Bruz Fletcher Project: Remembering a Gay Voice | ||
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Bruz Fletcher: Career, Family & Sources | |
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(Note: info on Bruz Fletcher's career and discography has been moved. Info on his family has been shortened. 9/2007.)
* * * * * * FLETCHER FAMILY
LOUISA FLETCHER
Gerogia: "From the website of the big cemetery in Indianapolis (Crown Hill) there is a date of burial, July 23, 1927. (Her name is also listed as Laurel Louisa Fletcher). There are several articles about her death, one includes a big photograph of her wearing a broad brimmed straw hat in the Indpls Star, July 19, 1927 (pg 1) "Miss Louisa Fletcher is Dead in Los Angeles, Cal." She died on the previous day (July 18). Stoughton (father) had been in Indpls on business. He left immediately for Chicago to await the arrival of the body. "She was last Indianapolis in 1925 when she, her father and brother, Stoughton Jr., spent Christmas here with friends. Miss Fletcher's mother died in 1921. Shortly there after the family gave up its home here. (This account certainly omits the details.) In the last year Mr. Fletcher and the children have been living in California. Louisa attended Tudor Hall and later Mount Vernon Seminary in Washington. The Star on July 20, 1927 (pg 1) "Miss Fletcher's Body on Way Here" "A message from Los Angeles stated that the body was sent from there yesterday accompanied by Stoughton Fletcher III, brother of Miss Fletcher. Miss Fletcher's death resulted from meningitis, according to word from Los Angeles. It was said she had been in declining health for some time. She was 24 years old."
STOUGHTON A. FLETCHER, III: Georgia: This anecdote really doesn't have direct bearing on Bruz, but you might find it amusing. I had the opportunity to speak w/ a friend Evans who is from an old Indianapolis family who has had interesting gossip on other local subjects. The only story he had to tell was that Stoughton Fletcher, Bruz's father, looked upon Evans' grandfather as a business protégé and once gave him a very fine coat. Evans described it as being made from covert cloth (a term unfamiliar to me), lined w/ sealskin and a collar made from unplucked otter. Evans explained, with humor, that unplucked otter has bristles in the fur and he supposed made it "more manly". Evans said his grandfather never wore the coat and it hung in a closet at the family home until Evans went off to Yale. He said he took the coat & had a great deal of fun sporting that coat while in school. All Evans had to add was that Stoughton had lost all his money by the '20's, before the crash. Evans father used to ride horses over to the Fletchers'. That Stoughton ended up operating an elevator. That the daughter died tragically but did not know any details. ****** From: http://www.mi-harness.com/publct/ptrgrt.html "Laurel Hall Farm in its prime was well equipped. There were spacious barns at the edge of the mile track to house the horses that were in training. There were houses for the trainer and the help. Facilities were there to handle the brood mares and the king of the establishment, Peter the Great, had his own private bungalow decorated with flowers. Fire destroyed most of these buildings. Stoughton Fletcher had a wide range of interests from banks to oilfields. The Fletcher Empire was caught in a financial crisis in the early 1920's and he lost everything. At the time he had Walter Cox training and racing his horses. The driving jacket was black with white stripes and Cox hated it. The only fuel needed for an argument was a mention of these driving colors. Cox had a vocabulary that could turn the air blue. Walter Randall Cox was one of the rough and ready breed of horsemen. While it is true that he did some things that were not strictly for the betterment of the sport he also did some great things. He had a contract with Laurel Hall Farm for three years at $10,000 a year for handling the racing stable. When the crash came Fletcher told Cox that although he did not know how he would pay off, but the contract would be honored. The gruff reply from Cox was "lets see that contract." Fletcher dug it out and handed it over. Cox then proceeded to tear it up and declared that the contract was cancelled. There are all sorts of stories on Cox but few know of the many kind things that this man did. When Fletcher had to dispose of his horses, the farm was purchased by Thomas D. Taggart." ******* Fletcher bought Peter the Great in 1916 for $50.000. Peter lived at Laurel Hall until his death in 1923. He sired a record 163 pacers and 498 trotters and Peter's is one of only 2 lines from which all trotters descend. 