Re: question from a neophyte

[kimmoor@mindspring.com (Kristen Immoor)]

>it's just hard for me to believe that
>Gould had a 6+ year affair with the wife of a FAMOUS musician, who even
>moved her two kids to Toronto, for chrissakes, and no one is willing to
>tell who this is?  I don't get it.  Have journalists and paparazzi become
>a lot more aggressive/ resourceful/ unethical in the 80s and 90s?  Is
>Gould from a generation that has more respect for the "private" life of
>public icons?  Did someone less "ethical" than Friedrich name names?

        You're going to get tons of mail on this one... but I really hope
we don't talk about it for too long, because the whole topic makes me
uneasy. Here's what seems to be general knowledge:
        First, yes, journalists have become more agressive AND more
unethical. Money talks, and you get paid for the breaking the big story.
Also, Gould's upbringing seemed to place emphasis on the conventions of
polite behavior, and it would seem natural that he wouldn't be public about
his relationships. (Throw in any emotional baggage GG might have picked up
from the bizarre Florence and Jessie tensions of his youth, and Gould might
not have been very good at even having a significant intimate
relationship.)
        Second, despite letters of longing to "Dell," it was Cornelia Foss,
wife of Lucas, with whom Glenn had whatever it is he had. I assume
Friedrich is coy about the topic because Ms. Foss has purposefully removed
herself from anything having to do with Glenn Gould.
        As to the homo/hetero topic, my personal (and admittedly a bit
cynical) opinion is that some men (all present company excluded, of course
:-) can't process the concept of a man not having an active sex life
without concluding that said man is a flaming homosexual. Just about all of
his family and close friends have made comments in some form about Gould's
string of girlfriends in assorted cities, Jessie mentioned "the one in NY"
about whom Glenn was said to have been extremely fond (this was probably
Cornelia,) but nobody has come forward mentioning any 'significant men' in
his life. Besides, if there was one it was probably Bruno Monsaingeon and
knowing him he would have already written a book about it and be halfway
through negotiating the feature film. (Ooh, that was totally uncalled
for... I apologize, don't flame me. ;-) In either case, I say that his
preference wasn't really that important because his practicing sexuality
seemed to have little impact on his music or his writing.
        And I am going to resist writing any more on this topic, no matter
how interesting or scandalous the thread gets.  :-)
Best wishes, Kristen


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"For centuries man lived in the belief that truth was slim and elusive and
that once he found it the troubles of mankind would be over. And here we
are in the closing decades of the 20th century, choking on truth."
-Ernest Becker