There was an unusual sense of urgency in the telephone ringing as we tumbled into the house. What we saw at the theatre that evening has long since gone into obscurity, while the content of that telephone call will remain in my mind forever.
It all began in November 1989 when I interviewed Stefan Lorant at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television at Bradford. It was his first visit to England for over fifty years. I had met Lorant the previous day, interviewing him for about one and a half hours. He asked me to send him a copy of my article that was being written for the British Journal of Photography. This I did after Christmas and promptly forgot about this intriguing episode.
Life moved on. It was mid-March and we had just returned home from an evening at the local theatre when the telephone rang. A mid-European voice, immediately recognisable, introduced itself as ‘Stefan Lorant from America’. ‘I like what you write. It was good. It cheered me up. But I am not egotistical!’ The fact that he was egotistical was both evident and obvious and was to become more so as the days passed. We talked and he said he would like me to see his archive in Lenox, Massachusetts and continue our conversation. He saw it as a time to get the story correct, not just for himself but for his friends who were now all deceased. ‘If I send you the ticket, will you come?’ Answering in a dazed affirmative I wished him ‘good night’. Had I really given the impression this was another everyday event? Regaling the story to colleagues, family and friends, all agreed that this was an opportunity not to be missed.
Further telephone calls and the arrival of that essential airline ticket now saw me on Virgin Atlantic Flight 001 out of London, Heathrow bound for Newark, New Jersey.
This was pure theatre!! The overture had only just faded away and there was a nervous ‘first night’ anticipation with the curtain about to go up…. There was never a dull moment. This book are the edited diaries from 1990 to 1999.
Never a dull moment
Michael Hallett
CrabApple Publications, 2023.
ISBN: 978-1-3999-4566-0.
Softback. 344 pages, £22 plus postage & packaging.
Available from http://www.michaelhallett.com
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