3 of Peter's famous descendants are named The Laurel Hall, May I Henley and Hilda Fletcher (after Stoughton's lesbian sister.) A relative wrote about the woman Hilda, "who always seemed quite formal and rather stern to me as a child -- what a hoot that she had racehorses in common with her brother! I vividly remember staying at Hilda's house in Saranac Lake. I slept on the sleeping porch, which I thought was terribly exciting, and ate in the big, dark dining room, at a table set with linen and crystal and silver, served (several courses at each meal!) by a maid in a black uniform and white starched apron and cap, and closely observed by her Boston bull terrier (he liked nipping ankles). It was certainly a world I hadn't experienced before!" The NY Times reported Hilda as the first to entertain the new Vice President at a small dinner in her Washington apartment in 1913. ******* Fletcher attended Princeton, became an assitant cashier in the family bank, then its president in 1907 and continued until May 19, 1923 when he resigned to persue his buisness interests and become a financial counsel. Financial troubles for his empire occured right away. His grandmother, sister and neice were named Laurel, he named his daughter, his estate and a famous horse after them. Thus there are at least 7 Stoughtons and 6 Laurels. His mother's middle name was Louisa. She died in 1923 at the age of 75, 2 years after making national news as the oldest student enrolled in a State University. His sister, niece and horse were named Hilda. Likewise there are numerous Julia's. ******* From the current Fletcher Family: Bruz & Louisa's father Stoughton A. Fletcher, III, was the grandson of Calvin's brother, Stoughton, Sr. That line goes Jesse- Stoughton, Sr.-Stoughton J.- Stoughton A., III. Stoughton, Sr. was a banker. He started a private bank under his own name, then came the Fletcher National Bank (Chartered 1898), which became the Fletcher American National Bank (Chartered 1910) It was these two banks that Stoughton J. & his son, Stoughton A., III ran. Stoughton J. died rather unexpectedly in 1909, thrusting Stoughton A., III in to the top job at the bank at the tender age of 36. It was poor investments during WW I that led to his financial downfall, totally unrelated to the bank. The bank later became the American Fletcher National Bank and traded on the NYSE into the 1980's before it was taken over. I understand that near the end of his life he moved to somewhere in New England and lived with his sister until his death. (In Saranac Lake, NY, with Hilda, a lesbian, died May 1981 - TA) ...I am doing some further research, but I believe what follows to be fairly accurate ... Stoughton, III's financial downfall: He responded to the Government's urgent call during WW I for marine turbine engines by purchasing and consolidating 2 companies, changing the management and producing the needed engines quickly. This venture was secured with this personal assets. The War ended sooner than he anticipated and before he could recover his investment. With the end of the War he lost the Government contract and was left holding the bag. By 1921 his financial troubles were apparent and he gave up controlling interest in the Fletcher American National Bank. He discussed this in a speech that was reported in The Indianapolis News on May 19, 1923. In 1924 he declared bankruptcy and moved to California with his 2 children. Around the time of his death The Indianapolis Star published an article on October 10, 1957 ... Again, I am not sure, but it may mention that there were rumors that he speculated in the sugar market in an attempt to recoup his losses. These rumors have never been proven as fact. ******* "Years later, reduced to working at humble jobs in California, Fletcher told an old friend that he would not have signed the contract for the Midwest Engine Co. deal if he had not had a pen handy."
MAY H.HENLEY FLETCHER From obituaries: Recognized as one of the most beautiful girls in Indianapolis in her youth, a leader in the social set in the early days of her married life, Mrs Stoughton Fletcher’s career seemed one which had been marked for naught but sunshine. As May Henley, the petted young daughter of Mr and Mrs William Henley, she atteneded the Girl’s Classical School, the fashionable boarding school... Even then she was a leader in her set. She had something more than beauty, more than even the vivacity which was her special charm, she was possessed of a bright temperament and sweetness of disposition which carried her father to social triumph {greater} than many a wealthier girl. At the many social affairs into which Mrs. Sewall introduced her pupils, pretty May Henley shown as the leading spirit. ...It was while attending a house party that the romance budded which culminated in a speedy marriage with Stoughton A. Fletcher, Jr. in 1900 {MAY 8 1901} ... The young couple went into housekeeping in the Victoria Apartment at Ohio and Jersey streets across the street from the old Fletcher home... it was