Two letters from Sydney in early April. Describes Melbourne, which he likes; tells the story of a group of men on the train who drink with him who achieve a 'moment of freeze' in the club car (which he compares to the staging of 'Amadeus') when one of them pulls down his pants to show off a tattoo of questionable taste; spends a day in Sydney with Patrick Hockey at the National Agricultural Show; asks if Britain is really going to go to war. On Good Friday he reports on the opening of 'Amadeus' the night before: he didn't like Constanze and thought it more staged than directed; went with Helen Montegue [Montagu] and Patrick; finds her cold, apparently because he does not make enough fuss over her; enjoyed the film 'Starstruck'; is heading to Brisbane and then up to Cairns to Diane [Cilento]'s house. The second letter describes his pleasure at getting three letters from Peter, is sorry he's having a rotten time with the film script, and is sorry that Peter will not be able to join him in the East; reacts to news about Peter Firth, Paul Giovanni, Howard [?], and RL's bird; Tony [Shaffer] will be at Cairns; admires a vegetarian restaurant in Sydney.
Karnak Playhouse & Rainforest Sanctuary - Thanks him for his letter, remembers the holiday in France very well, remembers how 'electrifying' Robert [Leonard] was; is enclosing a poem meant to be read at Tony [Shaffer]'s tribute and a précis of her life with Tony [neither item present]; hopes he will write a couple more plays at least; includes a poster [not present] for a concert given by David Helfgott and Jane Rutter to save Karnak from being sold.
In the first letter, she encloses two copies of a booklet (not present); his headstone to Robert [Leonard] is much admired. In the second letter she asks for a contribution to a booklet she is writing on epitaphs.
Letter dated 9 Jan. 1991 is a condolence card on the death of Robert Leonard.
Very happy to have received his note, just came across a tape of a voice lesson with Robert [Leonard] from 1986; is still struggling with her voice; invites him to dinner.
A note of sympathy on the death of Robert [Leonard].
Received his message on the machine, went to see Ken Marshall in a musical, 'Legs', calls the premise 'small'; Stanley Abercrombie is going to Thailand so he's going over to show his slides; is disappointed in [Tinker?] who has not showed up to do his work; he is slowly learning French, it is hard work; Alan Schwartz and Louise Nussbaum are getting married in Santa Barbara on November 2nd and they are invited; misses him.
Chiang Mai, Thailand - Describes Bangkok, the temples in the middle of a sea of chaos and noise, the heat, the spotlessly clean people surrounded by litter and dirt; regrets staying in Australia so long, Thailand crawls with history and wisdom; people tell him they were horrified by 'The King and I'; is going to the Golden Triangle on foot; wishes he were there, 'you'd be all eyes'.
Sydney - Is staying with Patrick [Hockey] and getting organised to go to the Far East; is sorry things aren't going well for PS, agrees the movie business 'stinks'; has encountered it in the form of Jeanne Maroux [Mareau?] who is here for Diane [Cilento]'s film; Tony does not behave, brags and is pompous; Diane is 'running scared', outclassed by Jeanne; being around Tony costs him money as he has to pay for expensive things; tells PS to go ahead and buy the stables, is appreciating England more now.
Cairns, Queensland - Finally arrived after delays due to a cyclone; went to Karnak, Diane [Cilento] and Tony's place; arrived to find Tony hiding from a process server; is 'clipped' for expensive lunches and petrol for Diane's truck. He describes Karnak, 'truly silly', and the sudden departure of Diane and then Tony for Sydney; he goes scuba diving with friends Ulla and Deter [?]; thinks Diane is tired of Tony and has what she wants, she doesn't treat him with respect and he doesn't seem to fit in.
A possibly incomplete letter, lacking a close. Enjoyed Brisbane; spends time with Milos Forman's brother Paul [Pavel], a painter, and his son Paul who designs tiles. He writes from a train to Townsville, in which he is sharing a berth with a man from a lunatic asylum who is on a state holiday, who takes handfuls of lithium and is not dangerous; a cyclone has blocked the roads and rail to Cairns; some men on the train tell him that they know how to handle 'the Abo-black Bastards. They just kill them'. The letter ends with a note that he will write more later.
Two drafts of a letter. Pinter's poem "Meeting" reminded him of a dream he had about Robert Leonard after his death.
Went out into the bush to see thousands of birds and the salt lakes, foundations of towns full of people 50 years ago, gold mines; dislikes the smug materialistic working people and their food. Continues the letter on a train crossing the Nullarbor Plain with Australians who eat too much and have no conversation; was challenged eating his breakfast of toast, coffee, and fruit by 'this red faced 200 lbs of blocked arteries' who tells him it isn't a man's breakfast, and his retort that what the man is eating is 'a pig's breakfast'; meets two ladies he likes, who at 80 love to play poker, drink beer and smoke. Continues the letter on the train to Adelaide, and now agrees with Peter 'about the beauty of country formed by man as opposed to wilderness'; finds Adelaide attractive, though many of the old buildings are being torn down; describes going vegetarian after seeing how sheep were treated on another rail line.
Encloses a photocopied article on AIDS from 'Here's Health' magazine dated March 1986, with a covering postcard [with an image of Charles Laughton in 'The Private Life of Henry VIII'].
