Charles Alexander
Parting Glances: Uganda, a forked tale
It's been countless centuries since proud Lucifer, an Angel of Light, was cast from heaven by the Almighty to roam the earth at will, seeking faithful but mindless minions to do his nefarious bidding. Lucifer found three such servants recently. He [...]
Parting Glances: Pete's, Jon & the JWs
As 2009 frantically ticks itself into soap opera eternity – good riddance, Butch! – I'm having a pleasant wind-down dinner with artist Jon Strand at Pete's Place, Ferndale. Well-known restauranteur Peter Mel's popular spot is near enough to be [...]
Parting Glances: Your meter's running, Elvis!
By the time you read this PG you'll have spent the equivalent of 20 cents. If you're a speed reader you'll save yourself a nickel or a dime, depending upon your scanning skills. God bless you Evelyn Wood, wherever you are! Time equals metered money, [...]
Parting Glances: Santa Closet's New Year
'Twas New Years Eve and Santa Closet – lavender quill pen in hand, Gucci trifocal sunglasses on his merry nose – was double checking his private list to see who's straight, and who's – hopefully – gay. Unbeknownst to almost everybody – the [...]
Parting Glances: Sister's really big 10er!
TIME magazine each week features a regular series – popular for nosey readers, of which there are plenty galore – called 10 Questions. Respondees are rich, famous, photogenic. Status is enhanced by a) having placed first, second, last on American [...]
Parting Glances: A gift too persistent
I don't know who gave me my Unopened Gift. I can't remember the year or the occasion. Its wrapping is faded. Its wayward ribbon, less tinsel shiny. Not as bright as once before. Sitting here thinking about my Unopened Gift at the onset of holiday [...]
Parting Glances: Windsor's Gay Slasher (Pt. 2)
The frantic search for the Windsor, Ontario slasher killer stretched over two years, 1945 and 1946. There were five victims. Two savagely shredded. One with his buttocks repeatedly slashed. The crime was shocking – incomprehensibly violent for the [...]
Parting Glances: Windsor's gay slasher (Pt. 1)
Looking at Windsor, Ontario, today from Detroit, few would guess our neighbor was a city of rough edges in the mid-1940s, as World War ll was winding down. It was also a convenient stop-off where Detroiters crossed by bridge or tunnel for anonymous [...]
Parting Glances: Baa, baa, pink sheep!
Every family has at least one stray sheep contentedly nibbling forbidden pasture under the shade of an old worm-apple tree. Our's was my 80-year-old aunt Tootsie. She had a habit of muttering in her cups, "Sail off into the wind, sailor!" when she [...]
Parting Glances: Ghosts on parade
For five dynamic years – 1940 to 1945 – Detroit was the Arsenal of Democracy, a vital source of war material. First for England's defense. Later, for our own. Automotive factories focused on round-the-clock, nonstop production of bombers, tanks, [...]
Parting Glances: Mirror, mirror. Sight unseen.
The magic mirror that Alice passed through long ago – recounted by author Lewis Carroll in his story of wrong-sided wonderment, "Alice Through The Looking Glass" – was sold recently on E-Bay. (Capital E as in Enchanting.) It – golden frame and [...]
Stunning: Avedon's fashion legacy at DIA
One of the 180 Ricard Avedon photos on exhibt at the DIA Richard Avedon was 21, virtually unknown, when he took his first fashion photos for Harper's Bazaar. Alexey Brodovitch, the publication's autocratic art director, had an uncanny intuition that [...]