E:      Just a desire. No I'm just a ballroom dancer. But I did go on this, this uh show with Joey Adams and he asked me what I wanted in life. And I said the only thing I want in life, Mr Adams is a dance partner. He said don't you want to get married Miss Beale and I said no I just want a dance
partner.



W:      What other programs have you been on?



E:      Oh I've been on an awful lot of things.



W:      Really? Which ones?



E:      I don't know why the Maysles did it. I think they decided that uh people should know they were uh not exploiting us and that we were OK. You know an awful lot of people got mad at the Maysles over this movie and said that they moved in here and took advantage of us and everything. It absolutely isn't so. It's not so.



W:      They're good friends of yours huh? 



LE:    Yeah, the whole movie is absolutely bona fide, it's genuine. And a lot of, well not a lot. But we got two or three very mean reviews. Uh Walter, what is that name. No The New York Times, that's New York Magazine. Yeah, Walter Goodman, and then uh, Jay Cocks, Time Magazine, March first. I don't think some people like me.



W:      Why not? I don't understand why.



E:      Too much Mother's little helper. I was always crazy about her.



W:      Have you seen any movies, you don't get out to many movies then or anything like that? Who were your favorite stars?



E:      I haven't got any.



W:      Were you ever a movie fan at all?



E:      Yes, we were terrific movie fans, every single one. Until my mother hurt her back. She got arthritis and she had an accident in the ocean and her back got very stiff from spending the winters here. She wouldn't give up the house and move to a warmer place. She wouldn't sell it.



W:      Did you like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire?



E:      Yeah, I was mad about all that. She came back to the Waldorf, I want to go see her, I can't spend the time. I don't know what I'm gonna do, I can't leave.



W:      Yeah, you wanna still dance, you still want to dance.



E:      I thought if we could get a rock band that needed a dancer, but I don't think they want one.  Because of Warhol, and he had the most marvelous band.



W:      Really?



E:      Yes, and he had a house on the beach right near us. And he didn't want to pay a dancer.  



W:      Did he come over to visit you?



E:      No but he had done compositions based on this house and he gave a concert and you know but he didn't want a dancer.



W:      How did you get down to New York, when you did get down to see Warhol.



E:      Oh, the Maysles insisted on it.



W:      Where do they live? Do they live around here?



E:      They had a studio, no in uh, New York City. But they have a small cottage in South Hampton. The other one.



W:      They're married now aren't they?



E:      Yeah, one has a baby and the other's going to deliver. They're very nice boys they come from Boston, very talented. We were crazy about them.  Otherwise we wouldn't have done the movie.



W:      You did meet them through Jackie though, and Lee though right?



E:      Well we weren't introduced but I didn't say anything, but I recognized the younger one. I did get mad at Lee though, I said Lee I wasn't told that they were working on this movie, I said who are they?  She didn't say anything. I don't like Lee.



W:      You don't?



E:      I don't know what happened to her. So that's uh.



W:      You don't see her though?



E:      No, thank God.



W:      She's still living over in England? 



E:      Yeah, no South Hampton.



W:      She's living in South Hampton?



E:      Yes, that summer her husband divorced her.



W:      She has some children doesn't she?



E:      Beautiful children, we met them.



W:      How about Caroline, do you ever see her?



E:      Yeah, we met Caroline and John, four years ago. We were crazy about them.



E:      I told you about my mother, she was always a singer and I always loved dancing, and I liked to dance. I almost did get an audition, if I hadn't had to come home. So we don't think that we're interesting because of Jackie and Lee. Jackie and Lee are American society girls. Their mother, well of course as I said the Bouviers are a wonderful French family. But uh, their mother married a very very rich man Mr. Auchincloss and he had homes in Washington, Palm Beach and Newport and they were much richer than the Bouviers and adored being.



W:      The Kennedy's were a very rich family too.

 

E:      Yeah but they're different. They're Boston Irish and they went into politics. I think they're wonderful.



W       Do you know Rose Kennedy?



E:      I met her, yeah, I met her once. I met her at the inauguration.



W:      So that's, you met Joe, you dated Joe Kennedy for a while. Did you date him for very long?



E:      No,he was uh, I met him at Princeton . I always had to come back here and take care of the house.



W:      Princeton?



LE:    Yeah, he was at a  Princeton house party . That's where I met him.



W:      You say you knew some people from Rutgers?



