Lee At Home

Friday, January 7, 2022

Yesterday I purchased an old vinyl called "Liberace At Home," It reminded me of when I met Liberace some years back. I was a young man around 20, and it was my first trip to Las Vegas. I was wandering around the Fremont Hotel, checking out the one-arm bandits, when I was approached by a gentleman who told me I shouldn't spend a lot of money on these things. I told him that I was passing the time without purpose or plan. He then said to me that he is a friend of Liberace, the entertainer, and would I like to go to his home with him. I said sure. He told me to meet him in front of the hotel in an hour, and I did so. 

He came by with a small van with three other guys. All the guys were like me, alone, and it seems all of us had never been to Vegas before. It was a fascinating trip to Liberace's house because we left the bright neon lights of Vegas for the desert highway. One of us had to pee, and our host pulled over to the road, and we all went out of the van. What struck me was the total silence of the desert, except you can hear something out there in the dry bushes. Maybe a snake or some larger animal. I don't know because I can't see anything in the pitch-black landscape. The only lighting was the van's headlights and a passing car once in a while. 

We eventually made it out to the house, and it was incredible looking. It was a one-story mansion, that's for sure. A butler opened the door for us when we knocked. He seemed kind of young to be a butler. When I think of butler, I picture Jeeves from the great series of PG Wodehouse novels. Someone older and British. But he seemed to have a strong Southern California accent, and his hair looked like it was bleached blonde, not a natural blonde. Nothing in this household looked natural. I immediately flashed on the novel "À rebours" (Against Nature) by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans. Some would be creeped out by this, but I prefer an artificial environment to something natural, if you know what I mean.

Liberace showed up in the living room. He greeted each person by taking his time, getting the person's name, and small talk. When he came to me, he wondered where my name Tosh came from. I told him I didn't know, but I imagine it has something to do with the British slang word for "Tosh," meaning nonsense. He laughed when I told him this, and he patted my hand. I immediately liked him. 

He offered us drinks, and as we sat around the living room, he wandered over to his piano. We were all talking, and eventually, he became totally lost on the keyboard. It was amazing to see his concentration on the music he was playing. If memory serves me correctly, he played Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata, 3rd Movement." Such a beautiful melody, and his playing were so passionate. Everyone became quiet, and when he finished the piece, we all had tears in our eyes. Including Lee, as he was called among friends.