The last time that Linda Gray and I chatted and laughed was at a reunion of the talented folks who had worked for Norman Lear during the golden years of Tandem Productions and TAT Communications. The party was on a Saturday night a few years ago on the 51st floor of City Club Los Angeles.
I remember covering a lot of miles that weekend. I flew from Baltimore to LAX on a Friday, visited with dozens of dear old friends and partied on Saturday, then flew back to Baltimore the following day.
In LA, I stayed with A. Dudley Johnson, Jr. and his husband, Barry Schwartz. Dudley and I have been friends for nearly 50 years. We both worked for Lear—Dudley was a writer for Diff’rent Strokes and a story editor for Webster.
At the party, I was having a conversation with Alan Horn when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Linda walk into the room. I turned, smiled from ear to ear, and extended my arms—we chatted and laughed.
Today, I saw this video pop up on Facebook and wanted to share it with you. What a nice, warm message she sends. Linda Gray is one of the kindest, most humble ladies that I’ve ever known. (I met her when she was in the cast of Lear’s All That Glitters.)
After flying more than 6,000 miles over three days—and partying heavily (Dudley makes the best Arctic-cold, 3-olive martinis I’ve ever had)—I was back at work on Monday.
Around 8:30 that morning, my manager walked by, poked his head into my cubicle, and asked, “Do anything interesting over the weekend?”
