Suppress Myself

I’m on the Glacier Express to Zermatt with just a few minutes to spare, but had to share this post from my dear friend John — a fellow Arizona State grad who has had such a larger-than-life time on this planet that you probably wouldn’t believe most of it. 

I met John through our mutual friend Debra, with whom he’d transferred to ASU from Towson State in Baltimore circa 1985. Debra was sort of an Andy Warhol pied piper of sorts: a gifted artist, writer and photographer with an intoxicating personality who surrounded herself with creative people and always had a cute gay boy by her side. 

At some point she and John drifted apart, and I eventually (for lack of a better term) was “chosen” to replace him, a scenario we have laughed about over the years.

Me, acting as Debra’s model in the Sonoran Desert

John has never explicitly asked me not to share the details of his life in Hollywood, where we both moved after graduation — trust me, I’m eager to! — but for now I will just leave you with his recollections of making the “Express Yourself” video, which are just plain fun!

John writes:

It was massive. I had done video work before but the scale of this was immense. The sets, costumes, the way it ran like clockwork - so pro. By the time M arrived to do her parts - we had been perfectly worked out and hosed down and choreographed… It was steamy/foggy and she went thru the crowd of us with a huge flashlight, placing bodies where she wanted them…giving direction. A couple of guys were complaining about being wet and cold and she set them straight AND moved them to the back - she wasn’t having that negativity! She liked my haircut and moved me to the front next to the boxing ring and gave me a jumping sequence with a hair flip that made the final cut and exactly 1 second of fame. Hahaha. Union rules ruled and she had us out exactly 8 hours.  

Ultimately she was a total pro. All business. And worked really hard to get those dance moves exact - on the tower stairs, in the cone bra. I was soooo impressed. It was the most expensive video made at that time…

Here’s a photo of me with Debra on our Graduation Day:

The fabulous Pearl Bailey delivered our commencement address!

With John in NYC in 2023