Aug 01, 2012 6:29 AM GMT
Gore Vidal Passed Away
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Aug 01, 2012 6:29 AM GMT -
Aug 01, 2012 7:21 AM GMT
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Aug 01, 2012 12:32 PM GMTGore Vidal was one of my favorite writers. Came across his works accidentally in 1970, in the Army library at Ft. Knox, KY of all places. I was looking for history books about the 1st Century Roman Empire, an interest of mine at the time, and Vidal's historical novel Julian was (somewhat incorrectly) cross referenced, which I took out of curiosity.
I not only loved the semi-fictional story, but the writing style was a perfect match for me. I then began to read all the Vidal I could find. At the time I didn't know that Vidal was a homosexual (or at least bi, he was unconvincingly coy about that), nor that I was gay, too. I've always considered my immediate strong attraction to his writing to have been a kind of literary gaydar.
At the same time, what this article calls "acerbic wit" was to me nothing more than queeny bitchiness, raised to the admirable by the man's stature & eloquence. In most others it would have been dismissed as chronic negativity, degenerating in time into the common crankiness of old age.
Still, Vidal was always good for a startling view or two, and he was much more than an old queen, rather a grand dame, especially as he aged. No wonder he would cross swords with the likes of Truman Capote, since you can't put two talents and personalities like that in the same room without fireworks.
Now I must go back and read some Vidal, especially his essays, which this article praises so highly. And wonder who today is his replacement. -
Aug 01, 2012 2:01 PM GMTGordonLee90232 saidHe was quite hansome in that photo from when he was young and since he was so old I wonder if that picture of the boat with him could be one of those boats from when the Titanic sailed because he was very old when he past away.
The Titanic sank is over 10 years before he was born. By the time he would have old enough for a pose like that the transatlantic cruise lines were in the decline due a the great depression and the following WWII. Anyways the caption states 1947 and by then Titanic and her sister ships were gone. -
Aug 01, 2012 2:10 PM GMTGore Vidal would have been appalled by the bad grammar in the title of this thread and some of the comments. Ironic?
Also Art_Deco, Fort Know wouldn't be an odd place for you to find one of his books. Not only did he serve in the Army during World War II but he was born at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Let's just all hope he's been reunited with the one love of his life, Jimmie Trimble, and that they still get along. -
Aug 01, 2012 2:54 PM GMTimasrxd saidGore Vidal would have been appalled by the bad grammar in the title of this thread and some of the comments. Ironic?
Also Art_Deco, Fort Know wouldn't be an odd place for you to find one of his books. Not only did he serve in the Army during World War II but he was born at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Let's just all hope he's been reunited with the one love of his life, Jimmie Trimble, and that they still get along.
Yes, should read "passed" away, not "past".
As for Ft. Knox, the US Armor Center & School was huge in 1970, about 65,000 on the installation, and so it had a large post library. Vidal's sexuality was not widely known back then, even though William F. Buckley, Jr. had called him a "queer" during on-air TV commentary at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Novels like Julian and Messiah, which I also read at Ft. Knox, did not contain anything that might attract censorship. Myra Breckenridge (1968 ) might have, but I don't know if it had made it into many libraries at that point. -
Aug 01, 2012 2:56 PM GMTSad, I just bought the The City and the Pillar a week ago from Amazon, hasn't even arrived yet.
RIP -
Aug 01, 2012 2:58 PM GMTPASSED away? -
Aug 01, 2012 3:05 PM GMTRIP to a very talented man who led a stunningly interesting life.GordonLee90232 saidHe was quite hansome in that photo from when he was young and since he was so old I wonder if that picture of the boat with him could be one of those boats from when the Titanic sailed because he was very old when he past away.
Bwahaha. -
Aug 01, 2012 3:09 PM GMTmetta8 said
Quoted Again For Truth* -
Aug 01, 2012 3:13 PM GMTas jimjock suggests, it is "passed away".
Gore Vidal quotes:
"I never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television."
"It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail."
"A narcissist is someone better looking than you are." -
Aug 01, 2012 3:28 PM GMTWere Gore and Merv ever an item? I sensed a certain chemistry between them back in the day. -
Aug 01, 2012 3:40 PM GMTRIP Gore.
