i hope the food tastes better in heaven
i know there's lots of rad queer boys up there
i hope everytime they talk to you
they know they're lucky to be your friend
It took me a while to hear that Sasha Soldatow had died. And reading some of his papers at the archives on Sunday I realised how little I know about him. Only really what I'd gleaned from Jump Cuts.
He was a radical queer whose blunt loving honesty jumps from the page to remind you of truths you had hoped were not forgotten. And they say he was a good cook, friend and gardener. What more could you want to be?
There are obits at:
The Australian, 15 Sep 06, by Bruce Sims and George Papaellinas
and
Sydney Morning Herald, 9 Sep 06 by David Marr
And a beautiful personal one by Pam Brown with great photos. This one really makes me want to live more. And eat more fungi.
You can also check out Sasha's pamphlet from the 80s: What is this Gay Community Shit? The Sydney Gay Mardi Gras and the Left. Worth a read for sure. There's some good analysis of where things went terribly wrong, some stuff about homo-misogyny and also he calls folks "honkytonks".
It's also strange that now my favourite pickle has a new cousin, 1 day old and also called Sasha. Maybe this bodes well for the new little one.
5 comments:
I didn't know either. Ach, that's sad.
But hey... "If you meet them, spray them with aerosol vomit."
Done, done and done.
hey g i hope you do do the big post... i think it'd be great to see some longer responses to sasha's work and activism... well i'd fucken love to read whatever you had to say anyway.
hello lou and az... very nice to see ya both round these parts. maybe obits are like funerals, you only see people under those crappy circumstances? oh bleh.. brain not working.
oh good cos i went to the age to look for that obituary to send to the new sasha's parents but now i can just show them how their son is so famous he's already mentioned in a celebrity blog. you'd better keep on saying excellent things and ramp up the out there things so that jean esther can have a good and outspoken namesake.
marion - i hope they don't mind their son being named after (?) a big raving faggot. i mean, they shouldn't of course but it might seem strange from outside.. but they should be proud proud proud to be associated with such a colourful legacy. i mean surely the last thing anyone wants is to have a boring child. xx
yes i was thinking about that after i sent them the link. i guess everything is good and what you would want from your child except for the ill health and addiction, and of course dying before your mother, which pickle will not be allowed to do at any age.
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