The story of
Merrilyn is
told here in my book
and slideshow.
I met her in New
York in the fall of
1972, but we didn't
live together for
long. She often
complained "We are
not compatible". I
felt we fit fine
together - tolerant
as I am :-) But
women often have
other ideas and
instead of throwing
me out she one day
came up with a great
idea:
"I know whom
you would make a
perfect couple with;
my best friend
Leslie up in
Hartford." And then Merrilyn hitchhiked
me 3 hours north of
New York and dumped
me at Leslie's feet
and said: "Hey,
Leslie, you can have
this white boy. I
can't use him." And
she was right. It
was love at first
sight and in less
than half a year
Leslie and I wanted
to get married.
Our friendship
continued and one
time Leslie and
Merrilyn hitchhiked
up to Canada to
visit me on the farm
I had worked on.
And later they
hitchhiked to San
Francisco where Merrilyn became an
actress along with Rhodessa Jones who
is also known from
American Pictures
seen throwing
flowers in the ocean
after the death of
her niece.
In my book I present
Merrilyn as a
"rose who turned
from junkie to
actress". But the
truth is that she
has been everything
in life. Once she
was the first black
woman to break
through the glass
ceiling and become a
construction worker
in Connecticut.
In 1987 after one of
my many lectures in
Yale University one
of the white
students - guilt
ridden after seeing
my show - ventured
into a bar in New
Haven to see if she
could make friends
with a black. She
approached Merrilyn
and started telling
her about "the
fantastic show I
have just seen about
the oppression of
blacks. You really
should see it
yourself." After
listening carefully
for a while Merrilyn
suddenly looked at
the student and
said, "I know this
crazy Dane, I am in his
book," and turned to
page 171 and 181 in
the student's copy
of my book. Needless
to say, she almost
feel off the chair
discovering that
this first black she
had approached - a hard hat
construction worker
- was actually part
of the book.
Merrilyn has been
hard keeping up with
over the years -
always breaking up
roots and
relationships with
"husbands". Every
time she tells me
that now she has
found the love of
her life, next time
she has thrown him
out - just as she
once did with me.
But she has always
kept up with me and
come around to
introduce my slide
shows in the
universities she
lived close by.
Especially moved I
was when she and
Leslie saw it
together in Wesleyan
University. The
latest photos here
are from my last
visit with her and
her husband, a
retired drama
professor, in Maine.
She is still acting
and
maintaining her
lifelong interest in
drama. So why not
marry a drama
teacher?
Well, now
two years after when
she comes to see me
in Denmark she has
also thrown him out
- and again moved to
a new state. I am
grateful to have
known her long
enough for her to become
part of - and help
create - the drama
of my life :-)
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