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About Last Night

Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City

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Archives for October 7, 2020

Once upon a time

October 7, 2020 by Terry Teachout

Hilary and I were married thirteen years ago today. Back then I took it for granted that I would outlive her—she still had a life expectancy of two years—but it soon became clear, to my boundless delight, that she wasn’t going anywhere, and we spent a decade full of adventure and joy. At that point, alas, her condition started to worsen, and our last two years together deteriorated into a series of increasingly dire crises. I took care of her as best I could and we continued to take pleasure in one another’s company, but it was clear that the odds against her were growing longer and longer.

Now she is gone, and this is the first time that I have marked our anniversary without having her alongside me to share memories of our wonderful wedding (we were married on a yacht called—no kidding—the Romantica) and honeymoon (among other things, we paid a visit to Fallingwater). From here on, I shall have to remember them by myself. Somehow I never really believed that such a state of affairs would come to pass: the human capacity for self-deception is infinite. Fortunately, I have dozens of pictures of the wedding to remind me of what it was like, and a lifetime’s worth of memories to hold in my heart.

I keep reminding myself that I was lucky to have thirteen years of a profoundly happy marriage, but—of course—one can never have enough of so miraculous a thing. Perhaps it will be easier a year from now to be properly grateful for my good fortune. I hope so.

Snapshot: Jim Ferguson sings “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning”

October 7, 2020 by Terry Teachout

Jim Ferguson sings “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” accompanying himself on bass:

(This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)

Almanac: Pablo Neruda on love

October 7, 2020 by Terry Teachout

Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Pablo Neruda, “Poem 20” (trans. W.S. Merwin)

Terry Teachout

Terry Teachout, who writes this blog, is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal and the critic-at-large of Commentary. In addition to his Wall Street Journal drama column and his monthly essays … [Read More...]

About

About “About Last Night”

This is a blog about the arts in New York City and the rest of America, written by Terry Teachout. Terry is a critic, biographer, playwright, director, librettist, recovering musician, and inveterate blogger. In addition to theater, he writes here and elsewhere about all of the other arts--books, … [Read More...]

About My Plays and Opera Libretti

Billy and Me, my second play, received its world premiere on December 8, 2017, at Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach, Fla. Satchmo at the Waldorf, my first play, closed off Broadway at the Westside Theatre on June 29, 2014, after 18 previews and 136 performances. That production was directed … [Read More...]

About My Podcast

Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I are the panelists on “Three on the Aisle,” a bimonthly podcast from New York about theater in America. … [Read More...]

About My Books

My latest book is Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington, published in 2013 by Gotham Books in the U.S. and the Robson Press in England and now available in paperback. I have also written biographies of Louis Armstrong, George Balanchine, and H.L. Mencken, as well as a volume of my collected essays called A … [Read More...]

The Long Goodbye

To read all three installments of "The Long Goodbye," a multi-part posting about the experience of watching a parent die, go here. … [Read More...]

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