Trifecta 2018

104

I wrote my memories of this weekend about a week after I arrived back home. Keri T encouraged me to include it in the 2018 SHareCon zine and with her help and Flamingo’s, this is what I wrote. That weekend was a turning point in my life, in so many way.

 

Originally published in the 2018 SHareCon Zine.

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 Thursday, June 14, 2018

The day had finally arrived! I landed in New Orleans, collected my bags, and took a taxi to the B&B in the Garden District. This was “the mansion,” as it was referred to all weekend. The Guys were staying here the entire weekend, and the people who purchased the sponsor packages were staying here, as well. The first person I met there was Laura Moretti, Soul’s assistant. I introduced myself to her and she gave me a big hug and said she was glad to meet me. (This turned out to be the start of a great and lasting friendship.) She asked me if I was going to the autograph show in Gonzales, LA (about an hour away—not part of Trifecta) for The Guys, and I told her I wasn’t going. I didn’t want the first time I met them was me asking for their autograph. How I wish I had gone! However, she told me to come across the street to her room and meet the other fans while they waited for their ride to the show. Awesome!

I found my room, hurriedly changed and ran across the street. Luckily, I had seen the ladies out of the window when they were walking over, so I knew where to go. I knocked on the door and was let in, and Laura introduced me to everyone. I said I had just arrived and I wasn’t going to the show but wanted to meet some of the other fans. At this point, I thought the other three ladies in the room, besides Laura and Carolyn, were all staying in the . I met Carolyn Peterson, the other organizer of the event and Paul’s assistant. And I met another lady named Patti Blackwell, who was Antonio’s assistant. There were three other fans waiting with the assistants. What was supposed to be a ten-minute wait for their ride turned into over half an hour as the car got stuck in traffic. We sat around and talked about arriving in New Orleans, where we were from, things like that. Laura and Carolyn were getting texts from David and Paul, and it dawned on me that these ladies were going to be riding in the limo to the event with Paul and David! I don’t think it had dawned on them yet. Laura opened a bottle of wine, and we all had a glass and then finally the limo arrived. Carolyn said that Paul was already outside. I think that’s when the others clued in.

We walked outside and there was a huge, white stretch limo parked at the curb. I looked around and I saw Paul Michael Glaser sitting on the steps of the building next to where we were, smoking a cigarette. My first sighting! I was like, wow, that’s cool, it’s really him! He stood up and saw someone he knew, and he walked out to the middle of the street and hugged a woman whom he knew. He stood and talked with her for a minute then turned around and came back and stopped in front of the car. Just then, I saw a hand stick out the door, right where Paul had been sitting, holding a bag. Paul came forward and took the bag, then he said, “Where the hell did you get that shirt?” And then David Soul walked onto the step! He did have on a very loud Hawaiian shirt!

There they were, Starsky and Hutch, together! Paul stood and watched as David carefully made his way down the three steps, obviously ready to jump in if needed. David was followed out by a very lovely woman, his wife, Helen. I was standing behind everyone because I was not going to the show, just watching everything. Laura and Carolyn started loading everyone in the limo. Paul walked towards the car, and I looked up and he looked at me, smiled and said, “Hello.” I smiled and said hello back and I felt like I had the biggest grin on my face! Paul talked to me! That was way cool! David was walking with two canes, or sticks as he called them, and being very careful on the brick steps. I waved to the girls in the limo and walked across street. I stopped next to the woman that Paul had hugged on the street and we watched as David climbed into the limo and they drove away.

I asked the woman if she was staying at the house and she said yes. She had a very thick French accent and she had just arrived from Paris. She’s a friend of Paul’s in some way. Another lady was standing there as well. We stood and talked for a few moments and then we each went into the house and to our respective rooms. I cooled off a bit since I had been outside where it was so humid, and called my friend, Keri, to tell her that I had already seen Paul and David! I then decided to go sit in the common room and see if anyone that wasn’t going to the autograph show showed up and maybe we could go to dinner. I was already regretting my decision not to go to the autograph show. I bet I could have gone if I tried, but oh, well, this was going to be a fantastic weekend, no matter what happened!

I wound up just going to dinner alone. Laura and Carolyn told me about the Blind Pelican where they had lunch, but the manager of the B&B told me about another place called the Munch Factory, which is where I went for a lovely dinner. I texted a couple of friends the pictures that I had taken of Paul and David, then I walked back to the room, took out my camera and took pictures of the courtyard. It was very pretty and originally, we were supposed to have the Saturday night dinner event , the main event of the weekend, but I’m glad they decided to move it indoors to a restaurant because it would have been very hot and crowded.

I came back in and got ready for bed after calling my husband and telling him I’m already having a great time! It was time to rest up before officially meeting The Guys for breakfast the next morning.

 

Friday, June 15, 2018

Morning came, and I got up at 7:30am and dressed and repacked as much as I could. It was time to go to the dining room and meet The Guys! At 8:30am, I walked out of my room, across the courtyard and into the house. I went down to the dining room. I walked in and there were a few people at the table, and Paul was sitting at the head of the table. I introduced myself to the other fans there, some I recognized from Facebook. I took a seat next to one fan and she was sitting to Paul’s left. I looked at him and he was just sitting there, eating and enjoying his breakfast. I fixed a plate and sat and chatted with the other fans for a bit.

I did work up the nerve to introduce myself to Paul. He asked me where I lived. I told him Dallas. He said he had never been to Dallas, so I asked him if he had ever been to Texas. He said yes, he’d been to Austin and Houston. He asked me what Dallas was like, and I told him flat. He asked if I lived in Dallas proper and I said no, about thirty minutes north of Dallas, about an hour and a half away from Oklahoma. He then asked how people in Texas got along with people in Oklahoma. I said there was the usual state rivalry but if we want to gamble, we have to go to Oklahoma. He said, “Oh, yes, no gambling in Texas.”

Other people walked up and joined us at the table. I met a couple from Australia. They sat across from me and to Paul’s right. At one point, Paul looked up to Laura and asked, “Where’s the blond?”

