"Where do you want to go?" I was asked. If the year was 1967 & I was in South Carolina, trust me: that was as loaded a question as you could ask me. For some reason I chose New York City. Why NYC, you might innocently ask. & my response would surely be, back then, because that is where I started from.
It was only later, once they had handed me my ticket & were walking me to the place where the taxi was waiting, that I was told: ". . . but, you could have chosen anywhere in the United States. You could have said California. & if I had, oh how different things might be today.
But, looking back 45 years, I can only assume that Fate itself was at work here. I had a working knowledge of how to get around in New York & I thought, if I worked at it, I might get lucky & get into the world of entertainment; cut an album maybe. Meet other musicians, definitely. And I had remnants of family there: my father in Matawan, New Jersey; my sister, Jacky, out in Nassau County on Long Island.
It was logical. But, maybe too logical, really.
Now, here in 2012, I wish I had chosen Calilfornia. Because this year I am to describe to you was lonely; often I was afraid; not at all productive &, at the end of it, I believed less in myself & much less in all of my friends from Goddard. So, maybe the most positive spin I will put on it is: I learned how to face things I was uncomfortable with & the importance of having a life that was, at the very least, fun.
It was only later, once they had handed me my ticket & were walking me to the place where the taxi was waiting, that I was told: ". . . but, you could have chosen anywhere in the United States. You could have said California. & if I had, oh how different things might be today.
But, looking back 45 years, I can only assume that Fate itself was at work here. I had a working knowledge of how to get around in New York & I thought, if I worked at it, I might get lucky & get into the world of entertainment; cut an album maybe. Meet other musicians, definitely. And I had remnants of family there: my father in Matawan, New Jersey; my sister, Jacky, out in Nassau County on Long Island.
It was logical. But, maybe too logical, really.
Now, here in 2012, I wish I had chosen Calilfornia. Because this year I am to describe to you was lonely; often I was afraid; not at all productive &, at the end of it, I believed less in myself & much less in all of my friends from Goddard. So, maybe the most positive spin I will put on it is: I learned how to face things I was uncomfortable with & the importance of having a life that was, at the very least, fun.
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