office, attended as the Chief Guest of the program. Among the attendees were famous linguist Mr. Amrit Yonjan, President of Tamang Ghedung Sangh Mr. Kumar Yonjan, social worker Mr. Gajendra Kumar Lama and formal parliament member Mr. Bir Bahadur Lama. The event was well covered by the media, both local and US based outlets, including the Everest Times, US Nepal Online and Nepali Bulletin. Mr. Manchhiring Tamang, Chief Editor of Nepali Bulletin, was also present at the program. Handing the funds over was a great relief to me, and my little speech was something to that effect; that the burden of using the funds effectively was now shifted onto the recipients. 

While I was there, I saw only a tiny fraction of the tremendous damage caused by the earthquake, but what I saw was spectacular. So many houses were crumbled to the ground. In my own village, the two houses which I built for my family were both very unsafe to live in. The members of my family who had lived there are in a temporary shelter outside, but they still go into one of the old houses to cook, which I think is taking a big risk because there are still aftershocks. Both houses are too badly damaged to be repaired, so eventually they’ll have to come down. Something else I found in my village was that the little creek where we used to get our water as far back as I can remember, is now dried up as a consequence of the earthquake. So now everyone has to go much farther to get water, which is difficult and affects everyone’s life very much.

Earthquake survivors. Sindhupalchowk

Devastated house which claimed a life at Dilli Bazaar, Kathmandu.

My cousin's old house damaged by earthquake

Aftermath of earthquake, Sindhupalchowk.

Dried up Creek at my village.

Adding insult to injury after the earthquake was the blockade, with India not allowing fuel and provisions into Nepal. I was in Kathmandu during the time of the Dashain festival, which is the main festival, and everything was closed. There was also no gasoline available so there were no cars about. There was no cooking gas—meaning not even a cup of tea—and worse than that, no basic medicines for people needing dialysis and other life sustaining services. At the same time, some greedy people were taking advantage of the blockade with black market gasoline, making big profits who gladly prosper from the suffering of the many, and as usual. It’s always the ordinary honest hardworking people who are suffers. I saw mini buses, crowded with people sitting all over the roofs, listing to one side like ships with the weight imbalance which is very unsafe. I didn’t ride a single bus, but I did ride on the motorbike with my brother. 

My brother and his family, along with our mother, had been living outside in Kathmandu since the earthquake damaged my house there. But since the winter has started, they’re taking their chances and staying in it anyway. The house is the one Charles Henri Ford originally bought so many years ago, and it’s a very old house, now noticeably unstable. The walls and ceilings are full of cracks and gaps. I stayed there during my visit, and at night little pieces of dirt or plaster would fall from the ceiling onto the floor. I would hear the sound and wonder if it meant the house was trembling. Somehow, I managed to get enough sleep anyway. 

Basantapur Durbar Square, Kathmandu.

Remaining piece of Dharara also known as Bhimsen Tower. Sundara, Kathmandu

Water shortages meant few baths, and there was usually no hot water, so I washed my hair with cold water every day. In twenty days, I must have had only two or three hot showers. People who have better houses or houses with no damage do have hot water, but my house was not one of the lucky ones. As for drinking water, people play it safe by buying large bottles of water, and to be absolutely certain they boil the water they buy so that it’s safe to drink. 

During my trip, I also had chance to visit His Eminence Losang Namgyal Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery. Along with me were Bansalal Tamang, Pemba Sherpa Hyolmo, my brother Suraj Tamang and few others. His eminence gave us a brief tour of the monastery and his eminence treated our group with delicious lunch. It felt refreshing to visit the monastery in midst of the earthquake aftermath and economic blockade. 

On the rooftop of a building at Kopan Monastery with His Eminence Losang Namgyal Rinpoche. Kopan,  Kathmandu.
Photo by Suraj Tamang.

I’ve only roughly summarized my trip here, but I do feel that I was able to accomplish quite a few things during my short stay. I returned on November 1^st to New York, home sweet home, feeling good about having gone. 

Indra Tamang

02/10/16

copyright © Indra Tamang 2016, all rights reserved.

On the Occasion of Charles Henri’s Birthday

On the Occasion of Charles Henri’s Birthday

Today, February 10^th, is the birthday of Charles Henri Ford. He would be 108 if he was still here, and he’d probably like that. On this occasion, I thought it might be nice to publish a short letter he wrote to Gertrude Stein on this date in 1930. 

