12 Comments
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Philip Levine's avatar

Wonderful writing. Thanks Joyce.

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Irna Gadd's avatar

This is so touching, beautiful, and written beautifully!

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Margo Howard's avatar

C'est triste ... proving, I guess, that humor columnists are writers.

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Lesley Dormen's avatar

Oh, Joyce. It’s your best.

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Lucian K. Truscott IV's avatar

Joyce, this is so wonderful...perfect, actually. He took a photograph of me in 1970 when he was with the Times. I was covering the last night at Sammy's Bowery Follies on the Bowery for the Voice, and he was there for the Times. I never saw him take the photo...I never saw him there that night, period. Then in the mail a package arrives at the Voice, and it's a B&W 8 by 10 photo of me leaning against the bar with a long-neck bottle of beer in my hand wearing jeans and cowboy boots and a plaid flannel shirt. I look a rough-hewn Adonis. It's one of the best pictures anyone ever took of me. I still have it around somewhere. I never met him. I understood what the photo was. I followed his career with photo credits of his pictures in the Times. He was one of the best photographers the Times had. You have done him a great honor to have written this warm reminisce of him.

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Margo Howard's avatar

An amazing connection to this reverie.

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Therry Neilsen-Steinhardt's avatar

Oh, Joyce. Thank you.

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Jenny's avatar

Joyce, you are a good friend. And a wonderful writer.

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Sharon Daly's avatar

What a wonderful friend you are to Charles after only one conversation in 12 years. Whatever do you do when close friends become seriously ill and enfeebled?

More about the balloon pilot, please. Was he blond, blue eyed, and gorgeous like the one I met in Burgandy 35 years ago?

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Christina Johnson's avatar

Charles cried out of happiness. I cried out of understanding. This is beautiful. Thank you.

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Leslie Fry's avatar

Sweetly bittersweet. Thanks always for your stories and insights . . .

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Michael Quint's avatar

Joycie, you are the Koufax of composition; we all know from your fastball, it's the big curve that fools 'em all the time. Well done my friend.

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