here that daughter Louisa was born... A few years later the young couple moved to a spacious home south of the city and here the son Stoughton A Jr., was born {STOUGHTON J IV}. It was often the subject of comment among her friends that Mrs. Fletcher remained totally unspoiled by the happy turn of fortune’s wheel which placed her among such luxuriuos surroundings, she was graciousness itself to an art. ... She was extremely fond of flowers and the conservatories at Laurel Hall were often placed at the disposal of her many friends through her generosity. Frequently great hampers of flowers have been sent to aid some charitable enterprise... Mrs. Fletcher spent much of her time in the East and when at home enjoyed the advantages of her suburban estate to the fullest, being fond of the outdoors and devoted to riding. She possessed some fine dogs, one a wire haired Irish terrier, being a special pet. She was never a club woman... In 1910, May and sister-in-law Hilda were in California to fight for custody of the children and body of sister-in-law Julia who also might have ended her life by suicide. | ||
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LAUREL HALL: Georgia writes: I spoke with someone yesterday who taught at Ladywood School and lived on the former Laurel Hall estate. She told me that it was not uncommon for people, often those who had been employed on the estate, to stop by and tell tales about life with the Fletchers. I'm not sure how much stock to put in the stories but they were interesting... Leah described the series of rooms where May Henley Fletcher & her mother died. The explanation that she heard was that Mrs Fletcher had drunk the poison from a glass that was still beside her body. When Mrs Fletcher's mother came into what was described as a palatial bathroom and saw her daughter's body, she passed out. A nurse who was present, in an attempt to revive the mother, gave her the glass filled with clear liquid which turned out to be poison. Somehow this doesn't quite have the ring of truth to it. She also described an office of Stoughton (the father) that was in the home, located if I understood correctly, under the grand staircase that had a secret door that led out of the house so that Stoughton (pere, again) could get out of the house & meet his cronies w/out the household knowing he had gone out. (This has since been proven not to be entirely accurate, however the ulitity tunnels could have also served this purpose.) In February 2005 Laurel Hall went back on the market for $2,250,000. The Indianapolis paper added a few details: "Fletcher reportedly boasted that he built his palatial summerhouse atop the hill overlooking Fall Creek so he could see when the sheriff was coming for him... the 40,000-square-foot home originally had 32 bedrooms, 27 fireplaces and 22 bathrooms... the interior had been reconfigured during the years... in place of bedrooms, living rooms and ballrooms are offices, cubicles and conference rooms... Despite the changes, the home hasn't lost its eccentricities. Fletcher, who was left-handed, had all the doors constructed so that they opened to the left ... Fletcher would march the horse indoors to warm it by an immense fireplace. And he would hold "horse-mating" parties on the front lawn, where he used a cement mixer to stir martinis for his guests... in 1924, Fletcher's turbine engine company went bankrupt. From 1926 to 1970, the mansion housed Ladywood School. In 1974, businessman Robert V. Welch bought the mansion and 84 surrounding acres. He sold 34 acres to Cathedral High School for its present campus as he developed the Windridge condominiums."
From 1985-2004 Laurel Hall was the home of the right wing think tank the Hudson Institute. In 2005 it was sold to become the National Headquarters of Phi Kappa Psi. Many in Indianapolis were upset at the sale seeing the Hudson people as taking unfair advantage and profit just after accepting a gift of more than one million dollars in 2002 given to improve the estate in order make it available for charitable community efforts, and abusing the intent of the original undervalued, locally subsidized purchase of only $500,000. It made the Hudson Institute seem slick and seedy to many.
Kate Lenkowsky's hard to find book on the history and architectual details of Laurel Hall is rich with detail and photos and history of the home. The details of the Fletcher Family are basic and she attributes the death of Louisa to suicide. She includes a bit about Stoughton II, Bruz's grandfather who inspired the character of Vorhees Pike in Booth Tarkington's "The Man from Home" about an Indiana buisnessman in Rome. While visiting Louisa and Booth in Rome, Fletcher Sr. "once huffed, 'I ain't going around smelling dead monks.'" Georgia recalled the Tarkington's "Magnificent Ambersons" is also said to be inspired by the Fletchers.
