Being pretty much the academic nerd, I’m reasonably certain that no one in my mid 1960s high school life looked to me for fashion statements. Moreover, I wasn’t allowed to clothes shop with any frequency, and when I did, I got little guidance from my disinterested mother. But I did know about and covet Villager clothes. They were popular and preppy. They were expensive, and well made. By means I no longer remember, I was able to purchase a long-sleeved, lined wool Villager dress. It was heather blue and green, and I wore that dress to school every winter Friday for an entire semester. Did it help me feel secure, knowing I was well-dressed on that one day each week? Didn’t it occur to me that it was weird to wear the same thing on the same day each week? Wasn’t I a bit old to be adhering to that type of ritual? I loved that Friday dress, and am still warmed by its memory.
TV shows of my youth
The three TV shows that were an important part of my childhood, all of whose theme songs I can still easily sing from memory.
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Tell her George Called, George Takei
I am from the TV generation of the 1960s and 1970s. I searched for Asian faces in the actors and actresses of the time period: Hop Sing, Mrs. Livingston, and Mr. Sulu are the characters that first come to my mind.
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Saying Kaddish
The words roll off my tongue despite years of disuse, their rhythm like music, like chant; like Ginsberg, like Dylan.
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