Tenn on Tallulah: The Glittery Train




Interview with Tennessee Williams
Conducted by James Grissom
New Orleans
1982

Life disappointed her; reality had repeatedly let her down, and God knows I can cop to that. After a few drinks, and if there was no promise of cock in the room, she could speak to you as a person, as a real being with feelings and doubts, and she would admit that life was something she was in charge of creating for herself, daily. Judgment Day comes hourly, she told me, and I'm holding the trumpet. So the wise person got behind her glittery train and followed blindly and happily. She was terribly generous with her time and her money and her spirit. There was about her a touch of Christian Science, if you could remove Christ and Mary Baker Eddy and leave only the resolute belief that all things are possible and one can do whatever one chooses. That was Tallulah, and even in her final days, when she was frail and nearly blind and thoroughly incapable of showing up, the periphery around her was still electric, manic, abuzz with giddy insanity.



©  2014  James Grissom

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