From The Andy Warhol Diaries, a description of a fundraiser for Jimmy Carter at the Waldorf:

Thursday, June 23, 1977

We were up in the balcony. When the president came in he went around and shook every single person’s hand in the whole place and that took a few hours. Ann Landers was kind of nutty-acting. She told me that her daughter had a lot of Warhols and she wishes she’d gotten on the bandwagon early, too. The president made speeches and he had a good writer because the jokes were all good.

“I want my vice-president to be an active one, so if any of you have questions on”–he gave a list–“abortion, gay rights, downtown parking, Northern Ireland, the Concorde… just write him letters and he’ll be happy to clear it up.”

Is that the first time a president has ever said the word “gay”? It may be–because of Anita Bryant.

posted 19 August 2009 in Excerpts and tagged Andy Warhol, Ann Landers, Jimmy Carter. no comments yet