She said David promised he would be here. It was about 9:00am. I went out into the hallway to get some coffee, and I heard a door open and then around the corner came a woman who I recognized from the night before as Helen, David’s wife, and behind her was David and another guy. David looked right at me and gave me the most beautiful smile and said, “Hello!” I smiled and said hello back. He looked so good! He was using his sticks and moving slowly, but he looked so well!

I got my coffee and went back to the table. David was standing at Paul’s chair. He had his left hand on the arm of the chair, and his right hand was on Paul’s neck, and he was just petting him and saying good morning. Then David moved his hand to Paul’s shoulder and kept it there until he moved to the other end of the table and sat down. So sweet! Helen fixed David a plate and sat next to him. There was a bit of general chatter around the table, then Paul yelled down to David, “Did you get your salad last night?”

This would be the first time I would see them interact with each other! David said, “Yes, I had a salad.”

Paul went on, “What kind of salad did you get?” David looked around, and Laura and Carolyn said they went to the Blind Pelican and got him a Pelican salad.

Paul asked again, “What kind of salad?” because he couldn’t hear their answer. answered, “A Pelican Salad.”

Paul now, “You ate Pelican? Did you eat the pouch? Did you know it was a delicacy?” And they were off! They were cracking each other up, talking about different ways to eat pelican pouch.

David said, “I had fried pelican pouch once.”

Paul said, “You did? That’s really rare.” They were so freaking cute! This went on for a few minutes and then they stopped and talked to others at the table. I didn’t talk to either one of them again, I just really enjoyed watching and listening.

The next exchange was when David tried to ask Paul something, and Paul said to speak up, that he has trouble with the low notes. David said, “Low blows?” So that went into a pretty slashy exchange.

David said he was hard of hearing, too, but he couldn’t hear the high notes. Then, the guy that was filming the breakfast was standing next to David’s chair, and he kind of stumbled a bit, catching himself as he tripped on one of David’s sticks/canes.

Paul said, “What’s going on down there?”

David answered, “We’ve had an accident. Adam stepped on my crutch, my Hutch crutch.” He had a big grin on his face when he said that, like he enjoyed making that rhyme.

After a bit, David got up from the table. Paul said, “Where are you going?”

David answered, “I’ll be back in a bit.” He and Helen left for a few minutes and then came back in. Apparently, he realized he needed to go buy a belt because he forgot to bring his. Laura was working on where to go get a belt nearby, and someone said that Paul should go because he used to live here (he went to Tulane University in the 1960’s in NOLA).

David went over to Paul and leaned into him and told him he needed to go find a belt. They talked for a couple of minutes then Paul said, “Do you need me to go with you?” and David said sure. Laura walked up to them and said there was a Walmart nearby and they could go there.

David kind of rolled his eyes and said “Walmart?”

Paul said, “What about a Target or department store?”

Laura said, “Walmart has men’s clothes, and it’s close.”

So, Paul stood up and said, “David’s taking me on a date.” I was looking at David at the time and he had the cutest smile on his face as he rolled his eyes. They left the room, still bitching at each other like an old married couple. I loved it! I could not get enough!

(Update on the Walmart story: Paul and David did actually make it to Walmart. Adam, the guy doing the filming—who is David’s filmmaker for Cuban Soul—went with them and filmed it! Apparently, David was in an electric cart and he pretended to drive up to Paul, who was doing his Jewish routine, and then David would pretend he didn’t know how to drive. I would have loved to have been there to see all of that!)

Laura sat down at the table with us, and we all talked for the next half hour. I could have sat at that table all day and listened and talked to them, but I had to check out at 11:00am and it was already 10:45am. So I excused myself and ran to my room and finished packing. I took my bags outside and ran the key in to the manager.

I saw some of the other fans sitting outside, so I went over to join them for a few minutes. It was fun talking to the other fans. All but one had met Paul and David many times. We talked about the fan event scheduled for that night and one asked what everyone was wearing. We were all talking about it and I suddenly remembered that I left all of my party clothes hanging in my room! So, I had to run and get the key back from the manager, take my bags back inside, pack the clothes that were hanging up, take the suitcases outside again, and get the key back to the manager. Thank God I remembered before I left!

Since I was up, I decided to leave because I had to transfer hotels. I was only in the mansion on Thursday and Sunday nights. I called for a Lyft and said bye to the ladies and I would see them later. I checked in to my new hotel in the French Quarter. I wound up meeting another fan and we spent a few hours wandering around the Quarter.

We went back to the hotel, and I got ready for the fan event. It was for the fans only, but I had heard at the house that morning that David might show up. I put on my Starsky and Hutch t-shirt and my Torino earrings and went downstairs at 4:15pm to meet up with other fans.

A couple of other ladies from the hotel joined us and we walked the three blocks to the bar. It was very small and very loud, and there were not a lot of tables. It wasn’t crowded yet, so we grabbed a table and barstools and sat down to wait for everyone. The music was loud, so we had to shout to be heard, as we tried to get to know each other. I ordered a beer and eventually people started trickling in, including some of the fans who were staying at the mansion.

One of the ladies that I had met that morning came over to me and told me that David had hurt his foot and had to be taken to the hospital for stitches!

Between her and another lady that was there, I learned that there had been a wine and cheese meet and greet for the people at the mansion with Paul and David that afternoon. Right before it really started, David was in the sitting room. There was a cabinet with a lot of books in it. As he was reaching for a Hemingway book, he knocked off a statue that was on the cabinet and it fell off and landed on his foot. One lady said she was right in front of him and heard something hit the ground. She turned around and saw that David’s foot was bleeding.

They took him to the hospital/clinic, and he wound up getting six stiches. Obviously, he did not make it to the fan event, but I heard that he was in good spirits.

The band, Venice, played at the fan event. I learned that they are friends of Carolyn and they have played at S&H gatherings in the past. The singer is Marky Lennon and his brother, Michael, plays the guitar. They are related to the Lennon Sisters, cousins, I think. They were very good. They played for an hour and everyone really enjoyed them. They had some original songs that I liked, and they did some cover songs. I kept expecting them to do a song or two of David’s, but they never did.

