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I was shocked to learn about Michael Chrichton death too, Bill. In 1971 or '72 I met him at a party. It was a "Models and Artists Ball" and I was invited by my hairdresser Randy. Randy loved models. Randy was a tall red head himself and had he lived long enough to encounter HIV, he would likely have been one of the first casualties of AIDS but he died before that from injuries suffered in a car accident. Drinking, drugs and driving. But Randy was fun and when he invited me as his "date" for this party, for a moment I actually thought maybe he wasn't really gay. After the party we came back to my apartment and he brought with him a new album -- someone I had never heard of -- Bette Midler. But so what? What does that have to do with Michael Chrichton? Well, he had just arrived in Los Angeles. I don't know if he had moved here or was visiting but he did end up at the party. I don't remember who introduced us but someone pulled me aside and said I want you to meet MC. He was unbelievably tall. Thin. Just like he always was thereafter. Maybe I was a little tipsy but when we went through the basic "whatdoyoudo's" and he said he was a doctor, I laughed. I asked where he went to medical school and he said "Harvard." Pretty sure I laughed some more. What an obvious answer. I thought he was trying to be unique by not saying he was in show business. I wasn't mocking him. He just didn't look like any doctor I'd ever met. Too tall, too young and too attractive. I figured he was an actor. His face went cold and I moved on recognizing this was not to be a match made in heaven. Meanwhile Randy was off flirting with... Cristina Ferrare, who would soon thereafter divorce her husband-agent for John DeLorean, the automaker who would later stand trial for some big drug deal. She stood by her man and then divorced him right after the verdict. She was stunningly beautiful back then (the face of Max Factor). They lived across the hall from me in my apartment building. Randy would go on to have his one and only screen credit playing a hairdresser who worked alongside the character played by Warren Beatty in Shampoo. He had one line.
Anyway, that was about it. I made a point to remember Michael Chrichton's name and soon after read articles about him. The first book I read of his was Congo, the one about Koko the Talking Gorilla. I loved the escape of it all. Also read The Andromeda Strain about that time too. Years later my son would introduce me to Juraissic Park. Maybe someday I'll read another as they are entertaining page-turner books. He had five wives. I never came close to having been one of them having alienated him with a bad first impression. A lesson for all you young women out there!
Susan
“Half a truth is often a great lie.” Ben Franklin
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