In March 2007, Dan Guio emailed the following update: At least for now, all of us here are so glad that Laurel Hall is in the good hands of Phi Kappa Psi. It's actually owned by their endowment fund whose leadership is very interested in historic preservation. They have raised substantial funds from their faithful alumni and have done wonders in a relatively short amount of time. The institutional lighting that Hudson installed has been removed and replaced with authentic to the era antique fixtures, and all the old cubicles and office walls have been removed. One of the first things completed was the repair of the lovely terrace that overlooks the river valley below. Repairs included the twin fountains on either side of the door from the grand salon to the terrace. What's really nice is that this area and also several 1st floor rooms are now available for rent as venues for weddings. This helps the owners offset their enormous operating costs and it's fun to see people enjoying the place like the old days. You are right....many, many people were upset at the Hudson Institute for the way they handled the move. It seems like it was only about a year after they accepted huge gifts to improve their financial condition and do some repairs....even taking a substantial gift from Ruth Lilly herself. Of course those improvements produced a much better selling price for the house when it went on the market! ****** Bruz is not buried at Crown Hill Cemetary with the other 6 Stoughton Fletchers, his immediate family, and generations of Fletchers. Crown Hill is the country's 3rd largest cemetary, original purchase made possible by the help of an interest free loan from the Fletcher bank. Georgia adds: Also I'll mention that I went out to Crown Hill Cemetery here in Indpls. I located the Fletcher plot where dozens of Fletchers are buried, most of them w/ just initials. I found LLF (Laurel Louisa), MHF (May Henley) and SAF in a row together. The gray day, the crusty snow and the cold made it quite atmospheric. I thought about cremated Bruz and wondered if his ashes were returned to Indiana or scattered elsewhere ... Crown Hill is quite the cemetery, lots of old trees including weeping beech on beautiful grounds, a high point w/a poet buried on top (not a great poet, but a poet nonetheless) with a view to city, interesting examples of funerary sculpture. | ||
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Photos of Laurel Hall by William R. Weakley & Dan Guio | ||
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CASEY ROBERTS Remembering a Queer Eye: Edwin Casey Roberts was born May 9, 1901, and may have been of distant Native American descent on his mother Aba Uimin "Minnie" Chilson's side. His paternal great-great-great-grandfather Cornelius Roberts was killed and scalped by the Cherokees on June 24, 1788, while hunting ginseng on Black Mountain, now in Harlan Co, KY, but then part of Virginia. Casey's father, Archibald White Roberts, moved his family from Wayne Co, IL, to Tucson, AZ, between 1905-1910, and as early as 1910 according to census reports Casey was employed as an "office boy." Then Casey moved to Los Angeles where the handsome teenager began his career as a silent film actor in 1917’s Jilted in Jail. In 1920 he was working as a jewelry salesman and living alone at 147 1/2 Ridge Way. In 1921, his family finally followed him to California from Arizona.
Casey was multitalented and was known as set designer as well as an artist. In the late 20's he designed sets and costumes, opened and antique shop and really started the English Village in LA, and sold his beautiful etchings in a gallery next to his shop. In the early 30's he tried a career as an artist. He and Bruz lived in Newport, Rhode Island’s artists colony in the early 1930’s. Their waterfront view address at 41 Washington Street was named Falsneau House. Casey wrote, “ we hope to build up a good artists colony here on Washington Street, one that Newport can be proud of and one that will be recognized throughout the country. The charm of this section of Newport - the age of the old houses and the historic value they contain - all goes to make up very pleasant working surroundings.” At the 1932 “Old Port Days” Celebration, Washington Street houses celebrated their Colonial roots and were opened to the public. Bruz and Casey participated in the festivities, “ Falsneau House: Here were seen the paintings of Casey Roberts, World War posters, photography, and fishes from all over the world, and a Theives’ Market outside disposed of a large number of articles. Bruz Fletcher, writer and photographer, lives with Mr. Roberts and their interesting apartments were shown. The fish, in every form, were described in original verses by Mr. Roberts.” Bruz and Casey often played hosts to visiting theater people including Morton Downey and Grace Hayes.
In 1930 Newport’s Casino Theatre featured his explorations in silver leaf techniques, “The Silver Shawl’ and ‘Black Panther’ show both taste and a sense of fantasy. Perhaps one of the most interesting pieces in the exhibition is his ‘Crying Negress’. It has unusual power and feeling. In it, his treatment of line is handled with a sinuous beauty that shows that this artist ‘thinks of line as a musician thinks of timbre, as a medium capable of infinite gradation.’” His open form line drawing of Bruz used as the bookplate of Bruz's first novel has a very organic quality to the line but in sharp contrast for the cover of that same book, Casey employed a sort of fluid and lyrical line that appears somewhere between the two styles of Art Deco and Surrealism.