After they were done, the music in the bar went back up to deafening levels (yes, I learned I am getting old now) and Carolyn came around and asked if we wanted to move to another location.

We headed out to Pat O’Brien’s, a famous New Orleans bar. We were actually lucky enough to get a few tables for everyone to fit around. I had a couple from England on my right and another lady from England on my left, and a woman from France across from me. There was also the couple from Australia. I was just amazed at how far so many people traveled to be a part of this weekend with The Guys! We had great conversations and people moved around and visited with others. Everyone was so nice, and we had a great time getting to know one another.

Around 10:00pm, people started heading out. The ladies who were staying in the mansion left and headed back, and I wound up going to a late dinner with four other fans. I got back to the room around 11:30pm. It was a noisy hotel, but I’m not sure I could have slept much anyway because I was so excited.

 

Saturday, June 16, 2018

I woke up around 7:30am and just hung around the room. Around 11:00am, I wanted some coffee, so I got dressed and went outside. There was a place called Café Beignet around the corner on Royal Street, so I walked there, hoping they had something besides beignets to eat. Beignets are deep fried pastries covered in powdered sugar, French in origin. The line was almost out the door, and as I stood there looking at the beignets, I decided that I did not need any fried dough to eat. I left and walked down to a couple of shops, bought my husband some pralines, and asked the girl at the counter if there were a good coffee shop nearby. She directed me to French Truck Coffee Shop, so I headed there and had a good cup of coffee and a praline for breakfast/lunch.

When I had finished, I thought about walking around the Quarter some more, but I had been to New Orleans so many times, and I wasn’t here for the city. I was here for David and Paul.

The big, main event was tonight, so I went back to my hotel, put my pajamas back on, and got back into bed. I called my husband and talked to him for a bit, then I called Keri and talked to her for a long time. I read for a while and the afternoon passed quite quickly, and soon it was 3:00pm and time to get in the shower and get ready for the night’s big event. I was meeting everyone in the lobby at 4:30pm and we had to be at Galatoire’s restaurant at 5:00pm.

I got dressed in my new flowy pants and shirt and shiny silver sandals and went downstairs at 4:30pm. A few people were already waiting. We walked the one block to the restaurant. We had to wait in the bar since we were early. The ladies from the mansion were already there.

Everyone was dressed very nice, and we were all so excited. At 5:01pm we headed upstairs. I took the elevator with a few others and it opened into the room. One woman was there checking everyone in, and it was then that I saw Antonio Fargas! He had made it after all! They had him, Paul, and David over to the left, set up so that everyone coming in would have their photos taken with them first before going to their table.

At this point, I didn’t know where I would be sitting. I was originally supposed to be at Antonio’s table, but when he cancelled, Laura put me at Paul’s table. When I was asked where I was sitting, I told her what I had just said, and she looked for my name and I was still at Paul’s table. Yay!

I put my purse down and got in line for a photo. I was about the fifth or sixth person to have their photo taken. I walked up to David first and shook his hand, then shook Paul’s hand and told him I met him at the mansion on Friday. Whether he remembered or not, I don’t know.

I was told to turn around, so I did, and as I brought my hand down, it landed on David’s which was resting on the seat of the barstool. Instead of jerking it back, I just curled my hand around his. He said, “Your hand is so warm.” I told him I would warm his hand for him. Patti took the photo and I thought I was talking, and I said as much, and she checked the camera and said I was good. I thanked them and walked away. I was so nervous!

I walked to the back of the room and saw someone I had met earlier. She had had her photo taken and we sat and talked for a few minutes. It was about then I realized that I had not greeted Antonio! I felt so bad! I was so excited and nervous, and I vowed I would talk to him after they finished the photos and apologize to him. We got up and got a drink and I hung around with her and another fan until the photos were finished, then Carolyn announced that it was now our chance to mingle with The Guys.

They made their way to the back of the room where we were gathered, and people immediately started flocking around them. I went up to David first. Someone asked David about his surgery last year. He had a hip replacement and he almost died. From what I could hear, they had decided against general anesthesia because of his COPD, so they were going to use a spinal block. When that didn’t take, instead of the doctors consulting with him, they put him under general anesthesia and did the replacement. He wound up being in ICU for three months instead of three days!

He said he was delirious and he doesn’t remember anything about those months, although he does remember some of his delusions. The doctors were preparing his wife because they thought he wouldn’t make it.

One of his sons and his daughter had been there, and I heard someone say that Helen kept Paul informed of how he was doing. They moved him to another facility, and he said whatever they did there worked, and he gradually came around, but he couldn’t talk. He had to learn how to talk again and that’s why his voice is very low. He’s in speech therapy and physical therapy and considers himself in recovery and getting stronger every day.

It was shocking to hear him talk about the surgery and his ordeal. I kind of had an idea that it was bad, but not this bad. We are so grateful that he is doing so well now, after having no idea how close we came to losing !

I then moved over to Paul’s group. He was showing his artwork on his phone. He loves to talk about his art. As he was scrolling through, the Striped Tomato came up and I told him I had bought that print a few months ago. He said, “You did? I did that one for the fans.”

One lady asked him if it was true that he and David hated that car. He said yes, it was true, that they both hated that car. Another fan said, “But Starsky loved that car.” Paul smiled and said, “Yes, Starsky did love that car.”

She said she loved the way Starsky always walked up to the car, like he couldn’t wait to get in it. Paul said, “Like this?” And he did the Starsky strut, up and down, and we loved it!

Someone then mentioned the stunt David did when he jumped on the top of his car. Paul said that was a stupid thing to do. I asked him if he was there and saw him do it. He said he was. He realized what David was going to do, and he couldn’t believe David would do that! He said, “No self-respecting Jew would do something like that!”

