Today will be a most curious day. One of my best friends in Ohio in the 1970s is in town this week to visit his daughter, who is doing quite well in the NY theatre scene. In 1980, my friend worked with Franz Allers on the Richard Burton revival of Camelot and conducted the tour. He left the show when Burton's replacement, Richard Harrison, wanted to bring in "his" people and returned to Ohio. Shortly after his marriage fell apart and he ended up in Los Angeles.
For various reasons, the principal one being that the Memorial Day weekend that he moved to Los Angeles was the same weekend his wife, another of my best friends, flew to New York to have a nervous breakdown in my apartment. It was a painful weekend but I'm happy that I was there for her.
As a consequence, I have not spoken to my conductor friend in nearly 40 years.