I appear as 'Dr Emett' in the S.V.H.S. production of The Curious Savage.
Further inspired by H Rider Haggard’s ‘Ayesha’ series, I write a novel called The Hidden City of A-Ten.
From what I remember, I believe it was a story about brother-and-sister twins who travel to South America where they discover a hidden Mayan city and somehow become its rulers.
1 – 2 MAY
Saturday – Sunday
With a friend of hers [whose name we can’t recall], my sister and I sing for a variety show—High Flying Follies—at the Bagotville base.
Two of the songs were Singing the Blues and Cool Water. My sister believes we also did a Beatles number, but we don’t recall which one it was.
Cast of High Flying Follies
JUNE
I pass Grade 10 at Saguenay Valley High School.
Though, not without some confusion. Whoever scored the final marks somehow managed to give me a failing 50 in Latin, a subject I never took at S.V.H.S. After a few phone calls and letters from Dad, by August they finally had it straightened out and I could enter Grade 11.
In my yearbook, classmate John Geffken writes—“You have to rate as one of the most interesting fellows that I’ve ever met. Nobody could have a mind[?] like yours.”
SUMMER
At a bookstore in Chicoutimi, I buy a book called The Perfumed Garden translated by Sir Richard Burton. Its descriptive sexual passages further fill my fantasies.
At the same store, I pick up a magazine about female impersonators—Female Mimics—and look through it. After reading an article about Craig Russell, I begin to wonder if that's what I am or should be doing. Increasingly, I begin to believe I should have been born as a female. At the same time, I realize I don’t like men sexually, so would that make me a lesbian if I did change my sex? This further confuses me regarding my gender identity.
I write Return to A-Ten, another novella featuring the brother-and-sister twins.
I no longer remember the plot of this novel.
I really wish I had saved a lot of that old material so I could see how my writing evolved over the years. However, such is not the case. One of the main reasons why? I will reveal that in January 1974.
My sister and I visit, and work, on a farm somewhere in Ontario.
A Note from my sister:
“That was Lloyd Ackert's farm ... Dad met him at the Jamboree, and he invited us to go visit for a week, I think. Just you and I went on the bus, and they picked us up at the bus station, but I don't remember where.”
While there, I go to a local radio station to have a recording made of some of my songs.
Another Note from my sister:
“I don't know about the recording studio. You helped out on the farm, and I helped in the house. I don't remember exactly how long—a week or maybe two.”
And I don’t remember whether a tape recording was ever made. However, I do still have other reel-to-reel tapes from the mid- to late-1960s that I recorded and it may be among them. But, currently, I have no machine on which to play, edit, or digitize them. For home use, such machines are difficult to find these days [nor are they at an affordable price].
SEPTEMBER
I enter Grade 11 at Saguenay Valley High School.
18 NOVEMBER
Thursday
I receive Canadian citizenship.
Since I didn't personally apply for it, I must assume that Dad sent in an application for all of us. Not unlike much of our family life, my parents discussed little with my sister and me. Mum and Dad made all the decisions; sis and I had no choice but to go along.
No comments:
Post a Comment