He said David landed on the car, jumped down, and spun around. Paul ran over to him and David started falling. Paul said David pushed himself up, said he was fine and walked away, but Paul said when he came to work the next day David was covered in bruises. That was the start of a lot of his pain issues.

I looked around and Antonio had a lot of people around him so I couldn’t go up to him yet. Carolyn asked everyone to take their seats, and we all made our way to our tables.

I sat down and Paul was already seated. I was four seats away from him! I wondered how the conversation was going to flow, because it seemed like a quiet table. The lady sitting to my left was from England. I sat next to her at Pat O’Brien’s the night before. The lady to my right was someone I had met and chatted with on Facebook, so it was great to have someone there that I knew.

Paul did ask questions of people around the table. The talk started to flow. I latched on to the word imagination and when there was a pause I asked Paul, “Speaking of imagination, I read your book, Chrystallia, a couple of months ago. How did you come up with the world of crystals?”

Paul said, “I was always interested in geometry.” He paused, then smiled and said, “Wait. I mean geology.” He threw his head back and laughed and I laughingly said that made more sense. He wrote it as a screenplay first but couldn’t get any takers, so he made it a book and was hoping for a Harry Potter kind of series. He said there may be more.

Someone asked about the last episode of Starsky & Hutch, Sweet Revenge. I asked if it was true that Starsky was supposed to die, and he said yes, he wanted to kill him off (NOOOO!). He knew there would be no more shows but the powers that be told him he couldn’t do it, that Starsky had to survive. Paul thought it was crazy that someone with six (6?) bullet wounds would survive. I asked if they were tipsy during the tag, because it looked like they were both wasted. He said no, they weren’t, but they had done multiple takes and shots of that scene and were getting silly.

David came over to our table several times. The first time, he stood and looked at Paul and said, “Blah, blah, blah!”

Paul said, “What do you want, old man?”

David repeated it and Paul said, “Do you work here?”

David said, “Yes, what do you want?”

Paul said, “I’ll have some of that!” Then Paul picked up his water glass and stood up and he played like he was going to pour water on David’s head. David didn’t really move and then he cocked his head forward and Paul touched his forehead to David’s! The forehead touch! I was thrilled!

David smiled and started back to his table. Paul said, “Come here. I want to tell you something.” David went back over to him, and Paul put his right hand on David’s left cheek and then kissed David on his other cheek. I was in heaven!

Another time, David was seated and he turned in his chair towards Paul. They started making flirty faces, blowing each other kisses. Paul had his elbow resting on the table with his head in his hand, and he kept it that way as he was blowing kisses and making kissy faces to David.

Then David smiled sweetly and rolled his eyes up and turned around. Paul just laughed. A woman at our table asked Paul if he missed David. Paul immediately looked away and said “I don’t want to talk about it. It makes me sad.”

I asked if they keep in touch frequently and he said they talk once a month. I was so glad to hear that they talk on a regular basis, even if it isn’t as often as I would like, LOL! But Paul did say that he and David are talking about doing a project together when David is out of recovery. He said it more than once!

The last time David came over to the table was the funniest. He said to Paul, “You’re still talking? This has got to be the most boring table here!” He kept giving Paul shit about how boring he was, and when David turned around, everyone at his table except for one lady had gone!

He just looked at the table, then turned to Paul and said, “They’re all gone,” with the most “I can’t believe it” expression on his face. Paul cracked up laughing and we all started laughing. David walked over to the lady and put his hands on her shoulders and said, “At least I still have this one!” She had a big smile on her face.

Apparently, everyone at David’s table had been recruited by Laura and Carolyn to bring in the birthday cake. Paul and David both turn seventy-five this year. Paul’s birthday was in March and David’s was coming up in August. Carolyn  was holding the cake and the people following behind were singing Happy Birthday and we all joined in.

She put the cake on David’s table and Paul got up and went over to him. The cake had the photo of the picture that was on the cover of TV Guide, the one where they each have their head in their hand, leaning towards each other. David kept saying, “It’s not my birthday!” Carolyn said, “It’s your seventy-fifth year!” I stood up and moved over to stand behind them so I could see better.

They each had a microphone and Antonio joined them. Paul and David took turns talking and it was a beautiful speech. I wish I could remember, word for word, what they said, but they both talked about how much they love each other and how important their friendship is to both of them. David said that their relationship has only deepened over the years. It was so touching, and the whole time David was talking he had his arm around Paul’s shoulder.

After the cake, the boys took a break, and I took this opportunity to go over to Antonio. He was sitting at his table, so I leaned down to him and put out my hand, which he took. I said, “I just want to apologize to you.” He had a puzzled look on his face. I said, “When I was having my picture taken with you guys, I was very nervous because I have never been to anything like this before and have never met any of you. After the picture was taken, I walked off and then realized I did not say hello or acknowledge you and I feel terrible! I’m so sorry and I just want you to know what an honor it is to meet you!”

He said, “Well, by coming over and telling me this, you have made it right. Thank you so much. We’re good.” Then I asked him for a hug and I got a hug from Huggy Bear!

We all took our seats, and it was time for the question and answer part of the night. First up was Antonio. He took the time to tell us where the Sunday Brunch was being held the next day. It was going to be at the Columns Hotel, which is where many scenes were filmed in Pretty Baby, the movie he did with Brooke Shields back in 1978.

Antonio had presents in his hand and he gave Paul and David each a stuffed toy zebra, and Antonio had one for himself, so Zebra 3 was onstage!

Paul and David came up and sat on the stools and they each had a gift in their hand. First, Paul took his zebra and went up to David and Antonio and pretended his zebra was fighting with the other zebras. David had a look on his face like “what’s he up to now?”

Paul sat down, and David gave Paul his gift first. In the bag were paint by numbers painting sets and paint brushes. Paul, affecting an outrageous Jewish accent, pretended to be overcome by the gift and started fake crying. David got up and gave him a hug. Sweet!

Then he read the card, which was a card for kids, and it was signed, “Love, Davey.” I’m assuming Laura and Carolyn were responsible for the gifts and I kind of wonder if the guys even knew what was in the bags.