E:      Yes I had a, a, a beau.



W:      You did?



E:      I was always asking him about Rutgers, because I never went there.



W:      You never went down there.



E:      No, no and I always wanted to go.



W:      You went down just to Princeton. Princeton's a beautiful town.



E:      Terrific, The ivy, I adore, very beautiful.



W:      You don't get to travel, though at all right?

 

E:      What?



W:      You would like to get out and travel though right?



E:      Yes, I've been to Paris, I haven't been any other place, just Paris, I mean and Europe you know.  I haven't been to London, any other place. 



W:      They are going to take the movie to Boston now, then.



E:      Yes.



W:      Do they only have the one print? Do they only have one print?



E:      I don't know. Did you hear about the Cannes Film Festival?



W:      No I didn't.



E:      They were accepted. The Maysles uh, said that uh, uh our movie was put in a uh special class or I guess they didn't really know what to put it in.



W:      It was in the New York Film Festival though right?



E:      Yeah, I went to that. I was very, I was very embarrassed, I sat in the box all alone.



W:      What did you wear, did you get all dressed up?



E:      I wore a red dress, my mother likes red, she made me wear it.



W:      So how did you...



E:      So they all uh, they all screamed, and applauded. The whole place rose and shouted at the end I almost, my God, I couldn't understand why.



W:      Did you go by yourself; did you have an escort?



E:      No I was with, you know, the Maysles group and uh, everybody gave me these bouquets so I threw  bouquets. But of course we were written up as some, some awful characters. They said we were  eccentric, recluses. Uh cause we didn't have a car. Cause we lived on so, so little money. People  couldn't understand. Cause Jacqueline had a very rich, older man and they couldn't understand.



W:      She, she's do you know who she's dating now?



E:      No.



W:      I had heard that she was dating Frank Sinatra but I don't know if that's true.



E:      Oh yeah, well she always knew him, he's an old friend. You know, the Kennedys.



W:      Did you know Frank Sinatra?



E:      No, no I never met him.



W:      So you think that, who's the most interesting person you've met in your life, do you think?



E:      For goodness sakes, most interesting? Well I met everybody, I don't know.

 

W:      You knew Jerry Ford? I read that in The (Village) Voice.

 

E:      Yeah, he was with the Yale law students that I used to go out with.

 

W:      Did you like him?



E:      Yes, he was very nice. I like athletes. I don't think athletes are stupid. I don't think anybody, I don't think anybody can be a good uh tennis player, a good football star, a good hockey star and be  stupid. I don't see how people think that uh, athletes uh, you know, uh can excel and not have uh something in the brain. I don't understand how people think that.



W:      How about football players?



E:      Oh I think they're brilliant.



W:      Do you like athletics?



E:      I like to watch pro football. Yeah. I'm trying to think who I thought was the most interesting person.



W:      Or who did you like the most? Who have you liked the most?



E:      I guess my father was the most interesting. I never met anybody like him, never. Who did I like the most? I don't know, I really don't. I met a lot of very interesting people.



W:      But Andy Warhol you think is the most interesting that you've met recently?



E:      Now, I think he's darling. absolutely darling. I thought Peter Beard was very nice. Lee's friend, Peter Beard. He's an African hunter. He lives in Africa.



W:      Have you gone to any interesting parties or anything since?



E:      No I can't go out because I have to take care of this house.



W:      Who takes care of your mother while you're going, Lois?



E:      Well she has another friend who likes cats. You know, Lois doesn't like cats.



W:      Where does Lois live, another part of the house?



E:      Yeah, she's down, she has a studio downstairs. She paints.



W:      Uh who were some of your other closest friends who come here to visit you? What happened to Jerry? I want to know about Jerry.



E:      He went up to Maine then he went back to Queens and he got a job in New York City.



W:      How old is he?



E:      He's still pretty young, he's Italian. I knew, I knew his father.



W:      Does he live around here?



E:      No he lives in New York, in Queens.



W:      But he did live here when the filming was going on or something, or near here?



E:      No, he didn't live here but he had a gardening job and I think he wanted to move in. That was all true, how he bought the washing machine. Wasn't that funny?



W:      Why did you call him Marble Faun?



E:      That's a uh book written by Nathaniel Hawthorn, it's a classic, have you ever read it?



W:      No I haven't.



E:      Very tragic beautiful book.



W:      Why did you refer to him as the Marble Faun though?



E:      I felt something about Jerry. His mother and father said he was so difficult and in so much trouble.



W:      What was the book about?



E:      He didn't want to go to college. He wanted to get a job and his mother and father were always very very worried. They'd come here and tell us how worried they were about Jerry. So that's why I called him the Marble Faun.



W:      How do you know his um parents?



E:      They stopped here. Jerry had a job at uh, oh someplace between ? and Montauk.



W:      You knew his parents before you knew him?



E:      No, I never knew them before.



W:      Oh you knew them through, you met Jerry first?



E:      Yeah



W:      He just came out to see you one day or something? 



E:      Yeah he was always looking for a gardening job. I like Italians.



W:      Do you?



E:      Yeah, I have a lot of Italian friends.



W:      Who else comes out to visit you here?



E:      Oh, I know a few people in South Hampton, you know, old friends that are still there. But everything's very changed now. It's a different world.



W:      Do you have any visitors here? Mm we have an awful lot of people who drop in.



W:      I hear you've been getting a lot of mail.



E:      Yeah, we have a lot of, lot of people who are crazy about the movie. Fans calling up and.



W:      Could start a fan club.



E:      The movie made a big impression on people.



W:      Are you gonna go to Boston then?



E:      I hope so, if my mother will let me. I like Boston, I'm crazy about it. I haven't been there in many years.



W:      It's nice to go and get a little vacation too.



E:      Yeah I'd like to get away on vacation. But I don't know if I'll be able to.



W:      Are they going to release the film in theaters all around the country or not?



E:      Yeah, six or seven theaters.



W:      Where else, do you know? West Coast.



E:      Chicago I think, I don't know about Pittsburg. Al went to Pittsburg but I don't know whether it was to see about that or not. Then they went down to Texas.

 

W:      They're not going to release it in Philadelphia or anything? You don't know.



E:      I don't know. I have a lot of cousins in Philadelphia they'd love that.



W:      You have a lot of cousins in Philadelphia?



E:      Yes.



W:      Jack Davis is your cousin though and he wrote the book.



E:      Yes, but I didn't like it. Did any of you read that book?



W:      I want to find it now, cause I wanted to know, there's a lot about your mother in there I guess then.



E:      Yeah I didn't like what he wrote about my mother.



W:      You're written up in there then too.



E:      Yeah, he said very nice things about me.



W:      So would you say basically, you wanted to get away from the world, have you been happy here?



E:      Well, I don't want to say anything about responsibility because you know, there's nothing in life like responsibility. If you don't have that you won't be good at all. You know, of course, you are gonna go out into the world alone but then you'll be responsible for yourself, and you may want to get married, you may have children. There really isn't anything to life but responsibility. I hate to tell you that. You know, otherwise you're no good at all. But there are times in life when you need a vacation.



W:      Oh definitely. What do you think on the struggle with women's lib?



E:      What do I think about women's lib? What?

 

W:      Women's lib, what do you feel about it.



 

E:      I think women are making a great mistake to fight with men, that's what I think. I think it ruins everything, it ruins romance and everything. I don't know what they're thinking about really, they're thinking about equal pay, isn't that it? What's the big fight all about?



J.       They want equal opportunity. They want to be able to do what men do and get paid for it. They do.



 

E:      Why? Why? why do they? I don't want to. But you know I think I did here in, in this house I think I really did compete with men because I think we got people very, very mad. But I couldn't help it. I had to take the garbage out. I had to shovel the coal range. I was not trying to cut out the uh, the blue collar class but I think  they thought that I was. But I wasn't.



W:      What do you think of the fashions that woman today are wearing, you used to be a model you said.



E:      Oh terrific. I think the clothes today are out of this world. Absolutely.  They're comfortable. You know, you don't have to get dressed up if you don't want to. I think it's wonderful.



W:      Do you ever go out shopping much?



E:      No, I wouldn't go to the East Hampton Village anyway because I think they were so awful to us.  They were very mean.



W:      What actually did you fix in this house when they came in here and raided? What was the problem?



E:      Well, I had to carry water up to flush my mother's toilet and they must have taken 55 pictures of that toilet. And it was put on the United Press International and everything. And I had about 25  ? about that toilet.



W:      You didn't have running water?



E:      We had running water.



W:      You did have running water.



E:      Yeah but the hot water was broken and I had to heat water to take a bath on the coal range. And we had a bottle gas stove and I always did the cooking on the bottle gas stove and Mother used to feed the cats in there and she had a sterno stove and they took pictures of the sterno stove and sent it on Telstar all over the world. And then the detectives photographed the floors and it was the fall and this man that used to take everything to the dump had gotten very sick and I told you they, you know bought off our gardener. Somebody made him stop working here and things did look pretty bad when they came in, the end of October when the authorities arrives. We did have piles of stuff that uh, had gotten wet from the leaks you know and it looked like black mud, but it  wasn't what they said it was. You know what they said it was. They said some terrible things.  Why did they think we were so terrible?



W:      Had you been in touch with Jackie prior to that? Or was it initially because of that that she got back in touch with you.



E:      Well this thing went all over the world on TelStar and I think she thought that I wanted the publicity. I don't want publicity.



W:      But you hadn't been in touch with her up until that time?
LE: No we hadn't but she came down here. Yes, because Lee had a great friend in Wainscott and Wainscott is right next door. You know there's an inlet and then there's Wainscott. And uh, we never did see them, though. They never called.



W:      Do you know where she's living now?



LE:    Yeah, we have her telephone number. We're in touch with her.



W:      Is she living in New York?



E:      Who, Jacqueline? Yeah, we're in touch with her. 1040 Fifth Avenue… 



W:      Your mother said she got by here all those years on little or no money. Is that true.



E:      Yeah, trust funds.



W:      Oh trust funds.



E:      Yeah, very little money.



W:      Are you getting any money from being, from doing the film with the Maysles?



E:      Yeah, they paid us to come in the house.



W:      They did?



E:      Yeah. We did their movie you know, their way, you know. I didn't put on uh, exactly what I  wanted to put on, it would have been too wild but I couldn't have gotten to them anyway because  they stole all my clothes. I couldn't have gotten the boxes cause the boxes were gone.



W:      Did you want to dance in the film or did they ask you to dance?



E:      Uh, yeah I wanted to give them an awful lot of dancing. But I don't think they wanted it. What they had in the film was just what they wanted because uh, I played an awful lot of Spanish music,  music, you know, my Spanish records and uh, they didn't want it, they didn't photograph it.  So I, I think it was right for what they wanted to do, I really do.



W:      They picked what they wanted.



E:      Yeah, it seemed very good when I saw it which was a little bit of it but it seemed just right, I don't know. I thought the way it ended was good, didn't you? I just went on dancing and that's typical!  Typical of this place! Whatever happens, right on. Isn't that, isn't that a uh, a thing, right on? Don't they say that? Where does that come in, right on?



W:      I think it started with the black liberation movement and it became everybody's little saying.



E:      Yeah, right on. Well that's why I think what they did here was so good. They really got the spirit of, you know, It's right on.



W: So what do you do here? 

 

E:      What?

 

W:      You just take care of your mother, clean and cook.



E:      Yeah, I can't leave my mother. I never could picture her without

her house. And she never wanted to go away. She doesn't like the south, she hates hot weather and she didn't want to leave. I think she likes cold weather. I don't like it very much. 



W:      You love the city, too.



E:      Yeah, crazy mad about New York City. 



W:      And you love the sun.

 

E:      Yeah.

 

W:      And the ocean.



E:      Yeah. But I haven't been able to do any swimming, in five years

haven't been to that beach,  about three times. But maybe things will get better. They couldn't get any worse, so they have to get better.



 

W:      It was a total cooperative venture then, between you and the Maysles?



E:      It was what?



W:      Totally cooperative, they didn't pursue you or anything.



E:      Yes.



W:      You weren't hesitant in the beginning?



E:      No not a bit. I kept saying to Albert Maysles, let's make a movie, let's make a movie. And he had the same idea and he'd say let's make a movie, let's make a movie. I was crazy about Al but also David. I really did like both of them very much.



W:      You said in the movie, that you thought, I'm skipping around a little bit, you thought girls are forced into marriage. Do you still believe that, in this society?



E:      Yeah I think they were. Social pressure was put upon them, how I eluded it I don't know, but you see I had a very...

J:       You outsmarted society. 



E:      I don't know, I think it was my father and mother I really do. They were not going to plan any marriage for me. My father thought I should be a woman lawyer and he wouldn't even speak to me after I didn't uh, you know agree. We were battling the whole time, the rest of my life and uh  my mother was interested in her voice and uh her friends that composed and uh played for her on the piano and uh,  I don't know I guess I was on  my own, but I never got married.  



W:      Are you still really interested in astrology? 



E:      Yeah, crazy about it.



W:      What sign are you?



E:      Scorpio.



W:      What's month is that?



E:      November.



W:      November what?



E:      The seventh.



W:      The seventh?



E:      Yeah.  Do you like it?



W:      I'm interested in it slightly and a few friends of mine are very. You read all the books and everything?



E:      Yeah I still do, but the best is to go have it done, you know, for you alone.



W:      A charted. 



E:      Yeah, the hour you were born.



W:      Have you ever had that done?



E:      Yeah, years ago, it was very expensive. I haven't done it lately cause I haven't.



W:      It's very popular now.



E:      Yeah, still, well more than ever, you know the planets and.. I don't blame the space age for  getting interested in the planets.



W:      Do you ever read. do you read many books or anything just what, read the New York Times?

E:      I don't have much time. I read the New York Times every morning. I have that delivered. Some people don't like it, they say it's changed. But I don't know,  I still like it.



W:      I want to know about your poetry.



E:      Yeah, I still write poetry.



W:      You do?



E:      Yeah. 



W:      Could you read us something? Yeah, could you show us some of it?



E:      I can't find it. It's in some box. But I write, I wake up in the morning and write, you know, write a  line or two.



W:      You've been writing for, you know, all your life or something?



E:      Yeah, I'm uh, I'm an English Literature major and classical literature. There's just one thing I wasn't allowed to do. That's all. I wanted to go to a professional uh, children's school and be a performing artist and I was not allowed to do it, So.



W:      But like you said definitely what you want to do is dance.



E:      Yeah, I can sing too.



W:      You and your mother should get an act together.



E:      We should. We did a duet but they didn't have it in the picture.



W:      Really?



E:      Yeah. 



W:      Did you see all of the hours of filming that they had? All 60, was it 60 hours, right?



E:      Was it 50? I don't know,



W:      50?



E:      No we didn't see it. 

 

W:      You just saw the finished…

 

E:      We saw it when they brought, brought it down.

 

W:      Oh they brought it right down here for you to see?

 

E:      Yeah, they showed it to my Mother.

 

W:      What did your mother think of the film?

 

E:      Uh, she liked it very much. And I was uh, you know amazed because I didn't know it was going to be that good.

 

W:      Who are her sisters um, she said she has two sister? What are their names?

 

E:      They're the Bouvier Twins.  

 

W:      And they live near here?

 

E:      They live in New York City.

 

W:      And they've seen the movie?

 

E:      On no they wouldn't go, no.

 

W:      Your mother said she thinks they're jealous of the film.

 

E:      Yes, I think they are. The relatives are very strange, I can't explain

          it.

 

W:      Do you think we'll get a chance to meet your mother?

 

E:      Oh, I don't know,  she isn't feeling well since this cat, uh disappeared.  

 

W:      We'd like to get a picture of both of you.

 

E:      Yeah, but she's not ready, I can't explain it. She has to get ready and she didn't get ready on account of this, this disappearance. Yeah, could you call her up and come back? I don't mean today.

 

W:      It took us 3 1/2 hours to get here. It's a long drive.

 

E:      And you kept calling up very politely. I thought you were very polite. Walter Newkirk, I thought you were terribly polite, Walter. You know why Mother and I were kind of wrangling at the time? Because I made six or eight trips to New York. She was about to disown me. She was so angry and slightly jealous I guess, I don't know. She was very mad. Though I came back at night. I had a special driver. Got up at 4 o'clock in the morning and I'd come back at night. But when it opened I spent three night away. She's been very mad ever since. So what are you boys going to be?

 

B:      I'm going to be a photographer.

 

E:      You look like an athlete Walter. Are you a football player?

 

W:      No (laughter)

 

E:      You remind me of Joe Namath.

 

W:      (laughter)  Joe Namath!

 

E:      Well, he's very good looking, everybody's mad about him. Haven't they told you that?

 

W:      No not recently!  I'm trying to get a job in, uh, in kind of journalism or doing public relations or promotions in New York.

 

B:      I'm looking for a job too, in writing.

 

E:      I don't blame you.

W:      He loves the Rolling Stones.

******

I had no more questions so as Edie posed for a few photographs by the window, I walked over to Mrs. Beale's bedroom and asked her if I could peak inside to say hello.  Within seconds, it seemed like everyone wound up in her room.

 

********

 

LE:    I told the boys how much I wanted to get with the right orchestra and I may never get it.

 

BE:    Well you have to try, you have to try.

 

W:      Do you have any pictures of yourself when you were a model that you could show us?  I'd love to see them.

 

LE:     I can't find them.

 

BE:    Well the Maysles took all of those. 

 

W:      The Maysles took all of them?

 

LE     The rest have disappeared.

 

BE:    Where's the book they just sent Edie?

 

LE:    But I will, get everything straight. I'm not going to leave here until I

         get everything straight.  

 

BE:    They sent a book, Edie. The Maysles, with all those pictures of you when you were young. Remember that book?

 

LE:    Yeah, where is it?

 

BE:    It just came a little while ago.

 

LE:    Yeah, where is it.

 

BE:    Can I clean my glasses, Edie?

 

W:      You want to clean, you want to clean you glasses off?

 

LE:    These things are gonna disappear.

 

BE:    Don't let him out! I'm watching you. They're probably lost.

 

W:      They are gonna do a book, for um, the movie though?

 

BE:    Oh you are?

 

W:      No they are? She was telling, Edie was telling me?

 

BE:    Oh are you Edie?

 

LE:    I think, no they do.

 

W:      A script.

 

LE:    Correct, that's it, that's it.

 

BE:    I wish you could find those pictures Edie. He sent us a big, uh book.   Do you remember the big book he sent us Edie?  

 

LE:    No I don't, I don't know where it is.

BE:    Yeah, with all your picture when you uh.

 

W:      Are these pictures over here of your children?

 

BE:    Yes, those are my children when they were little.  Very good looking children.  My, my son was only thirteen in that picture.

 

W:      Right here, down here?

 

BE:    That's Buddy, Buddy graduated Yale and now he's a lawyer.  There's Phelan in the middle, there. That's my oldest son, right  in the middle.

 

W:      Over here?

 

BE:    Yeah, he's just a kid there. He was in uh, Westminster School. He was only 15 there. He was the president of the class, very attractive boy. He has one uh, daughter now and she's 35 years old. That's my granddaughter.  So I'm very proud of her. She was the first in the book.  Don't you remember the book they sent us? The uh,

 

W:      You don't like, what's wrong with your pants?

 

BE:    Oh, they're the latest style, wool.

 

LE:    I know, Mother gave them to me. Everything is wool now. They don't wear those, they don't wear those skimpy things anymore.

 

BE:    Did you take any pictures of the cats?

 

W:      I would like some.

 

BE:    Do they work you very hard at, uh, uh what's the name of it?

 

J:       Very hard

 

LE:    Rutgers

 

BE:    Yes, I had a lot of friends that went there. When I was about 18-19 I had a lot of friends, a lot of friends at Rutgers. That's the Maysles handwriting. They sent it to us, clippings.

 

W:      Oh they do? They send you clippings?

 

BE:    Oh magnificent! Oh I should have really gotten up and danced around today. There's one from Boston. I didn't care so much for that one, did you Edie? The Boston one?

 

LE:    No it said we'll find out about this one when the movie comes up here, they said.

 

W:      Yeah, well the clipping's up here.

 

LE:    Yeah.

 

BE:    Yeah, that was very kind of them. I'm not supposed to live in this room. I'm supposed to live in a great big

 

 

LE:    Yeah, New York. New York is sort of blase.  

 

BE:    So are you gonna put this in the year book or something.

 

LE:    Some magazine.

 

W:      We'll put it in in the Rutgers paper. Send you a copy.

 

BE:    Years ago--

 

LE:    The Rutgers paper they said.  I've never read it.

 

W:      I have a copy of it out in the car, I'll give it to you before we leave.

 

BE:    I've had a lot of beaus, all the New Jersey boys were going to Rutgers when I was young. They all came over to my house. We had an enormous house in New Jersey with horses, you know we had horses. We had the first car in New Jersey.

 

W:      You said you lived in -?

 

BE:    Yes

 

W:      I'm from -.

 

BE:    Oh yes, I heard that.

 

W:      My family is from there.  

