Re: Peggy: An Introduction

Malcolm Lawrence (malcolm@wolfenet.com)
Fri, 21 Nov 1997 21:20:14 -0800

Tim O'Connor wrote:

> > I noticed a pic of JDS I'd never seen before. It's a black and white shot
> >of him in what I recall
> > being a back yard or something, yet it doesn't look too candid....
>
> It's probably from the Ernest Havemann piece that was in Life in the early
> 1960s.  I think he appeared to be in a bathrobe, but all my archival stuff
> is locked up at the moment and unavailable to me, so I can't verify that.
>
> The actual article, unlike so many of the "stalker" articles that followed
> through the years, was actually gentle and sympathetic and humane.  I
> recently wangled a brief chat with someone who was on the staff back then,
> and he said he was reasonably proud of the job they had done, because it
> wasn't sensationalistic, and it showed, he thought, a certain respect for
> the subject -- something missing in many of the subsequent articles we've
> seen.

Yes, we're probably talking about the same thing. It's an absolutely incredible
photograph. Even though JDS is a good twenty yards away from the camera, not
only he but the entire setting of where he is, plus the play of light and
shadow on the emulsion itself give it this very tangible "calmness," for want
of a better word. You know: the kind of picture that can make you feel better
just by looking at it. You really feel as if you're peering at a zen master in
his....(what else? lol) bathrobe.

Okay, I'll go and find it again this weekend and post the name of the
publication so we all can enjoy it.

Malcolm