Casey showed work at the AIC in 1931, his decorative drawings were displayed at the Four Fountains in South Hampton in June of that year followed by inclusion of his “vivid and original paintings” in July’s Newport Art Association Annual Show. He presented paintings at the Robert C. Vose Jr. Galleries in Boston with black sculptor N. Elizabeth Prophet in November of 1932. Articles describe his artwork alternately as "modernist decorations,""fabric pictures," "ragbag pictures - the very amusing collections of odds and ends which Casey Roberts contrives into irreverences include this year a new view of Rockefeller plaza 'Prometheus,' a still-life with a button eyed fish extensively dead; a hilarious gangster's funeral with a gold lined coffin and a veritable arsenal; and a bull fight Mr. Hemingway did not see." On reviewer wrote, “in looking at the panels of Casey Roberts, one is lead to hope that nothing will hinder the future development of a man who in the twenties is already capable of such intellectually good work. It is clear in these panels that the mind as well as the hand have been at work. His sense of climax and decorative instinct are so unusual.” His 1934 entry in the Newport Art Association Exhibition was a canvas entitled “Summer Sailing.” He entered still-life work into the 1934 Newport Flower show and won first prize for a shadow box. For some reason (perhaps bankruptcy?) the sheriff was auctioning off 22 of defendant Casey Roberts' pictures in New York on Jan. 4, 1935.
While in Newport, Casey also staged parties. He painted the scenery for the the 1934 President Roosevelt Birthday Ball which included a faithfully executed replica of the White House that was complete to the minute details. So impressive was it that it was saved and reused to decorate the 1936 Army and Navy Dance. Along the walls of the birthday ball were fir trees with asbestos cotton representing snow and overhead were stung illuminated balloons while between them were huge clusters of white balloons which were released at intervals during the evening. His over the top sense of detail would later serve him well in Hollywood.
Those first few months of 1935 found Casey (and Bruz as least in part) in Palm Beach and on the society pages attending gala dinners, costume balls and staging parties. His surviving 1935 collage captures those days and is quintessential Casey style. It is a society ball, with silhouetted dancing figures fashioned from clippings of the Society Pages and colored paper repeated throughout. Large palms with button coconuts and strung with festive balloons are overhead and off in a corner out of the “Social Stream” is a totally a unique couple made from text of a story of illicit love. Casey’s sly sense of irony and social commentary is ever-present even in this decorative work.
Casey is best remembered as a successful Hollywood set decorator and was nominated for 3 Academy Awards for his work. He worked on Ingrid Bergman’s first American film Intermezzo - A Love Story and she on his last Joan of Arc. His specialty seemed to be in the details. He used young tumble weeds to decorate Jackson or Pirate Island in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer because they were so tough and would retain their green color long after other plants faded but overnight filled the set with jungle of several tons of freshly cut trees and greenery. He scoured museums and private collections for the implements of torture in James Whale’s The Man in the Iron Mask, and used rare period antiques and real 19th century books rather that the typical law books to create the library for Little Lord Fauntleroy. He dirtied sets to make them look lived in and refashioned the surviving soup cans from his devastating fire into a decorative floral wall hanging and placed it prominently on the Intermezzo set.
Just as clever and brazen as Bruz was with his lyrics, Casey decorated film sets with a bold lavender touch that went beyond his over the top floral bouquets. For instance, in Intermezzo Casey placed a wholly unnecessary, full frontal nude MALE sculpture on the windowsill. Its white porcelain form against the white drapes did not immediately steal attention from nearby star Leslie Howard. Its camouflage kept it invisible to most viewers but a discerning queer eye finds this incongruous and gratuitous erotic element totally distracting. Its pose, just turned away form the camera enough not to expose its genitals, is a complete and surprising tease. Casey accomplished in a visual way exactly what Bruz was doing onstage, flaunting his sexuality in open but discreetly enough that only those who wanted to see it would.
His father Arch wrote referring to Casey in 1939, "Our family is located here. Two of the sons are in state civil service. One is in the moving pictures, with some degree of success, and best of all are healthy and happy in their chosen work." The American Institute of Decorators gave Casey a "special award citation" for his "unusual imagination" for his work on The Secret Life of Walter Mitty in 1947. His name often appeared with Bruz's in the society and gossip columns. He died of a heart attack in 1948. He was broke in spite of having just earned a large salary for "Joan of Arc" as he had incurred much debt while out of work between jobs. He had been living at 1139 Larabee Street in West Hollywood. A cousin kindly emailed me the family history, a few Fletcher Family/Laurel Hall articles and the following obituary:
Wayne County Press, June 2, 1949, p1, c6:
CASEY ROBERTS DIES
News of the unexpected passing of Casey Roberts in Hollywood, Calif., was received by relatives here Sunday afternoon. Mr. Roberts' father, Arch W. Roberts, of North Hollywood, Calif., had arrived in Fairfield only two days earlier for a visit with his sister, Mrs. O. A. Towns. He left for California by plane from St. Louis early Monday morning.
