It was around 9 a.m. On a Sunday morning in September 2000. It was the hottest September on record, with temperatures reaching 117 degrees! It seemed impossible to get cool, unless you went to Barton Springs and stayed in “til ya turnt blue!”
I was living in the absolutely coolest apartment complex in South Austin (OK, side note for you folks not familiar with A Town, the 04 zip is a status symbol! Not for the Silicone Cash that invaded our town and screwed up 6th St., Ruda Maya's, not to mention the entire housing market!
There is a reason Stevie Ray's statue is on the South side of Town Lake! South Austin Jug Band, The Continental Club (where you could see Stephen Bruton, The Derailers, Reckless Kelly, Kelly Willis and more in one night for a benefit for Mambo and rub shoulders with them at the bar!) The Austin Motel, Leslie, Saxon Pub, and of course The Broken Spoke! People you heard on KGSR and saw perform were your neighbors, my downstairs neighbor worked on the stage crew for Austin City Limits! So living in South Austin meant you were "cool" even in a record breaking heat wave!) So I headed out my upstairs apartment and as I am going down the stairs I see in the middle of the parking lot shaded by large Live Oaks my neighbor. He has on tennis shoes, no socks, 70's style gym shorts, no shirt, and a 35 mm camera, facing the apartment complex entrance. Now up to this point Henry and I had only introduced ourselves and never had a conversation of any length or substance(which if you know Henry, you know is a rarity). As I am passing by on the way to my pick up truck I say, “Smoke!” Immediately Henry turns to me, cocks his head back and says,“The movie with Harvey Kietel!” ( Wayne Wang film starring Harvey Kietel, William Hurt, and Forrest Whitaker, in which Harvey Kietel plays a shop keeper and takes a picture from his door each morning at 8:00 a.m.)
Neither of us in our South Austin Cool Smugness would have ever assumed the other would have a clue as to the origin of the reference! So we stood there for over an hour discussing movies, books, art, philosophy, psychology, and of course where the best Chinese buffet was in town. Thus the conversation began and it has continued for the past 10 years! And now the conversation continues to yet another generation as Henry, forever the teacher, is now a counselor and mentor to my daughter Allicia Strickland as she follows in Henry's steps in becoming an exceptionally talented professional photographer! Honey, just remember to keep your shirt on!
Terry Roberts