Then Paul gave David his gift. David said, “I don’t want it.”

Paul kept trying to give it to him and finally said, “Take the fucking thing.”

The first gift was a small Lego set of a car. David looked at it and said he could give it to one of the grandkids. A fan shouted out “Re-gift!” and David laughed. The next thing he pulled out of the bag was a bicycle helmet. I guess it’s because he’s a bit accident prone right now. People were shouting, “Put it on!” so he did.

He looked at Antonio and made a face, like what do you think, and Antonio said, “You got it going on.” Cute! Then David started making vroom car noises. It was very sweet.

Carolyn opened it up to questions and one lady came up and said she had thirty-five questions. She was joking but she asked a couple of questions specific to the show and none of them could answer her questions because they couldn’t remember many specifics of the episodes she wanted to know about.

After that, I really don’t remember the other questions. I know there were a few, but David and mainly Paul started talking about their own memories of the show. They talked about their crew and about the man who was their make-up artist and apparently, he was quite a character.

Paul talked about Aaron Spelling. Paul and Aaron did not get along, and I guess at some point Paul was mad at Aaron and made a comment like, I’m going to kill him, and it got back to Aaron. He said Aaron was kind of afraid of him and stayed away from him, which was fine with Paul.

Paul said he was directing an episode, something about a blue lady, and several people called out “Ballad for a Blue Lady.” He said that sounded right. He was involved with the casting of that show and he cast a lady who was a great actress, and very “unusual looking.” (The character was Marianne Owens, actress Jenny O’Hara.)

He said when David found out who was cast to play his love interest in this episode, he came up to Paul and asked, “Are you mad at me?” David wasn’t happy with Paul’s choice but had to go along.

David talked about all the fun they had during the run of the show. He said he wished that we could have all been flies on the wall during the filming.

Antonio didn’t really say much, but they didn’t give him much of a chance. David had to stand up because he can’t sit for long and he stood behind the stool and he put his hand on Paul’s shoulder. They always seem to have to have physical contact with each other when they are together. Just so stinking sweet!

When they finished talking, that was it. Carolyn thanked everyone for coming and people started leaving. Laura came up to me and asked me if I enjoyed it. I said duh! It was amazing! I thanked her again for helping to make this all possible.

I made my way back to the hotel with another fan. We saw other fans in the lobby and we all walked into the bar. They were doing last call. I was surprised. It was only about 10:30pm. We bought drinks and sat down and started sharing our experiences of the evening.

When they kicked us out of the bar, we just moved to the lobby. I was sitting beside one of the ladies who rode in the limo with Paul and David on Thursday night, to the autograph show in Gonzales. We got into a long, great conversation and we stayed there until after 2:00am!

I asked her to tell me about the limo ride. She said it was the most amazing adventure of her life! The following is her memory, not mine, but I wanted to remember it. She got in the limo first and scooted around to the front of the car. Paul and David were sitting on the seat directly in front of her, across the length of the long, stretch limo. She said David shouted down to her, “How are you doing down there?”

And she told him “I have the best view in the world!” She said they started play fighting, nudging each other and Paul started tickling David.

The driver put in one of David’s CDs during the ride. A song called America came on. Paul said he couldn’t really hear the words, so David started singing/saying the words to Paul.

After the song was over, Paul told David that he didn’t think he had ever told him how much he loved his music, and he really admired his music career. She said it was so sweet!!

She was with them during the ride to the event and back, and each way was over an hour. Those are the only stories she told me from the limo. She said when she got back to the hotel, she was too wired to sleep so she was going to walk around outside for a minute. She said when the doors to the hotel opened onto the street, there, in front of her, was the Torino, being pulled on a trailer that was lit up on the bottom! It was just sitting there at the red light! She couldn’t believe it.

She reached for her phone and started taking pictures of it. She said as she was snapping photos, a man yelled to her that she was too young to know what that car meant. She turned to him and said, “I just spent two hours with the man who used to drive that car on TV!” And she turned and floated away! Great story!

We talked so easily. We talked about Starsky and Hutch, we talked about our homes, we talked about life in general and we could have sat there and talked all night. We exchanged phone numbers and emails and we finally said we must go to bed because tomorrow was another full day.

So, we stood up and said goodbye to everyone. We rode up in the elevators together, still talking.

When I got to my room, I organized my suitcase since I had to check out in the morning, and I got in bed after 3:00am. I actually did manage to get about five hours of sleep. This had been an amazing evening!

 

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Today was the last day of events and I had two to attend. I got up around 8:00am, got dressed and packed up, and went downstairs around 9:15am.

I was standing in line to check out and there was a lady from the dinner last night that I recognized as one of the people who won the car ride with The Guys. She was checking out, too.

We talked when we were done checking out, and she said she was waiting for the other lady who also had won the car ride. It was the lady I was sitting next to at the dinner the night before. She joined us and said they had to be at the mansion at 10:00am, because that’s where they were meeting The Guys and the car. I was going there, too, so we all shared a taxi over.

We talked non-stop in the taxi. We were on Magazine Street and the driver was driving slowly so he wouldn’t miss it, and then I saw the car! I said, “There it is! That’s where we’re going.” He let us out, and the three of us took turns taking photos of each other with the car.

I had my bags with me, but since my room wasn’t ready (I was moving back into the mansion for the night), Laura had me put them in her room. The ladies and I then went into the dining room. Paul was there and they were finishing up breakfast. We sat on the couch and talked, waiting for everyone to finish up and The Guys to get ready for the car ride. Paul went out to the courtyard and we saw him on his phone. Carolyn came in and said David was ready, so they rounded up Paul and we all walked back outside to the car.

Everyone from the mansion was outside watching as they got into the car. The winners got into the back seat first, then Paul got in the driver’s seat. The owner of the car was leaning down in the window, I guess going over everything with Paul. David came out of his room, on his sticks, and carefully made his way to the car. He gave his sticks to Helen then slowly lowered himself into the car. Both of those guys hate that car, but I love that they do these things for the fans. Patti and another fan helped David with his seatbelt, and then they slowly started to move.