144 MacDougal Street

New York City

Feb 10, 1930

Dear Miss Stein,

L’adorable c’est ici. for number 8.

More beautiful, so are things complicated.

heart tremblings in n.y. So are paris.

So are stein

so blues

so what the hell.

Ford

The building in which Charles wrote this letter, at 144 MacDougal Street, no longer exists—it was replaced by an NYU law library—but once it was a print shop where Anais Nin printed her first three books. The number 8 in Charles’s little letter refers to the 8^th issue of his magazine, Blues, to which Gertrude Stein made contributions. 

I get letters regularly from scholars asking about Charles, and about what he did and what he knew. The interest in him has not lessened. If anything, it just keeps growing.

Happy Birthday, Charles. You live on through your marvelous influence.

Charles Henri Ford. Chania, Crete, Greece. 1980.
Photo By Indra Tamang

Indra Tamang

02/10/16

copyright © Indra Tamang 2016, all rights reserved.

ON THE PASSING OF HOLLY WOODLAWN

ON THE PASSING OF HOLLY WOODLAWN

Holly Woodland at a party. NYC, 1976. Photo by Indra Tamang

Like so many people, I was saddened to hear that Holly Woodlawn had died on December 6^th in Los Angeles. She was one of the interesting characters I met early on, in the 1970s, not too long after I came to New York. I was lucky that Charles Henri Ford took me almost right away to meet Andy Warhol at the Factory, and I thought it was all very interesting although at the time I knew nothing about Andy or any of the people I was meeting at the Factory. 

At a certain point, Charles gave me a little Kodak Instamatic camera, and I carried it with me wherever we went. Very often we went to Studio 54. Anytime someone was having a birthday party or some kind of celebration, an invitation would come and we’d go off to Studio 54. Andy was always there with an entourage, and rather than try to start a conversation with anyone I kept myself busy with the camera. Sometimes Charles would point at someone and say, “Photograph that one.” I didn’t always know who I was photographing then, but I ended up with a lot of snapshots of famous people. I know that I photographed Divine, and I photographed Jackie Curtis, and Jayne County, and somewhere there’s a photograph of Holly Woodlawn. 

Charles remembered us being at some club one night, not Studio 54—and I have no memory of this—but a lady was pulling at me and saying, “Come on, Indra, let’s dance!” So we danced, and it was Holly Woodlawn.  That was my first encounter with her and I can’t remember it! I wish I could, but at least Charles did. Later on I read Holly’s memoir, Lowlife in High Heels. I read every page and I’m sure it’s all true. 

I wish her a safe passage and I’m sure she’ll be reunited soon with all the other glamorous figures who never missed a party and who have gone on ahead. Rest in Peace, Holly.

HOLLY WOODLAND

October 26, 1946 – December 6, 2015

Indra Tamang

12/16/2015

Copyright Indra Tamang, 2015, all rights reserved.

From: Indra Tamang

 

http://cafoundationworks.com/pleasure.php 

   
Indra Tamang
Sent from my iPhone

My Recent Travels' Journal

MY RECENT TRAVELS' JOURNAL

Helicopter Tour to Boulder Colorado. 

It’s been some time since I’ve made a blog post about myself, but to catch up, here are some bits and pieces:

In early April, Radhika, Zina and I went to Las Vegas, the glittering city of light! We stayed there for five nights without gambling (Well, Radhika played the nickel machines and broke even), but we took a helicopter tour all the way to Boulder Colorado. We flew over vast spaces below, with the pilot telling us how millions of years ago everything there was covered in water. The ride was one and a half hours long, and poor Radhika felt air sick, so with her eyes closed she didn’t get to see much of the view. The next day, we rented a car and drove about three/ four hours to see Cathedral Rock, nature’s big church. We thought it would be a bit more spectacular than it was, but it was interesting to look up into it, way up into the sky, the very opposite of what we saw looking down from the helicopter at the blue color of a huge dam down below. Cathedral Rock itself had the consistency of chalk to the touch. In Las Vegas, we also met my cousin Shanta Thokar, who was there for the karate tournament. We saw a little bit of him doing his refereeing for the matches. He didn’t know we were coming until I called him from the airport, so it was a bit of a surprise for him.  

