Book Review: Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty

(Bought at Posman Books in Chelsea Markets): I wanted to read about the Vanderbilts and how closely their history followed that of the Russells on Julian Fellowes' The Gilded Age which has just been renewed for a fourth season. Anderson Cooper (along with co-author Katherine Howe) traces his family's fabled lineage in a readable and absorbing volume. Each chapter focuses on a particular event and date in the Vanderbilt history and expounds from there on social, political, and economic issues occurring in America at the time. We go from the clan's early dates as traders and entrepreneurs in colonial days to Alva Vanderbilt's lavish costume balls to her daughter Conselo's marriage to the Duke of Marlborough to the glamorous and troubled life of Cooper's mom, Gloria. Not only is this a fascinating account of one of the wealthiest families in American history, but also an insightful commentary on celebrity and how we as a country are obsessed with fame and money and those who possess it. Gloria had both--as a child she inherited millions from her late father and became the center of a scandalous custody trial, but lost, regained and lost several fortunes. Cooper and Howe are masterful storytellers. They even manage to make a yacht race gripping. I will try their book on the Astors next to see how closely Fellowes hews to the facts in the case of Mrs. Astor.

What I Listen to in My Car

I have a 20-minute drive to and from work, so it's nice to listen to something on the radio. But the news is still too depressing these days. (I used to time my drive based on which segment was playing on NPR,

Gerald Mohr as Philip Marlowe

before I stopped listening to it.) I switched to old-time radio shows like The Adventures of Philip Marlowe--every episode was exactly the same. Marlowe takes on a case, finds a beautiful girl, gets beaten up, beats up one of his attackers to even the score, solves the case, walks off with the dame. When all those segments were used up, I went to The Halls of Ivy starring Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Coleman, which later became a TV sitcom. At first it was interesting to hear Coleman's distinctive voice, along with that of his wife. They guest-starred on the Jack Benny Show many times as themselves, playing his neighbors who can't stand Jack and keep inventing excuses to pass up his party and dinner invitations. In The Halls of Ivy, they play a college professor and his wife, a former British musical comedy star. But the series was pure drivel after a while.

Then I discovered podcasts 

--Anderson Cooper's All There Is, his heartbreaking examination of grief after his mother Gloria Vanderbilt passed away. Her death brought memories of Anderson's father who died when he was 10 and his brother who committed suicide in front of their mother. He interviews celebrities such as Stephen Colbert, Laurie Anderson and Molly Shannon and experts on the grieving process. It somehow made me feel clamer to drive to work hearing stories of coping with mourning. My own travails weren't so bad. 

--Rachel Maddow's Ultra. Fascinating study of radical right-wing attempts to overthrow the democratic government in the 1930s and 40s.

--The Plot Thickens. TCM's podcast series of behind-the-scenes movie stories starting with a biography of Peter Bogdanavich who was one of my favorite directors, and then The Devil's Candy, a chronicle of the making of Bonfire of the Vanities, one of filmdom's biggest disasters. 

Who's Afraid of Virginia State?

The 2016 Presidential Debates will resemble
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

The moderators for the 2016 presidential debates have been announced and a startling image came into my mind. The second debate will be co-hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper and ABC's Martha Raddatz. This will be the first time both the debaters and the moderators will be opposite-sex pairs. It made me think of the event as a horrible nightmare version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, two drunken couples clashing in an all-night boozefest. Here's my version of the debate:

Who's Afraid of Virginia State (with apologies to Edward Albee)
Hillary Clinton as Martha
Donald Trump as George
Anderson Cooper as Nick
Martha Raddatz as Honey

The scene: a living room in Washington DC, late at night. The set is in darkness. We hear loud voices arguing offstage. The door opens, Hillary and Donald enter, returning from a late-night party.

Hillary: What a dump!...What's that from?
Donald: How the hell should I know?
Hillary: It's from some damn movie. Some damn Warner Brothers epic.
Donald: Ah ha! Your memory is failing. Just like I've been saying. Your health is terrible. You're falling apart. You don't have the stamina to be president.
Hillary: Listen, baby, I can drink you under any goddamn table you want and don't you forget it. You're the one who's in terrible shape in spite of what that crazy doctor of yours says. Now fix me a drink, lover.

Why Anderson Cooper's Coming Out IS a Big Deal

It's been a long time since my last regular blog post. In the past few days, I've posted some lists of theater trivia from the 2012-13 season, but there hasn't been any deep stuff from the David Desk since March. It's just been really busy between my job and planning a wedding with my partner in June and now planning a big trip in August as a sort of honeymoon. (More blogs on that later.) So much has happened--Where to start?

Anderson Cooper's coming out, let's go with that. The reaction to this non-surprise has been mixed. Some say a big so what, what's the big deal, we all knew anyway and who cares, it's his private business. Others are reacting with hostility that celebrities deserve their privacy just as much as anyone else. I had written about this about a year ago or so in a blog about Kathy Griffin's purposely NOT joking about her pal Anderson's closet status. Just a week before AC's big reveal, he appeared on her Bravo talk show. One of her "civilian" friends was siting on the couch with Anderson and said she had a big crush on him and was convinced they were now dating. Anderson said "It's not gonna happen." The audience laughed and the inside joke was he was gay. But nobody said anything about that.

I have also heard that the reason he didn't publicly acknowledge his sexuality was so he could continue to report on the ground in fundamentalist Muslim countries.

The reason this is important is that gay people are still being persecuted and gay kids are being bullied and driven to depression and suicide. Being gay is not an agenda or a political statement, it's a natural state of being like being black or Asian. The more prominent, brave, and successful people who come out, the more homosexuality will be accepted as an ordinary way to be. The longer Anderson failed to publicly acknowledge his being gay, the longer it was seen as a secret and shameful--it was seen as something that would alienate his CNN and talk-show viewers. In one interview with P Diddy the rap star offered a gift to Anderson to give to his wife. Anderson said he wasn't married and didn't have a girlfriend. He should have been able to say "I'm gay" and left it at that. I wrote at the time that's what I wanted to happen. I want  celebrities to be able to say "I'm gay" and then move on to something else--or to talk about it if they want to. I think that day is here.

When people say "It's no big deal, why talk about it at all?" what they are really saying is, "It's OK to talk about celebs' relationships and marriages and break-ups if they are straight, but not if they are gay. Let's not talk about gay stuff at all. We all know it's there, let's just pretend it doesn't exist. Anyway, seeing two men or two women kiss creeps me out."

Last month I was married to my partner both in NYC--where it is legal--and Pennsylvania--where it is not. The very act of a public ceremony treating my same-sex relationship as equal to a heterosexual one is revolutionary and Anderson's finally coming is another revolution. It means the general public will not turn from him in droves and his attracted to men will not be a stigma. The process of acceptance is slow, but it's happening and it's inevitable. The day will come when we can get married in all 50 states. Yes North Carolina, even you will accept me and Cooper's coming out is a part of that future.

More blogs to come.