Haydennet.com – Joseph Andrew Hayden, Juris Doctor

My sweet friend Jim would probably kill me if he knew I was using his middle name here, but I know several people named Jim Taylor, so it always helped me to find him in my address book when I could search by his full name.

Today I received very sad news about Jim.  A mutual friend informed me that his body was found in his apartment in Brooklyn.

Jim was very successful for many years as a woman’s clothes designer.  He loved animals and had a beautiful penthouse in Queens for many years, as well as a home on Fire Island for a while.  He was a true Midwestern boy whose dreams came true when he moved to the City of New York.  I was glad to be his friend both when he was successful and then for many years when he had some medical setbacks, including some bad seizures. As a result, he became quite destitute, but still stayed in the adopted city he loved so much, and it was during those tough times that I remember having the most laughs and the most fun while hanging out with him, including at many of the parties that I had in Brooklyn.  He loved making friends and was great with staying in touch with me, even when I moved back to California.  He told me many times that he would have loved to visit, and I was beckoning him to do it, so he could at least get away from the city for a while, during the tougher times he had.

I’m so glad I told Jim I loved him on more than one occasion, even when he drove me a little crazy.

The more I think about it, the more I realize my Mom is right that someone with this kind of medical history, really should not be living alone, because if he had a seizure, it is very likely that he could have survived.

Jim’s mother apparently died three years ago, which I did not know until this week, and his father, from whom he was apparently estranged, is not willing to pay for his cremation, which means that Jim might end up in the notorious New York city grave for John Doe’s known as Potter’s Field.  I hope this won’t be the case.  He deserved better.

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My mother and I have a good memory of her speaking at my college graduation on Staten Island, New York in 1993.

She was an interesting character with lots of inspirational words for the large graduating class.  Her choice for the commencement speaker was a surprise to me since Staten Island is pretty conservative for being inside of New York City.

I don’t understand the details of the controversies over Palin and Obama with her, I’ll let her rest in peace and keep the fond memories I had of her.

I had three celebrity sightings when I was there this time.  Anderson Cooper was eating at Chat & Chew near Union Square, one of my old hangouts.  He was with the Parisian guy who is reputed to be his boyfriend (I later saw a link and verified his identity).  I also saw Kristin Wiig at the former Dugout/Rock Bar, making out with a woman.  She was already my favorite SNL cast member at the moment.  Now she really is!  Lastly I saw Michael Musto at the Urban Bear Weekend fair.  He’s a Village Voice columnist who I used to see around town all the time.

It was so great to see many old friends, but I did neglect to photograph a few special people, including Laura Yellon, Chris Cintron, Ted Habza and David A. Garcia, who I made sure to spend time with as they went out of their way to make sure they saw me.  Here are pictures of the various events and people I saw, including my first look from the High Line Park, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

There is both a video and a gallery here to check out:

I actually saw Village Voice columnist Michael Musto at the Urban Bear Weekend Fair, so that makes three “celebrities” I saw in an 11-day visit in New York.  Gallery and (PG-13-rated) video below:

In 2002, my friend Joe Doyle and I went to see Barbra’s re-release of Funny Girl (more than 30 years after it’s first release) at the Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan.