Word came one week ago of the passing of Jack Garner, the longtime Rochester Democrat and Chronicle film critic and friend to Louise Brooks. (Read that post HERE.) Since then, Jack has been on my mind. I met him only once, but considered him a friend and am grateful for the many kindnesses he showed me and my Louise Brooks Society. There is more I want to say.... but first let me offer my sincere condolences to his wife, Bonnie. I never met her, regrettably, but through Jack's many Facebook posts, I feel I knew her at least a little bit. Jack and Bonnie were married nearly 50 years, which is a beautiful thing.
There is more I would like to say about Jack..., especially his unique friendship with Louise Brooks. As mentioned, Jack was a longtime writer for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. As a local Rochester journalist, Jack enjoyed a special friendship with Louise, and wrote about the actress on a number of occasions. A search through the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle archive turns up more dozens of hits while searching under the combined terms of "Jack Garner" and "Louise Brooks".
The earliest piece I came across by Jack was dated April 9, 1980. On that date, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle ran a syndicated article by Bob Thomas on Kenneth Tynan's recently released book, Show People, which included Tynan's famous New Yorker profile of Louise Brooks, "The Girl in the Black Helmet." Jack added an adjunct article offering the local angle on Tynan's widely reviewed and bestselling book, namely Brooks' thoughts on being profiled by one of the most famous critics in the world. Jack's article, "He writes divinely", quotes Brooks extensively. And it is filled with gems of information from " 'I wrote 92 letters to him,' Miss Brooks said yesterday", to "College students ring my bell and ask me to write their term papers. I get lots of interesting offers like that."
At the time, Jack's by-line described him as the "D&C Popular Arts Editor." But no matter what he covered, if there was a Louise Brooks' angle, Jack seemed to include it. For an April 1980 article on Erte, Jack spoke with the famous designer, writing He also remembered designing for Louise Brooks, when she was in George White's Scandals, on Broadway. 'She was very, very charming'." Jack's article continued, "Miss Brooks, an acclaimed star of early films, lives in retirement in Rochester. When told of Erte's comment, she remembered: 'When I was in Scandals in 1924, George White went over to Paris and had Erte design the costumes for the chorus girls. They arrived in enormous boxes at great expense backstage. I don't know what Parisian dressmakers thought, but the dresses didn't fit at all. They were all too small."
Other articles and snippets of conversation with Brooks followed over the years. There was the time in 1982, for example, when the George Eastman House hosted its Festival of Film Artists. Receiving awards were Joan Bennett, Maureen O'Sullivan, Luise Rainer and Sylvia Sydney, all of whom attended the special event, and three actress kept away by illness, Myrna Loy, Dolores Del Rio, and Louise Brooks. In his follow-up piece on the event, Jack wrote, "Before Friday night's awards, Rainer asked me to escort her for a visit with another recipient, Louise Brooks, who is ill in bed in her North Goodman Street apartment." Jack noted that the "two great actresses hit it off marvelously...." while mentioning a few topics of their conversation. Garner also reported that Brooks had been visited by Sylvia Sydney, accompanied by John Springer, and Joan Bennett, sister of Brooks old friend, Barbara Bennett.
Louise Brooks passed away in Rochester in August of 1985, and Jack Garner's reportage led the paper's multi-article, mutli-page coverage, which began not surprisingly on page one. "Her Rochester Years, Remembered by Film Critic Jack Garner" was one of a small handful of fascinating articles.
It would be great if the many articles about Brooks by Jack (and others) at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle were gathered up into a book, something under the title Lulu in Rochester. I think I once suggested something to that effect to Jack, but he explained that it was the paper and not himself that owned the copyright on the material. Nevertheless, it would make for a fascinating read. Long live Louise Brooks.
And long live Jack Garner.
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| Jack Garner at the Little Theater in Rochester, NY - via radio station WXXI |
The earliest piece I came across by Jack was dated April 9, 1980. On that date, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle ran a syndicated article by Bob Thomas on Kenneth Tynan's recently released book, Show People, which included Tynan's famous New Yorker profile of Louise Brooks, "The Girl in the Black Helmet." Jack added an adjunct article offering the local angle on Tynan's widely reviewed and bestselling book, namely Brooks' thoughts on being profiled by one of the most famous critics in the world. Jack's article, "He writes divinely", quotes Brooks extensively. And it is filled with gems of information from " 'I wrote 92 letters to him,' Miss Brooks said yesterday", to "College students ring my bell and ask me to write their term papers. I get lots of interesting offers like that."
At the time, Jack's by-line described him as the "D&C Popular Arts Editor." But no matter what he covered, if there was a Louise Brooks' angle, Jack seemed to include it. For an April 1980 article on Erte, Jack spoke with the famous designer, writing He also remembered designing for Louise Brooks, when she was in George White's Scandals, on Broadway. 'She was very, very charming'." Jack's article continued, "Miss Brooks, an acclaimed star of early films, lives in retirement in Rochester. When told of Erte's comment, she remembered: 'When I was in Scandals in 1924, George White went over to Paris and had Erte design the costumes for the chorus girls. They arrived in enormous boxes at great expense backstage. I don't know what Parisian dressmakers thought, but the dresses didn't fit at all. They were all too small."
Other articles and snippets of conversation with Brooks followed over the years. There was the time in 1982, for example, when the George Eastman House hosted its Festival of Film Artists. Receiving awards were Joan Bennett, Maureen O'Sullivan, Luise Rainer and Sylvia Sydney, all of whom attended the special event, and three actress kept away by illness, Myrna Loy, Dolores Del Rio, and Louise Brooks. In his follow-up piece on the event, Jack wrote, "Before Friday night's awards, Rainer asked me to escort her for a visit with another recipient, Louise Brooks, who is ill in bed in her North Goodman Street apartment." Jack noted that the "two great actresses hit it off marvelously...." while mentioning a few topics of their conversation. Garner also reported that Brooks had been visited by Sylvia Sydney, accompanied by John Springer, and Joan Bennett, sister of Brooks old friend, Barbara Bennett.
Louise Brooks passed away in Rochester in August of 1985, and Jack Garner's reportage led the paper's multi-article, mutli-page coverage, which began not surprisingly on page one. "Her Rochester Years, Remembered by Film Critic Jack Garner" was one of a small handful of fascinating articles.
It would be great if the many articles about Brooks by Jack (and others) at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle were gathered up into a book, something under the title Lulu in Rochester. I think I once suggested something to that effect to Jack, but he explained that it was the paper and not himself that owned the copyright on the material. Nevertheless, it would make for a fascinating read. Long live Louise Brooks.
And long live Jack Garner.
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