They had just moved a few feet when Paul spotted Carolyn and stopped the car. Carolyn came running over and Paul asked her for the address of the brunch site. One of the girls in the back seat put the address in her phone and I guess she was in charge of getting them all to the brunch.

The ride was scheduled to be forty-five minutes long, first around the Garden District and then Paul was going to drive around Tulane University, his alma mater, and then end up at the site of the Sunday brunch. Antonio ran out and waved them goodbye, and they were off.

The rest of us made our way to the site of the brunch. It was a beautiful place! Very stately with white columns outside. It was actually called the Columns Hotel, and this was one of the sites where the movie Pretty Baby was filmed in 1978. We got out of the Uber and there were several people from the dinner the night before waiting outside for the car and Paul and David to arrive. I found my friend from the night before and we chatted and hung out together outside.

At one point we saw the car go by and everyone got excited. But it was another fifteen minutes before they pulled up. People started to gather around at first, but we had been told to make a path as soon as the doors opened, and we did. Paul got out immediately and came around and opened David’s door.

Laura came over to make sure David was okay. They had been riding around in the New Orleans heat for almost an hour, without air conditioning. The women were stuck in the back until David got out, but I’m sure they did not care.

Paul told David to take his time getting out and Paul stayed with him the entire time, waiting for Helen to bring him his sticks. Paul kept his hand on David’s shoulder while they were waiting. Once David was ready, there was a huge curb he had to climb, and someone rushed over to help.

I turned away and talked to my friend because we both wanted to give him some privacy. But he made it up the curb just fine and we turned around and people were clapping. The ladies in the back seat of the car finally were able to get out. We let Paul, David, and Antonio lead the way into the hotel and into the brunch.

We all lined up to get into the room. The place looked beautiful and later I wish I had looked around more, but my whole focus right then was on the brunch. I heard Laura tell people to sit wherever they wanted. I didn’t know if I was expected to sit at David’s table, like I was told I could when Antonio cancelled. I asked Laura where David’s table was, and she pointed and he was actually in front of me. There was a seat right beside him and Laura said, “Sit down. Sit down right there, now!” So, I did, and when I sat down, David looked at me and smiled!

Helen was on the other side of David, and there were several other fans at the table. Paul was at the next table, immediately over my right shoulder! I could have tilted my head back and touched him.

I don’t even know how to recount the next two and a half hours that I spent at that table with David! The conversation was so easy, and never once did I mention Starsky and Hutch, and I don’t think anyone else did either. I formally introduced myself to David and Helen. Many times, when he spoke to me, he called me “Hon” and he would touch my shoulder or my arm. I know I spoke to him about England and asked him how he came to live there. He told me about going over for a play and basically never leaving and meeting Helen, who is British, and getting married and getting his British citizenship. I asked if he kept his American citizenship and he said yes, he was a dual citizen.

He asked me how I came to love England, and I told him it was my mother’s fault. And he seemed to really listen when I told him how my mom would drop me and my brother off at the library every week and one day she got tired of waiting for me to pick a book, so she grabbed one and it was a Gothic romance set in Cornwall, and I was hooked. Plus, I told him I visited the UK for the first time when I was twenty-one and fell in love with the people and the history and have studied it ever since.

He was very gracious and talked to everyone at the table. There was a couple there who I learned owned either four or five of the Starsky Gran Torinos! The man said he had one of the largest collections of Starsky and Hutch and that he was only missing three pieces from his collection.

Since Paul was right behind me and close to David, David kept engaging Paul whenever he could. Once, he picked up his napkin and held it up to his face, under his eyes, and he was making goo-goo eyes at Paul, like he was doing a veil dance. Another time they were bantering, and I can’t remember what it was about, but Paul started throwing bread at David and David would catch it and throw it back. I was leaning forward, so I would be out of the line of fire and Helen said, “You sat in the wrong spot.”

I looked at her and said, “I know. I’m a little frightened right now.” Of course, I wasn’t, and I would not have sat anywhere else if you paid me!

Later David got up and stood behind me with his hand on the back of my chair, and just picked at and talked to Paul. Just to be able to watch them interact with each other was priceless!

Conversation kept flowing at the table. I asked Helen what she did back in London. She said she worked for a marketing group in the West End that dealt with theaters. David talked about her work as much as she did, and he seemed so proud of her. You can tell they adore each other. I ’m so happy he found her.

David talked to another fan and found out she was a teacher and loved doing Ironman marathons. He engaged everyone at the table into conversation and we all loved it.

Someone said something about flights and Helen told us that their flight from London got diverted. They were supposed to fly directly from London to New Orleans, but somewhere over the Atlantic a man on their flight had a stroke! They had to divert the flight to Gander, Newfoundland and the man was taken off the plane to a hospital. They were not allowed to get off the plane, so they sat on the tarmac for about an hour, I think she said, and then they took off again. Helen said she always wanted to go to Canada, just not like that!

The highlight of the whole brunch, for me, was near the time that David was getting ready to leave. His son and grandkids were driving in to visit him. I asked David how many grandkids he had. He said seven. I told him my brother had him beat, he had eight grandkids and David laughed.

David told the table that he really did not like the idea of fandom, in fact he hated it. He never liked the whole fan-to-star relationship. He looked at us and said, “This is what it’s all about.” He looked at me and put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Knowing that you love England and British history,” and then he pointed to another fan and said, “And knowing your passion for teaching. We’ve made a connection, a human connection. This is what life is about.”

He said that there were a lot of great people at this gathering and we had a “good group.” He then shocked everyone by saying, “The next time we get together, would any of you like to do it in Europe?” I was the first to put my hand up and say, “Yes!” A few others said yes as well.

Then he started telling us about an artist’s retreat outside of Paris that he always wanted to visit with a group. It sounded heavenly and he sounded so sincere. He even stood up and said, “I need to tell Laura about it.”

