His apartment was filled with reams of notebooks and papers. He was still writing so much. Larry was a firebrand; bold, acerbic and passionate. But he could listen as much as he talked. It’s not often that you meet your hero and they supersede your unreasonable expectations. I saw Larry’s sense of humor; his curiosity, his tenderness and heart. When you play the role of Felix, your job is to fall in love with all of those things about him. He was all of those things. And I did.
One of my favorite pictures I have was the last time I saw Larry. He came to The Boys in the Band opening in 2018. He, his husband David, my husband Simon, and I all rode to the after-party together. We laughed the whole way. And it was, well, normal. (And surreal — one big reason I am able to call Simon my husband is because of the work the guy sitting next to us in the car had done.)
Even before I met him, Larry’s words taught me to value myself and to connect with my community. To support those who are struggling. To love and care for myself — not only my sexual health and well-being — but as a gay man and a human being.
I hope I told him that he saved my life. Because he did.
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