I met William when I was a student at the Atlanta College of Art. He taught a class in art history and literature. One day as I was leaving my apartment on Lafayette Drive, quite near the College, I noticed him emerging from the building next door, discovering we were neighbors. We became friends and he took me under his wing and shared his world view and much of his enormous bank of knowledge on a variety of subjects, opening up new doors of interest to me. He was a true Renaissance Man and a talented artist, film maker, poet and teacher. One of his greatest gifts was his sense of humor which I also believe saved him in some of his later more darker hours. That gift, sadly, was to crumble in the last year of life when he died in Charleston, South Carolina in 1989. He took me on a journey to Amsterdam once and it was through him I met artist, Nan Hoover. She became another mentor and also a person of lasting influence in my life. My only regret concerning this man i...
The Dali Dinners were a series of Art-Event/Dinner Parties given in Atlanta, Georgia during the years 1977-82. They became progressively more elaborate, culminating in the final party given in remembrance of the passing of Gala Dali in 1982. Dali Dinner #1 - Rupley House - 1977 The Surrealist Dali Dinner Manifesto 1977 1st invitation 1977- guests: Phyllis Melton,Nanci Dubin,Judy Aycock,Chip Jamison,George Nikas & Jaff & Michael Michael Slagle & I...hosting Alison Mclaughlin in her performance of Veiled Isis with Velveeta Cheese Offerings 2nd Dali Dinner - Roxboro Rd. - Atlanta 1978 guests - Chip Jamison,Judy Aycock,SharonGorman,Arthur Offen,Nanci Dubin,Peter & Anne Hudson and The Mystery Woman...hosts -Jaff & Michael 3rd Dali Dinner - Argonne Ave. - Atlanta 1979 guests: Deborah & Randal Speckler, Nanci Dubin, Alison McLaughlin,Judy Ayc...
William Lance Van Hettinga (Duke University Yearbook) William Lance Van Hettinga b. 2/8/1938 – Ann Arbor Michigan d. 9/18/1989 – Charleston, South Carolina William graduated from Duke University in 1963, with an M.A. in English Literature. His thesis, The Theme of Nonfulfillment in Three Plays of Clifford Odets" , was his parting offering to official Academia. The following year he took some courses at the Institute of Theater Arts in Vienna and returned to New York City where he immersed himself as a denizen of the prevailing “Beat Generation”, finding a niche among like-minded friends. By 1965, he had begun making avantgarde films and his first work, Motherlove , was premiered at Film-Makers’ Cinematheque in 1967. The film was a colorful spoof, labeled as “Oedipal Dracula” in theme, and featured Van Hettinga himself in the role of Dracula’s mother. This was followed by Happy Birthday Baybee Starr , a satire of an aging film starlet’s descent into...