TOD: I lived in Middletown, Ohio, for about a year in the mid-1980s during which time I interviewed a native son, one Larry Moore, for the newspaper. We kept in touch off and on over the next 20 or so years, and it was through him that I came to HHW. I peeked in occasionally before joining through him, and I, too, am grateful for the family I've made here.
Our DR JohnG is the sort of gentleman I aspire to become and know I'll never reach. What he doesn't tell you is that once he'd interviewed me, I killed the article.
Several well-intentioned friends in Middletown who knew about my participation in the Pulitzer Prize win for SUNDAY iN THE PARK WITH GEORGE decided, without asking my opinion, to take my story to the local newspaper. One day I got a call from this young reporter asking for an interview about the subject. I was very unhappy to learn about this turn of events since I felt, while I was proud of the achievement, that it was Steve Sondheim's business, and not mine, to discuss my involvement, if he chose to do so.
After my interview with this pleasant young man, I called the editor of the newspaper and begged him to kill the story. My friends in Middletwn were very unhappy with my decision and I think I did the right thing; it was my tale to tell when I chose, not when I was forced.
Then, in 1989 or 1990, I was working on a show by Barry Kleinbort in Cohoes, NY, at the very haunted and spooky Cohoes Music Hall, a jewel box of a theatre and one helluva a scary place. As I left the theatre one night, a pleasant young man introduced himself to me. It was Mr JohnG who was working for a local newspaper.