While he was standing, I leaned over to Helen and said, “I know I’m not really supposed to ask, but do you think it would be okay if I took a photo with David?” She said, “Of course,” and held out her hand for my phone. I gave it to her, then she said, “David, sit down. Lisa wants a photo.” And he did, and I got the greatest photo ever! I actually love that picture of me, and he was looking at his wife so he had a beautiful smile on his face. I was over the moon!!

I took that moment to say one thing to David about Starsky & Hutch without really mentioning it. I told him that I was thirteen when the show came on and the biggest impression it made on me was one of friendship. I so loved their relationship on the show that I made friends in my life a priority.

I told him I had a best friend that I met in 1978 and we are still best friends today, and that I’m a god-parent to her kids and Grannie to her grandkids and we meet for dinner every week. And I just wanted to thank him for giving me that example. He smiled and thanked me for telling him that! Such a lovely man!

David and Helen said their goodbyes to everyone at the table and somehow Paul was right there, holding on to him. I had my camera out and took a couple of shots and I looked down at my phone at the exact wrong time and missed the kiss on the cheek that Paul gave David!! I was crushed! Really?! I got the before and after but not the (but luckily another girl at the table got it and sent me a copy).

David was hindered in leaving quickly because people were wanting to talk to him but he made his way out.

My head was still in the clouds, but I looked over and saw my friend and motioned for her to come sit by me. She said, “I’m sitting in David’s chair.” I felt bad that she wasn’t at the table with us earlier, so I reached over and grabbed David’s brunch menu. I told her it was stained because he spilt his Bloody Mary on it and wiped it off. I told her to keep it and I thought she was going to cry.

We sat there and just talked about the whole experience and I told her some of the stories from our table. Eventually, we noticed that the only other person at the table was the man that owned the car. We started talking to him about how he got the car (he bought it in 2012) and I told him my husband and I went to a classic car show in Dallas in 2015 and saw one of the cars. He asked me if it was the Gas Monkey Show and I said yes, and he said it was that car, his car, that was there at the show! Who knew I had already seen the car!!

Then my friend, very sweetly in her proper British accent said, “Would it be all right if I sat in your car?” And he said yes, that would be fine. Then she reached for my arm and said, “And Lisa needs to ride shotgun.” So, a couple of minutes later the three of us slipped outside to the car.

Orange cones had been put around the car so no one would bother it. He moved the driver’s side cone and my friend got in the driver’s seat, then I waited for him to come to the passenger side, and he moved the cone and opened the door for me. We had to be careful because we were parked on the street and my side opened to oncoming traffic.

I got in and my friend and I just looked at each other and we started laughing. We couldn’t believe we had our butts in the same seat that Paul and David had their butts in just a few hours earlier!!

She handed the owner her phone and asked if he would take some photos. He was so nice! He took pictures on her side, then came around and took pictures of us on my side, then pictures of the whole car.

We looked at where Paul, David, and Antonio had signed the dash and glovebox, then we got out of the car and he opened the trunk and showed us where they also signed the inside of the trunk, along with Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller from the movie. We took photos of the signatures and we thanked him, a lot, and then the three of us walked back inside.

I hadn’t paid for my brunch yet, so as I was getting my wallet out, Laura came up and sat down where David had been sitting. She asked me how I enjoyed the brunch. I thanked her several times and told her it was amazing.

Suddenly there was this voice in my ear thanking me for being there and saying he enjoyed it, but he had to go, and I looked up and Paul bent down and gave me a hug! Yes! Then he turned to Laura and asked what the plan for the evening was. She said she sent him an email and he said he would see everyone later. And so ended the brunch. People were standing around to thank Laura and Carolyn for organizing the weekend.

I made my way outside and I sat at the table on the porch and Laura and Carolyn came out and sat down. They were trying to figure out rides to get back to the mansion. I’m not sure how David and Helen got back to the house. Paul and the car owner took the car back to the mansion. Patti had a big SUV so we all piled in there and drove back to the mansion.

I got my bags from Laura’s room and headed to my room, the same one I had on Thursday night. I was so hot! I sat down to cool off and called my husband and told him a very condensed version of the afternoon. Then I called Keri and talked to her for a while. During our conversation, I told her about my conversations with David at the table, and about sitting in the Torino. She was very happy for me.

I met back up with everyone in the house at 5:45pm. The final event of the weekend was a Night on the Town with The Guys, just for the people who were staying in the mansion. We were supposed to be at the restaurant by 6:00pm, so I ordered Lyft and another fan ordered an Uber and we split into our cars and headed to the Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar on Orleans Avenue in the French Quarter. The original plan for the evening was to meet at one place for drinks, a second place for dinner, and a third place to listen to jazz. With David’s foot and health issues, they decided to skip the drinks part and had us meet at the wine bar, and then we would move to the musical location. I actually wanted more time to sit and be with The Guys, and that’s how it played out. We just went to the one location at 6:00pm and stayed there until almost 9:00pm.

We had a little trouble getting to the wine bar because of traffic so we walked in about 6:10pm. The first thing I saw was Paul and David sitting across from each other, and Paul had his phone out and was taking a ton of pictures of David. David kept acting like he was hiding, and Paul kept following him with his phone. Cute!

I had told myself that since I sat at Paul’s table the night before, and David’s table at lunch, then I would find a place by Laura and talk with her. I was standing on one side of the small bar and looked over and Laura motioned me over to her. The place was small and there was a long, oval bar in the center with two poles running through each end of the bar. Paul and David were sitting exactly across from each other. Laura told me to sit beside Paul. I told her I sat at his table last night. She said because I had spent the least amount of time with The Guys that I should sit beside Paul. So, I sat down next to Paul. David was across from me to the right, and I looked at him and he smiled and said hello, and I said hello, again. The rest of the people from the mansion were all scattered around the table.

We sat there for the rest of the evening. Carolyn and Laura told us they had decided to stay in this one spot so we could have more one-on-one time with The Guys.