 

 

BE:    I was telling the gentleman over there, that uh, I used to ride on my ponies to _. It was about a four mile ride from -  a little more than that, about five. They had the best uh, chocolate  almonds over there and uh ice cream.

 

LE:    There's a river that uh, and I had a friend and he used to tell me how he swam this river. It's called the Nye.

 

W:      The Nye? Well, a lot of the neighborhoods have changed a lot.  

 

LE:    He was always telling me how he swam in this river.

 

BE:    Are the people nice like they used to be there? They're not as sweet as they used to be.

 

LE:    Where is it?

 

W:      I'm not sure.

 

LE:    Mother, the river that Carl Price used to swim in Mother, the Nye? Well what was it? He was always telling us about this river. What was this river?

 

BE:    There are three, four important rivers in New Jersey, I've just gotten to forget  all of them.

 

W:      Certainly wasn't the Raritan.

 

LE:    No it wasn't that.

 

BE:    Does the train still go through, the uh.

 

W:      Yes, it still goes through, it's very near my house.

 

BE:    It is really, did you ever mind that train being so close to you?

 

W:      Well the train is about a half a mile away from where I live.

 

BE:    Oh it is.

 

W:      But you can hear it sometimes at night.

 

LE:    Yeah I have trains that blow around here, the most amazing  

sound.  It's a train like a boat, it's like a boat.  

 

BE:    I thought it was very interesting, the store was on one side and the train on the other. Kitty what's the matter, now I know you're not feeling well.

 

W:      Oh are you talking about, downtown, set up for the trains, the train went right through the town.  

 

W:      Edie I think your fashions are great. They're great aren't they? They love your outfits with the scarves and everything. Oh yes I think they're great, I think they're great.

 

LE:    All the good ones are gone, they stole them.

 

W:      Where did you get all this? It's beautiful.

 

LE:    I wore all those, all her old clothes. Her father was very rich and she shopped like Jacqueline.

 

W:      Maybe you're gonna start a new revolutionary trend in fashion.

 

LE:    I don't know, fashion's wonderful today I don't know if I need to start a new.. it's wonderful.

 

J:       Do you ever think you're ahead of your time?

 

LE:    I guess so, Mother was. Mother was. She wore a sweater with an evening dress once and her mother swore and nearly went crazy.  Do you remember that? You said you were cold and put a sweater on over an evening dress?   

 

BE:    It was over 60 years, or 70 years. Yeah those things are awfully good, sensational, you better take one while you can.

 

LE:    Lois said you had to get a -- Lois said you had to get a -

 

BE:    Said I was too much responsibility.

 

LE:    Isn't that funny? 

 

LE:    Is she really scared of you?

 

BE:    What?

 

LE:    Is Lois scared of you?

 

BE:    Give them the knife, Edie.  Give them the knife. Give them the knife. Edie give them the knife. They're delicious, you should try to eat them. Here, here's the knife.

 

W:      Well you know, New Jersey, they have to be great.

 

LE:    This looks terrific. It's a tart, look.   

 

W:      There's a cherry one in there too.

 

LE:    That's a cherry tart.

 

W:      That's a blueberry, there's a cherry one in there too.

 

LE:    Oh I adore blueberries, my God. Is that clean? Is this knife clean?

 

BE:    I hope it is, I don't know, take a chance.

 

W:      Who took this polaroid picture? Andy Warhol?! Did Andy Warhol take this picture of you?

 

LE:    Yes, he took 75 pictures and that isn't one of the best. That was the second best. He gave it to me for my mother. I thought he was very sweet.

 

BE:    Edie you better give milk to that kitty, Edie you better do it now. Twelve dollars to give milk to the kitties.   

 

W:      Where's he going to put them in a book or something?

 

LE:    I don't know, that's when I got suspicious,  you know I thought he was a painter.

 

W:      This is the one with Judith Crist she saw the movie four times.

 

LE:    Yeah, she really liked it. And that other man didn't like it at all. John Simon didn't like it at all.

 

BE:    Edie give me the plates for the cats they're eating cake now. Come on, will you.

 

B:      Mrs. Beale you have to worry, John Simon doesn't like anything.

 

BE:    Who doesn't?

 

W:      John Simon.

 

LE:    Yeah, a friend told me he's very mean.

 

BE:    Who is, which one?

 

LE:    John Simon, New York Magazine.

 

BE:    Oh yes, I heard that, oh don't read that. Please don't read that. Have you got the other one? That's the only one I didn't want you to read.