A letter of sympathy on the death of Robert [Leonard].
Four letters written from Western Australia, including Carnarvon and Kalgoorlie. Describes heading northwest and hitchhiking, taking up an offer to stay at a farm, which turns out to be 50 miles from any other, though tons of young men arrive when they hear there's a visitor, briefly describes farm auctions, feeding stations, and staying in a shack on the Indian Ocean; his distress at nothing but canned food, sheep sandwiches, and relentless sun and heat. A week later he writes from Carnarvon after leaving Geraldton, is thankful to meet an intelligent woman who works at the satellite tracking station; is staying in a cheap hotel featuring a pool with slime on the top and broken bottles on the bottom; the food is disgusting and upsetting his stomach; the people are very like Californians but age very fast, are ignorant, and have annoying ways of saying yes and thank you, and is happy to meet a farmer from Devon with whom he could commiserate. A few days later he writes more about farmers, their slaughter of wildlife and irresponsible treatment of the environment; hitchhiking to Geraldton, which he describes complete with a hotel he dislikes; has learned to avoid eye contact because strangers will invite him to their house; and ends with the hope that he can meet PS in Singapore. The last letter begins on the train from Perth to Kalgoorlie; describes a flight in a Fokker F28 and observing birds who seemed to be waiting for things to get blasted off the runway so they could eat them; flies that stick to the skin; 'Aboriginals' who have taken to the W.A. culture's sodas, sweets, booze & welfare; a boozy cruise up the Swan River; on to Kalgoorlie by train, though the town itself is too cute; smoked hashish with some chaps and then went to a whorehouse district, and got 'off the hook' by claiming he has gonorrhea; is leaving for Adelaide.
Two letters dated 5 and 7 March from Perth. In the first letter he has seen an osteopath about his glands and back and describes the treatment; finds it difficult to understand the old men so 'when the inflection reaches a need for a response I just say "Bloody Hell" & off they go again'; admires the aviaries at the zoo; prefers Perth to Sydney, more dynamic, less decadent; is getting back to living on less money and with less things. In the second letter he describes going up the Swan River (beautiful), wrecking the film in his camera; his sunburn from the nude beach. He finds the Australian middle class overconfident, ignorant, affluent, sport killers who consume vast amounts of fast food 'when they are not kicking the shit out of an Aboriginal'; describes the experience of going to the nude beach; and his part in stopping a Vietnamese schoolchild on a bus from making way for white children; has found amazing vegetarian food.
He was moved by Peter's letter, which he will treasure. 'What a devasting dream.'
A letter of sympathy on the death of Robert Leonard.
A sympathy letter on the death of Robert [Leonard]; remembers Paul Giovanni and Robert and the evenings and weekends spent together, with Bob Livingstone; he was with Bob as he was dying and learned about dignity in death; had recently shown his class "The Old Dark House" and laughed a little too loud at certain lines.
Three letters dated 27 Feb., 1 and 3 March from Sydney. He describes being ill with inflamed glands, visiting the Sydney hospital, and improving after Diane Cilento adjusts his back and head; having dinner with Diane's friend Patrick Hockey and others who talked about their blood lines and their money, and make unwanted sexual advances; describes Diane's plans to direct a movie called 'The Last Tango of Rudolph Valentino' and going to 'Love & Pain & the Whole Damn Thing' with Diane to evaluate Maggie Smith for the film. Describes Sydney's beauty and peacefulness and expense; going to the Opera House, also beautiful, to see Dame Joan Sutherland in 'Lucrezia Borgia', though he thinks the acoustics too bright and [Richard] Bonynge 'played it like Waltzing Matilda'; describes the bodies of the people on Bondi Beach, which 'would drive [Paul] Giovanni out of his mind'; goes to the zoo and sees a platypus; hopes PS is holding up well with Milos [Forman].
A sympathy card on the death of Robert [Leonard].
Thanks him for the condolence note on the death of her brother Peter; Sherban is busy with lectures; thanks him for mentioning Robert [Leonard], she often thinks of him; hopes he has recovered from his operation.
Papetee - Tahiti - Describes his arrival on a Quantas flight from Los Angeles, immediately leaving for Moorea Island, describes the cost of a hut there and hotel in Papeete, the people, the impact of the French on Papeete; tells of an American geologist who described buying a camel to cross a desert, which ended disastrously; crashes Club Med on Moorea and gets thrown out ('police called & all that'); Moorea would be a paradise but for the French. A second letter of the same date reports he is still in Papeete; describes riding in what they call 'Le Truck'; describes the Tahitian people and weather; almost fell off a boat but was saved by a 7 ft tall Tahitian man and now his wrist hurts; the Hotel Ping-Pong is right out of a Somerset Maugham short story.
Friends of Highgate Cemetery - Thanks him for the letter, discusses changes to Robert [Leonard]'s grave, moving the headstone to a central position, notes his wishes in respect of engraving.
Has been thinking of Robert [Leonard] on the anniversary of his death, Glyndebourne will never be the same without him; Sherban had a lovely time in New York; shares family news.
A sympathy letter on the death of Robert [Leonard].