I was sitting there listening to one fan talk to David, when Paul turned to me and apologized for having his back to me. He had been talking to the woman on his right and giving his attention to her. He said he didn’t see me there because he had lost his vision in his left eye. I said, “You can’t see out of that eye at all?” And he said no, not at all. I asked him if this was a recent thing and he said he lost the vision in that eye around six years ago. I didn’t ask him how. If he wanted to tell me he would have told me.

The waitress came around and took our orders. She seemed very young, in her twenties, but she knew who Starsky and Hutch were, and she had S&H buttons on her apron. She took everyone’s orders and the conversation just flowed.

Somehow, Paul started talking about his sisters. He has one sister in France that has lived there for fifty years. I told him I have a brother that I’m rediscovering, that he didn’t talk to me for two years because he didn’t like the way I voted. That launched into a discussion with Paul about family, and how even though you may love them, you don’t have to like them or get along with them.

Someone asked about his kids, Jake and Zoe. He glowed when he talked about Jake. You can tell they are very close. He said Zoe was close to her mother and they went for a period of years where they didn’t talk a lot but it’s much better now.

Then Paul looked at my hands on the table and told me to tell him about my rings. I was wearing my mom’s wedding band and mine, so I told him about them. He really listened. And I totally blew it and didn’t ask him about the rings he wore in Starsky & Hutch, and I didn’t notice if he was even wearing any rings.

Dinner was served and talk continued. At one point, Paul pulled out his phone and started showing David and the rest of us some of his artwork. David was very complimentary to Paul about his work. When David didn’t understand what something was, he would give Paul a good-natured ribbing.

Paul is very into his art and loves to get others’ opinions. He showed us a couple that were in progress. One was called The Gay Cowboy. David laughed when he saw that one. He does all of the art on his computer and iPad. He really is very talented.

The waitress gathered everyone’s plates. As she was taking David’s, the fork fell off and, wouldn’t you know it, it landed right on top of his stitches! He winced, and I saw Paul’s head jerk towards him. The waitress apologized, profusely, and said she can’t believe it, that she hurt Hutch! She felt so bad, but David told her it was fine.

Paul asked if he was okay and David said it just landed in the exact wrong spot, but he was fine. A few minutes later, Paul left the table and went out back, I guess to smoke, but I think he had reached his limit because he didn’t come back to the table. I saw him come back in, and then he headed straight out the front door and was there until we left.

I’ll never forget what I heard shortly after seeing Paul go out the front door. David was still talking to the woman from Australia across from me. He had stood up because those barstools were really uncomfortable, and he couldn’t stay seated for long. The woman asked David, “Why do you do these fan events? What do you get out of it that makes you want to do them?”

His profile was to me, and he was looking at her. He pointed over to where Paul had been sitting. He said, verbatim, “I do it to see him. I adore him. I love him so much.”

That was it. I was done!! I could not have asked for anything more perfect to be said. He turned toward the table and was leaning on it. It was about 8:30pm. I said, “David, are you done? Are you ready to go?” And he looked at me and gave me that big, beautiful smile and said, very emphatically, “I am READY!” I went over to Helen and told her that David was ready to go.

As everyone gathered to leave, I talked to Helen for a minute. I asked her about David’s pain level, and she said he was getting better, but he still had pain. I told her that he told us about going to Greece next month for their anniversary. She said yes, they were both looking forward to it very much. I asked if she would mind if I took a photo with her and she said of course not, so I have a very lovely photo of myself and Helen.

We all made our way outside and Paul was sitting at the outdoor table. I think he had been talking to other people out there, who may or may not have known who he was. But someone recognized them, and this woman came across the street with her phone out and just started taking pictures. Paul made a goofy face at her but she didn’t care.

Since I had my photo with David, I thought what the hell, and I asked Carolyn if it would be okay if I had my photo taken with Paul. She said of course, so I gave her my phone (and she gave it to Laura), and she grabbed Paul, and I got my picture with him, too! He looked fantastic. You could tell I was tired, but I’ll take it!

Anyway, David and Helen got in the car. Paul was talking to Carolyn in the street and the car behind them started honking so he hopped in the car and we waved them goodbye. I was really trying to not cry because I knew I would not see them again. I was leaving early the next morning and I figured they would not come down to breakfast before I left. Laura came up to me and I thanked her again for an amazing weekend, and we all made our way back to the mansion.

When we arrived back at the mansion, everyone made their way to their rooms, but Laura and I stood on the street and wound up talking for over an hour. We exchanged phone numbers and from that moment on, we became fast friends.

After saying goodnight to her, I got ready for bed and called my husband and talked to him and told him about the evening. I hung up and got my bags as ready as I could. I set the alarm, and even though I was back in the most comfortable bed ever, I didn’t sleep much. Conversations kept running through my head and I was so sad that the weekend was over.

 

Monday, June 18, 2018

So, that was the end of the weekend. I got up and caught a cab to the airport and flew home.

How do I feel about what I had just experienced? Overwhelmed, in a way. I was very reluctant about spending time in close proximity to people who are so famous, but more importantly, people that I have loved for more than forty years. What if they turned out to be jerks? I did not want to be disappointed, and boy, my bubble was not shattered. They were incredibly sweet and caring and kind to their fans. It may not have been their favorite thing to do, but I think they do it now to be able to get together and spend time with each other.

This became a very private and personal weekend for me. I thought I would be posting on Facebook about every experience. God knows that when I’m aware that one of these things is going on I live on Facebook just waiting for posts and updates and photos.

I posted the pictures of David and me and Paul and me, but that’s it. To be in the presence of these two men, who obviously adore each other, to watch them interact, was a dream come true for me. I felt the privilege of this experience. And I’m grateful beyond words.

I will treasure my time and memories from New Orleans with The Guys and with my new friends and will be forever grateful for this truly life changing experience! And now I can say that although I will never have a favorite when it comes to Starsky and Hutch (I love them equally and I just can’t choose one over the other), I think I can now say that I am a David Soul fan for life! But I love Paul, too!