Christopher Lovito and Crayton Robey
Recorded
January 8, 2022
Archived
January 8, 2022
55:10 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
ddv001307
Description
Crayton Robey [no age given] interviews his friend Christopher "Chris" Lovito (61) about his experience on Fire Island from the 1970s until now. Chris talks about the various jobs he held on Fire Island, his experience during the AIDS epidemic, and how tea time on Fire Island has changed over time.Subject Log / Time Code
Chris ( C) recalls the first time he went to Fire Island when he was sixteen at the height of the disco era. C says the music and the magic of Fire Island beach drew him in. C describes the various different jobs he held at Fire Island.
C says while at Fire Island he began to hear of this “gay plague,” this epidemic that was taking place. C says when people started getting shunned from mainstream society, that is when John Whyte started raising money for Meals on Wheels and other programs aimed at helping people in distress.
C recalls a man named Mel, a resident of Fire Island who came back one summer very frail as a result of being HIV positive and later passed away. C describes a glow he saw on people who were sick and dying of AIDS.
C says family is the secret ingredient of Fire Island. He says he has raised two daughters in the Pines because he couldn’t imagine raising children anywhere else. C says when things were at the very worst during the AIDS epidemic, the Fire Island community was at its very best.
C talks about when John Whyte decided to stop tea dance at the Blue Whale. He recalls going to an empty Blue Whale and feeling all the souls of the people who had passed and knowing tea time had to come back.
C describes what Fire Island Pines means to him.
C talks about an “aha moment” where his father understood the magic of Fire Island Pines and why his son decided to buy a house there.
C talks about the importance of honoring the people from the past who fought for the ability people have today to live their best life out loud. C highlights that nobody died of AIDS because of hate, they died because they loved someone.
C explains how he feels at tea time now as a sixty-one year old. He says you feel aged but also ageless.
C talks more about John Whyte. He says John was one of the most influential people in his life.
C shares his final thoughts. He says how the Fire Island Pines community got though the AIDS epidemic is a testament to how great the community is.
Participants
- Christopher Lovito
- Crayton Robey