 

LE:    I don't know, David sends everything. David sends everything. He says you should read everything.

 

BE:    Oh well he's mentioned.

 

W:      Oh I loved the movie, I saw it twice.

 

BE:    Now that last one is very bad, uh the two others are very beautiful. But the last one, I told you not to let them read the Boston Edie.

 

W:      You don't have your record player here, do you?

 

BE:    Record player here?

 

W:      I wanted to hear your record.

 

BE:    Oh really! You wanted to hear that?

 

LE:    They don't know what this place is like. To try to find anything, doesn't make any sense at all.  

 

BE:    It's in the bathroom but Edie won't-

 

W:      Are you sure you don't want it?

 

LE:    No thanks, do you want it Mother.

 

W:      There's another one, there's another cherry one there.  

 

LE:    There is? I better give it to Doris. I better give it to Doris.

 

W:      Save them.

 

BE:    Save them.

 

LE:    That looks awfully good.

W:      Go ahead take one, you too. There's a little bit of pecans in there.

 

LE:    My God, I can't get over that. Lois will love these.

 

BE:    They're sensational. I ate about five of those. They're delicious.

 

W:      There's cookies too, did you get the cookies?

 

BE:    They seem like petit fours to me. Yes, isn't that nice? You live near a place that has that.  We don't have anything like that in East Hampton.

 

W:      We wanted to say hello to you. It took us like 3 1/2 hours to get here. It's a long ride.

 

BE:    Oh yes, I guess you had to get up at 5:30 didn't you?  

 

W:      We do it for him.

 

LE:    For goodness sakes.

 

BE:    I'm sorry I didn't do right by you boys. I thought that uh, in a week or so I'd look a little better, you know.

 

LE:    Well I told them you wanted to stay here forever. And I said I'm still stuck and I don't know what to do about anything.

 

BE:    I don't want to stay in the bed forever. I want to get up. I certainly do want to get up. And besides I lost one of my pillows and I'm having a terrible time. I couldn't lie down. I'm on my left elbow. Edie why didn't you get those plates?

 

BE:    Lois said she'd make some - 

 

W:      Can I get a picture with Edie and you?

 

BE:    Yeah.

 

LE:    My God, this is a blueberry tart.           

 

BE:    For God's sake, just give it to me, you're talking about it.

Give me another one, I'm sure there's more banana.

 

LE:    It's a blueberry tart, it's a blueberry tart.

 

BE:    Give me my silver fork.

 

LE:    You let the boys in, you let the boys in.

 

BE:    I bet I can tell how much you weigh just by sitting there on that bed. I think you better get up and listen. Do you know what you weigh? You weigh about 185? 185?  

 

LE:    Joe Namath, he's gonna break the bed. He's Joe Namath!   

  

W:      I have no idea, I don't weigh myself.

 

BE:    Don't you weigh 185?  I can tell how much the bed goes down, I could tell when the bed went down, just how much you weigh.

 

LE:    He's a Namath, look at him. He's an athlete.

 

BE:    Come on Edie, please, please behave like a lady. Will you?  I have a hard time already. Do you know it's very hard to bring up a woman 58 years of age. I'm doing it you see.

 

LE:    Nobody has to bring me up. I've been on my own for years.

 

BE:    I brought Edie up when she was a little tiny girl.  And now I have to start all over at the age of it, what was it 51?

 

LE:    Mother's always telling me you're only, my God, I haven't even started! So what does it matter? What does it matter? Grandma Moses was alright and she was 100, wasn't she?

 

W:      She was over a hundred. We can shut that off.

****************

So that's it, that's the tape I saved for all these years. I sent Edie the interview after it was published and she told me she liked it.  I realized how much I enjoyed my visit to Grey Gardens and I began calling Edie on the telephone from time to time.  I had to prepare for graduations within weeks and was still job hunting. Edie seemed genuinely interested in my future. My newspaper interview ended with these sentences:

As I was leaving Grey Gardens, Miss Beale began to tell me about a beau she had from Rutgers. She said, "You know I was always asking him about Rutgers because I never went there and I always wanted to go."  Little Edie always had a beau from Rutgers. For all intends and purposes,  I think I became that beau. And for the next 25 years I remained her hypothetical and quintessential gentleman caller, that boy from Rutgers or the Rutgers boy as she would refer to me in the year 2000.