Thank you to Kate and Anne. Sorry if I touched on a hot subject. This is why I posted last week about offensive topics. I agree with Sara-Anne that prying into someone's personal life *can* be wrong - an example is what happened to our lovely Princess Diana, but when people consciously put themselves in the public eye they can expect some curiosity. Often people ordinary people like me try to find some common ground with a genius. Most of us have a love life. Most of us think it is normal. I like to think of Glenn Gould being happy. I was not trying to start an offensive discussion. James ----- Original Message ----- From: Anne M. Marble Sent: September 8, 2002 1:49 AM To: F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU Subject: Re: GG Mystery Lover > It never ceases to amaze me how many people want to think there was some
glorious, fantastical love story in Glenn Gould's life. Unfortunately, the man
wanted that part of his life, if it even existed, to be kept private. The thing
that amazes me the most is that no one wishes to respect that. Everyone who
holds him in any supposed esteem wants to pry into all the details of the poor
man's life; details that he wished to keep to himself. Why can't any of you
respect that?
>
> Sara-Anne Churchill
** Apologies if this comes through twice, my mail thingie decided to misbehave
just now. :( **
Please remember that when people join F-Minor, they don't necessarily know all
that much about Glenn Gould. They often post questions about GG's life without
even realizing they have hit upon a "hot" topic. The fact that people join F-
Minor without having read a lot of biographical material is a sign of the power
that his music has on people. Newcomers on the list who ask questions should
not be scolded for they may not realize they have asked about a controversial
issue. For that matter, old hats should not be scolded -- the discussion has
remained very circumspect, as far as I can see. It is being carried out with
respect and discretion, not to mention affection. No names were named -- well
except for Petula Clark, and that doesn't count.
The discussion is much more affectionate and respectful of GG than the
speculation in any of the biographies. Many of the people on this list
understand GG more than the biographers. After all, so far the biographers have
all scoffed at the Importance of The Idea of North, despite its importance in
Glenn Gould's life. Yet F-Minor has been very reverential of GG's radio
documentaries, not to mention his essays and philosophy.
Also, how people approach any individual who has an impact on their life is
specific to that person. Some people are curious about the person's life, some
would prefer to discuss only the music. F-Minor is supposed to be open to many
types of discussion. It is very common to see people asking about Glenn Gould's
diet or about the pills he took. Those have been adopted as acceptable topics.
I'm sure he would be startled to know so many people know about his scrambled
egg habit. He probably would not be shocked to know people were curious to know
whether or not he ever fell in love. Celebrities realize that their fans will
ask those questions. But GG would be startled to know people know what he liked
to eat.
Please do not restrict peoples' interest in what, after all, was a wonderful
and fascinating man. After all, as Mary Jo said, one can always delete those
posts that do not interest you personally. None of them were hurtful or
offensive, or in any way truly intrusive.
Anne M. Marble
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