My mother, Jeannette, had a twin sister, Loretta, who died almost exactly 20 years ago, on August 11th, 2000. She was 63. We all still feel her loss, deeply; she is always included in our liveliest family conversations, as any story in which she figures will be witty, warm, engaging, even a tiny bit off-color. Like Loretta.

We spent this past winter (2020) in a creaky, perfectly Parisian apartment on Rue des Archives, around the corner from one of my favorite market streets, Rue Rambuteau.

I often think about my grandmothers. I miss them both—the  maternal (Nancy, middle of frame, patterned dress) and paternal (Genevieve, far right, sleeveless).

The brand Diptyque is pretty ubiquitous these days. But back in the day, when I was a student in Paris, Diptyque was just that jewel-box of a boutique I loved—34 boulevard Saint-German at the corner of Rue de Pontoise, a ten-minute walk, downhill, from the Sorbonne, where I was studying.

This film was one of the main inspirations for the show I wrote, "Birth of the American Baroness”, which I then performed from 2015-2108.