> I got into Anais Nin when her diary was big, like in the 70s. I wrote to her > to tell her how cool I thought she was, and she wrote back to me. I still > have the hand-written letter.
That's fantastic, Bob. As a teenager I used to go to the local library to check out and read the diaries - I couldn't get enough of them. Reminded me of something else I shouldn't tell but I'm high on antibiotics ;-) I had a boyfriend in college whose mother did not like me. She was totally into the feminist movement of the early 70s and used to rant a lot about people having babies and overpopulating the world, put the whole family on a role reversal program, i.e. boys do the ironing and the girls do the tree trimming and yard work, etc., and would (I absolutely kid you not) sit in a trance and listen to Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman" repeatedly during the day. I pretty much would lay low around her and try to be invisible. One night I saw her reading the Nin diaries and thought at last I might have something to share with her. I told her how much I liked them and all she did was peer up momentarily from her reading glasses and harrumph at me. Oh well. On the other hand the father liked me and used to give me knowing empathetic looks and winks to make me feel better. Years later I reunited with the boyfriend for awhile - she hadn't changed and the father was still winking at me ;-) Kakki
