Lines of His Mind

I often speak about the lines of Gene’s body, but today I have been thinking a lot about the lines of his mind and of the myriad of wonderful rabbit holes I descend into as I explore the details of the stories he shared with me. For example, the other day, I shared with you a quote from Gene about his relationship with the French artist Jean Cocteau. I decided then to purchase a used copy of a book about Cocteau so I could learn more about his life and the possible intersections with Gene’s. I first went to the Index of Names Cited. No Gene. But that didn’t surprise me. Often biographers miss some of the less-obvious connections in the lives of their subjects. But when I searched for Kelly, I found “Kessel, Joseph.” Joseph Kessel, or “Jef” as Gene called him, was a good friend of Gene’s and they had many adventures together in Paris and California (Note: Kessel had a penchant for eating glass). A French journalist and novelist, Kessel was an aviator in WWI. He wrote several books later made into films, including Belle de Jour. After reading about Kessel and Cocteau, I went back to the Index and checked the many names that I remembered from conversations with Gene. Some might seem like natural associations, like Fred Astaire, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Charles Aznavour. But others less so, including Jean Babilee, Jean-Louis Barrault, Samuel Beckett, Bertolt Brecht, Marc Chagall, Rene Clair, Colette, Maya Deren, Abel Gance, Christopher Isherwood, Moise Kiesling, Henri Langlois, Lotte Lenya, Leonide Massine, Darius Milhaud, Bronislava Nijinska, Roland Petit, Jacques Prevert, Elsa Schiaparelli, Arnold Schoenberg, Francois Truffaut, Andy Warhol, Tennessee Williams, and on and on. Do you see the trouble I have? One thing leads to the next and soon I am wrapped in Gene’s words, his collection of letters, photographs and other memorabilia. I dive in. Hours pass. I pop out with a tender morsel. Savored. Alas, it is a privilege to have such “trouble.” (p.s. Don’t despair. In time, I will shares these stories with you!)

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