Stories We Tell Page #5

She phoned Geoff

and asked if they could meet.

You called...

and we arranged to meet,

and you wanted to know

about that time in Montreal.

I remember putting my arm around you,

and I thought,

"Oh, boy, I hope that isn't

too forward or something. "

And I remember recounting

some of the same tales.

I hadn't really thought

about Diane for a long time,

so I recall being pretty sad.

So, since I was 18,

there was this rumor

that you were my biological father.

It's been this bizarre thing.

It's like, how that rumor began,

where did it come from?

And I just wanted

to ask you about that.

Was there ever anything romantic

in your relationship with Mom,

or was it always just friendship?

Uh, it was friendship.

I remember you saying...

being surprised at you saying,

"It's common knowledge

in my family that, uh, my...

"that my mom was

in love with you. "

And I was taken aback at that.

I was touched.

Everything Geoff said

suggested he was certain

that Diane had stayed

faithful to Michael.

But that seed of doubt had grown

even larger in her mind.

She thought he was a lovely,

open, and generous person,

and yet she felt

he was hiding something.

But, once again, she let the story lie.

And so the conundrum

remained just that.

One day, she chanced to meet

a Montreal producer in Toronto

and mentions that she's going

to Montreal in a couple of days,

and the producer says,

"While you're there,

"you might want to meet up

with Harry Gulkin.

"He's an important film producer

"that your mother worked with

as a casting director

"and can probably tell you more

about your mother in those days. "

And Sarah is very pleased.

She always likes to hear

about her mother's life

before Sarah's birth,

and she also realized

that this Harry

may be able to shed more light

on the possibility of her mother

having had an affair

with a member of the cast.

And so she phones Harry

and asks if she could get

together with him for a chat.

Hi, Sarah,

and a warm welcome.

Arnie Gelbart told me

you would like to see me.

That's good,

because I would love to see you.

I can be reached in my office

this afternoon,

or email me here during the day.

Hi, Harry.

Great to hear from you.

I always remember my mom talking

about you with such affection.

It'd be great to finally meet you.

Would you be free at 3:.45

to meet at Ex-Centris for a coffee?

He agrees,

and a couple of days later,

they meet in a restaurant.

What happens next

is what I can remember

of Sarah's relating the event.

I made my way to the Mlis Caf,

and there you were.

Sat down, and we began to chat,

and you said that

you had wanted to meet me

because your mother

had talked about me a lot.

And then we talked

about a million things.

You told me

how you had quit school at 15,

and that one

of the dominating reasons

was your politics at the time

and your desire to join

the class struggle.

That struck me

as very interesting,

because I had done

exactly the same thing.

And we became very close

during that conversation.

We found a whole number

of things in common

in terms of feelings,

reactions, response.

And I remember you saying,

as soon as you met him,

you felt at ease

with him in a certain way,

and because you felt

so at ease with him,

you had decided to ask him

if he knew anything

about this rumor about Geoff Bowes

being your dad.

You asked him the question,

"Have you ever heard anything

"about my mom having had an affair

while she was in Montreal?"

You looked up and you said,

"Do you think

it was Geoff Bowes?"

So I said, "No. "

She said,

"Do you know who it was?"

And I said, "Yes. "

"No, I know that Geoff Bowes

isn't your dad. "

And you said,

"How do you know that?"

And he said,

"Cause I'm your dad. "

He said,

"It's possible, not probable. "

I think those were the exact words

you said to me on the phone.

Were they?

He said, "I thought that's

why you wanted to speak to me,

"because your mom and I

had an affair. "

"In fact,

she had an affair with me. "

And I said, "Me. "

So you stopped for a moment,

then you said,

"Do you still think so?"

And I said, "After talking to you

"and looking at you

for close to three hours, yes. "

I said, "What do you think?"

And you said,

"Yeah, I think so, too. "

Sarah is speechless.

She's come all this way

to find out about Geoff,

and now she's sitting

with her mother's lover.

It was late February of 1978.

I was sort of mildly depressed...

midwinter, nothing to do,

living alone...

and I decided to go

to the Centaur Theatre

to see the latest production

of David Fennario.

So I went down there,

and after a minute,

as the cast came on stage,

I was transfixed by this glorious lady

who was on stage.

Really just bowled over.

When the play was over,

I still had certain reserves of shyness,

which still remain,

so I didn't go backstage,

and I decided

to have a nightcap

at what I considered then

my geriatric bar, the Troika.

I ordered a drink,

and they had

a schmaltzy Russian trio,

and after about five minutes,

who walks in but this lady

who had been on stage

with some other cast members,

so I figure, "Oh, my God,"

and I sort of sidled

into the middle of the group,

and I was able to inveigle myself

into the conversation

to some degree,

and I did try to separate

Diane from the group.

But after about an hour,

it really was hopeless.

It wasn't gonna happen.

When Diane left the Troika,

I walked with them and with her,

and I was trying again

to separate Diane,

and she said, "No,

"but we can meet tomorrow night. "

We met every night after that

for the remainder of the run,

and there was a very strong

mutual attraction...

very, very powerful thing.

Harry would be down

at the bottom of the stairs,

we were

in the upstairs theater,

and our dressing room

was up there,

and it made me think

of stage-door Johnnies

from those old Broadway movies.

I remember once he asked,

"Is Diane there?

"Could you go and tell her

that I'm here?"

And, you know, bound back upstairs,

say, "Harry's here. "

"Okay," and then run

back down the stairs.

"She's coming. "

Harry developed this great,

grand passion for her,

and I think of Harry

turning to me and saying,

"Isn't she wonderful?

"Isn't she amazing?"

And I just found this

highly amusing,

because I understood that he was

a super-smart, sophisticated man

with all kinds of connections

to the film business,

but his main topic

of conversation with me

was the wonderfulness

of Diane.

Which was...

I agreed with him,

but it becomes thin in terms

of conversation material after a while.

When you're in love like that,

you become utterly selfish.

Nothing that's happening

to anyone else matters at all

or is a matter

of any consideration.

You just end up sort of

focused, intense,

and just wanting to consume

the object of your love,

and nothing else exists.

I visited once

during the rehearsal period,

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