World AIDS Day

We remembered and talked about Jim on Thanksgiving by watching some of his videos. He was a dancer in Hollywood – toured with Judy Garland and Eleanor Powell and then moved on to be a cruise director for the Princess Cruise lines for over a decade.

If any of you older kossacks remember Powell, she did a very famous routine with steps. The Steps had been designed and built by Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and developed a routine on them. When he retired, he gave the steps to Powell and taught her the routine. This was a big deal because he protected his techniques and routines very carefully! Powell then taught it to Jim and gave him the steps when she retired. He would perform this routine on a moving cruise ship! It was his most requested act. Unfortunately a ship employee thought the wooden steps were construction debris and threw them overboard with some other trash during one voyage!

Uncle Jim was in White Christmas – did a routine with Rosemary Clooney. He was in an episode of Bewitched and also I Love Lucy. He was the Tin Man conjured up by Tabitha in the first and one of the ballet dancers stuck with Lucy in the latter.

He was my dad’s only brother and my closest relative. My love of dance comes from him definately and I have no doubt that my older son’s musical ability is also thanks to him. He was gay when you were not supposed to be so lived in the closet his whole life though we all knew and accepted him anyway. He died in 1993 of AIDS at the age of 68.