At Cathedral Rock. Photo Credit: Zina Tamang

Soon after we returned to New York, on April 15^th, Nepal was hit by the monster earthquake on April 25^th, and all of our communities were plunged into sadness. Many Nepalese gathered in Jackson Heights to organize a candlelight vigil for thousands of people who died in earthquake and prayed for those who were affected. There was lots of news media presence, including Verena Dobnik of the Associated Press, who interviewed me and others in Queens about the earthquake and how we were affected. With almost 10,000 people dead and millions left homeless and devastated, everyone started fundraising efforts in whatever capacity they could, and I did the same. I arranged for American and Nepalese musical artists to come together for a fundraiser concert, Help Nepal Benefit Concert, at the Armenian Church in Manhattan on May 30th. The program was a great success in terms of turnout, with about 750 people in attendance, but it didn’t raise as much as I had expected. The operating and maintenance cost for the concert venue and securities fees for the event, all of those things took a bite out of the profits. With the concert profits and a few added donations, we managed to raise $12,000, and I am grateful to all those people who donated their time and talent to help raise these funds for Nepal Earthquake victims. 

Vigil for Nepal Earthquake Victims held at Jackson Heights. Photo Credit: Indra Tamang

At the end of July we travelled to Virginia, where we visited Luray Caverns, the largest cavern in the east coast. This was my third time visiting the cavern, and still I enjoyed the tour of the cavern. We stayed in Virginia for few days. On August 2^nd, I had to be at the picnic organized by Tamang Society of America in Connecticut. We barely made it in time, driving all the way from Virginia, but we did make it enough to taste delicious bbq and have good time. 

Luray Cavern, Virginia. Photo credit: Indra Credit

The second week of August, Radhika, Zina and I visited Cancun, “The Nest of Snakes” in Mexico. Many years ago there was nothing but crocodiles and snakes living in that place, where the water is still beautiful and crystal clear. We spent a week there, and one day we took a three-hour bus ride to El Casttilo, Chichen Itza Kukulkan Pyramid. The pyramids was build by Mayans many centuries ago and has 365 steps, one step for each day of the year. It is considered to be one of the New7Wonders of the World. We wondered how those pyramids were built by people hundreds of years ago. The Mayans seem to have worshipped snakes and birds as we saw many sculptures of those creatures everywhere. The Mayans built the pyramids to last thousands of years and they’ve made a big source of income for the people living there today. Thousands of tourists come to see the pyramid every day. I asked a guide if it is always that crowded, and he said that October and April see a few less, but the rest of the months just see rivers of tourists. Mayans were also known for their calendar which predicted the world would end on December 21, 2012, but obviously nothing happened. 

El Casttilo, Chichen Itza Kukulkan Pyramid, Mexico. Photo Credit: Indra Tamang

On our way to pyramid trip, we had a stop for food. All of the restaurants served the wild jungle Habanero hot pepper also known as ghost pepper. There is a local legend that Mayan leaders fed the peppers to the invaders as a revenge. We tried the peppers at restaurants, and I liked it. I’m used to eating hot spicy foods, but even I could only eat a little because it was too hot.

Cancun, Mexico. Photo credit: Indra Tamang

One day we took a boat ride to Isla Mujeres, which I had heard Charles talk about many times. Zina and I took a zip-line ride on the island. We also went scuba diving and sat in the sun drinking margaritas and having lunch, everything included in our tourist package. We returned back to New York on August 15th. 

Last Saturday, September 27th, I attended a reception organized by various Nepalese communities of NY for the Nepalese delegation to 70th UN Assembly leaded by Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Prakash Man Singh. Radhika’s father, Chitra Kumar Lama, was an old friend of the Deputy’s, and they were members of the same political party. Therefore Radhika came up with idea of inviting the Deputy PM and his wife for dinner at our house. I agreed and we invited the couple for private dinner at our house on Tuesday evening. It was just a personal evening to celebrate the old friendship that the deputy had with Radhika’s father. Radhika, with her aunt’s help, cooked a delicious dinner and everyone felt happy for the occasion. It is always great privilege to have such a dignitary in our house. 

With Deputy Prime minister of Nepal and his wife at my residence. Photo Credit: Zina Tamang

Next week, I am making a trip to Nepal to see for myself how things are progressing and to check on my family. It will also give me chance to personally distribute the funds raised from the concert in May 30th. I will be very busy while I am there, no doubt, and my focus will be on helping rebuild damaged schools from the funds, since there is already effort being made to building houses for people displaced by the earthquake. I will hand the money we raised to trustworthy recipients, and I will report on that when I get back.  

I wish everyone a happy and healthy autumn.

Help Nepal Benefit Concert held at May 30th.

Indra Tamang

10/02/15

Copyright Indra Tamang, 2015, all rights reserved.