According to the telephone message received, Mr. Roberts had just returned from a business trip to San Francisco when he suffered a stroke of apoplexy and died. He was 48 years old. He was born and reared on the old Roberts homestead in Jasper township, near Fairfield. While a young man he moved with his parents to California.
In recent years he had advanced to a position of prominence with the large movie studios in Hollywood as the director and arranger of properties used in making pictures. A few months ago one of the Los Angeles newspapers carried his picture and a lengthy story about his work in connection with the filming of the new picture, "Joan of Arc."
Georgia comments: "The line 'he never married' is somehow so sad in what it leaves out. Oh the times!" Today, Bruz Fletcher is listed as the partner of Casey Roberts in the detailed Roberts Family Genealogy. | ||
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SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to David McCain for sharing what he had, for the first Vaudeville info and for looking out for Bruz mentions and articles as he presses on with his Boswell research. Thanks to Georgia Cravey and Chris Marshall of the Marion County Public Library for sharing Bruz's novels , bookplates and images, articles, obituaries, and reviews. Thank you, Georgia, for all your continued collaboration and enthusiasm. Thanks to John Fletcher and other members of the extended Fletcher Family for sharing info, photos and memories. Thanks to the family of Casey Roberts for sharing his family story and supporting this site and research. Thanks to Terry Hughes for helping with the Bruz 100th tribute. Click Here to visit his website. Additional thanks to: Randy Riddle Charles Cage Jennifer Green. Cara Gilgenbach and Craig Simpson, Trisha Bennett Tony Onstott and Mike Ayres Robert Anderson Jean Miller JD Doyle, Queer Music Heritage to whom I provided the images of Bruz and who gives so much. Stuart Timmons for his interest, researching and editing help, appreciation and support. William Weakley and Dan Guio, both of whom are Laurel Hall neighbors. Greg Haynes of A Rare Read for his image. Copyright Tyler Alpern 2004 - 2007 The website's content is copyrighted. No material from the site may be republished, copied, posted, rewritten, printed, photocopied, broadcast, publicly displayed, or distributed in any way without prior written permission except that you may view many of the site's pages with a web browser and you may print a single copy of those pages for your personal, noncommercial, home use. CHECK WITH TYLER BEFORE QUOTING OR USING RESEACH or DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. MARKERS IN TEXT TO PROECT IP RIGHTS. SOURCES AND WORKS CITED: William Mann, Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood 1910 - 1969.
David Diehl, The Blue Pages. The Encyclopedic Guide to 78 R. P. M. Party Records. Includes Ray Bourbon, Bruz Fletcher, Nan Blakstone, Ray Bourbon, Cliff Edwards, Dwight Fiske, Redd Foxx, Larry Vincent, Ruth Wallis, Spivy and many others. http://www.hensteeth.com/artist.html
Note: Some important and excellent books that cover the Pansy Craze and gay life in the thirties that sadly DO NOT mention Bruz Fletcher are: Gay New York by George Chauncey The Other Side of Silence: Men’s Lives and Gay Identities A 20th Century History by John Loughery Out of the Past by Neil Miller "Intimate Nights the Golden Age of New York Cabaret" by James Gavin
Georgia adds: "Open Secret (Gay Hollywood 1928-1998)" by David Ehrenstein (Morrow 1998). Bruz breifly mentioned. "Hollywood Watering Holes" by Lester Strong & David Hanna. Reprinted in an anthology "The Best of the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review" ed. By Richard Schneider (Temple University 1997). Bruz included. "LA and the Lily Law"by Lester Strong & David Hanna, Journal of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Identity V4 #2, 1999. Here's another book to add to the list of books that should have included Bruz Fletcher, but don't "Out With the Stars: Hollywood Nightlife in the Golden Era" by Jim Heimann (Abbeville Press 1985) I was skimming through a memoir by James Broughton, "Coming Unbuttoned" and noticed his account of Jack Sowden's "nightly salon of eclectic revelry". He describes the scene, makes me wish for a time-machine again, mentions Howard Greer, fashion designer, but no Bruz.
Please email for exact newspaper or article listings. | ||
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