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| Christopher Dafoe |
Send-offs to
old friends can be melancholic. Such is the case for a going away (to Winnipeg)
event at the Sylvia Hotel today from 5 to 8 for Christopher Dafoe.
Christopher
and I collaborated (me with photographs, he with interviews) of famous people
for the Globe and Mail in Vancouver. Of all the many writers I ever worked with
this man could sit in front of someone like film director Krzysztof Kieślowski and not say anything. The folks
facing him would look at his calm face and simply open up with all sorts of
intimate details.
Christopher
was gracious enough to allow me to be present at these interviews, usually in
Vancouver hotels so that I could get my large camera and lights ready and to
observe the mannerisms of the person who would face my camera.
I met
Christopher many years before when he worked for CITR Radio. I may be one of
the few persons that remembers that he was a DJ at the stripper heaven Drake
Hotel. He taught the ecdysiasts to appreciate local punk and pop bands. I saw
some of my favourites like Cheri dance to Maurice and the Clichés.
When
Christopher was asked by the Globe to move to Toronto he declined. He entered the
University of British Columbia and became a highfalutin lawyer.
I will always
be grateful to Chris as he has been the only person who appreciated my rose
scans and bought one (yes!) from me.
I wish
Christopher the best in his native city of Winnipeg.
An added
humorous note. The picture you see here I made into a place mat. I have no idea
if Christopher kept it.