“Did you invite one of your friends?”
“Friends? Ha! These are my only friends: Grown-up nerds like Gore Vidal. And even he’s kissed more boys than I ever will.”
“Girls, Lisa. Boys kiss girls.” -
Aug 01, 2012 3:46 PM GMT
I'll bet he had an amazing life!
RIP -
Aug 01, 2012 4:14 PM GMTIn the six degrees of separation, I was two away from one of my favorite contemporary thinkers, as one of my very oldest friends wound up closely collaborating on one of Gore's books. She just had a holiday dinner at his home a few Christmases ago.
The last I saw him interviewed he did not seem to be thinking up to his usual standard and yet could probably still out-think just about anyone. I loved the way his mind worked, how he coalesced thoughts. Loved him from afar. RIP to a stranger to me yet also a friend of a friend.
Oh, and good catch on "past". That error on this thread is priceless. -
Aug 01, 2012 6:12 PM GMTjimjock saidPASSED away?
I know, right? Vidal loved words, ironic that someone would honor him by saying he past away. -
Aug 01, 2012 8:22 PM GMTsmartmoney said
jimjock saidPASSED away?
I know, right? Vidal loved words, ironic that someone would honor him by saying he past away.
Actually it was imasrxd who initially called the OP on the grammatical error, which he has since corrected. -
Aug 01, 2012 8:28 PM GMTPouncer saidRIP. One of the all-time great authors and political commentators,
One of the all-time great advocates of our cause...
+1 -
Aug 01, 2012 8:31 PM GMTAlso, I know it's a shit film but without Vidal we would never have had the trash tastic Caligula with Malcolm McDowell !
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Aug 01, 2012 8:40 PM GMTIt's interesting that the article says the secret to their long lasting relationship is that they never slept together ... -
Aug 01, 2012 8:52 PM GMTGordonLee90232 said
Art_Deco said
smartmoney said
jimjock saidPASSED away?
I know, right? Vidal loved words, ironic that someone would honor him by saying he past away.
Actually it was imasrxd who initially called the OP on the grammatical error, which he has since corrected.
No I was the one by using the word "past" in my post and it is strange that someone of your intellect did not catch it and mention it when you made your post which was before my post.
I saw the error and decided to "pass" on it, not wanting to embarrass metta8, whom I admire a great deal more than you. It wasn't until imasrxd drew attention to it that I made my own comment.
In the meantime, you merely compounded the mistake, in your attempt at moronic humor about the Titanic.GordonLee90232He was quite hansome [sic] in that photo from when he was young and since he was so old I wonder if that picture of the boat with him could be one of those boats from when the Titanic sailed because he was very old when he past away.
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Aug 01, 2012 9:00 PM GMTbeaujangle saidIt's interesting that the article says the secret to their long lasting relationship is that they never slept together ...
That was how Vidal described the relationship. I'm not sure Austen ever got a word in on the topic. It's all terribly sad stemming from the death of his first love during World War II. Supposedly, Vidal bought a grave site near Trimble's years and years ago.....
"Vidal attended St. Albans School, where he fell in love with a fellow student named Jimmie Trimble, who was killed in combat on Iwo Jima during World War II. In his memoirs “Palimpsest” (1995) and “Point to Point Navigation” (2006), Vidal makes clear that this youthful passion, cut short by Trimble’s death, marked his entire life: He never truly loved anyone again, although he would enjoy hundreds of sexual encounters, most of them with anonymous strangers, in which he took pleasure but, as he repeatedly insisted, never gave any except inadvertently." -
Aug 01, 2012 9:06 PM GMTEasily one of my all-time favorite books, and easily one of my all-time favorite movies.
!seviL eroG
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Aug 01, 2012 9:46 PM GMTElusium saidEasily one of my all-time favorite books, and easily one of my all-time favorite movies.
I read it when it came out. I don't remember much about the details except that I recall having great laughs while reading it! -
Aug 01, 2012 10:00 PM GMTJackBlair69 said
I hope Hitchens gets to fuck him with a barbed strap-on for all of eternity.
That's one messed up fantasy
