Tomik Dash and Robert Levine
Recorded
September 19, 2021
Archived
September 19, 2021
40:05 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
ddf000537
Description
Tomik Dash [no age given] interviews his friend Robert "Bob" Levine [no age given] about his first time in Cherry Grove on Fire Island and about his career as a drag performer starting in the 1950s. They discuss the impact AIDS had on the Fire Island community and how residents came together in multiple ways in response to the epidemic.Subject Log / Time Code
TD and BL remember the first time they met, TD publishes a magazine on Fire Island and was introduced to BL because he was hoping to distribute his magazine across the island.
BL remembers his first day on the island, July 10, 1955. He explains that he stayed that first weekend and never left.
BL shares that he grew up in the Bronx and was never ‘in’ the closet. He shares a couple of childhood memories.
BL remembers a schoolmate who gave him the name Rose, which stuck. Rose is BL’s stage name.
BL talks about becoming involved in doing shows in Cherry Grove and Fire Island. He describes one of his costumes, which included a wig made with red yarn.
TD and BL discuss the ‘Invasion’ which was a protest that occurred after a drag queen was denied service at Fire Island Pines. BL recalls writing about the event and giving it its name in his column in the Fire Island News.
Bl remembers a theater in the Fire Island Pines community house in 1981. He gives context, saying that Cherry Grove was the most popular community on the island at the time.
BL says that from 1981 to 1985, there was a huge loss of people who died of AIDS on the island.
TD asks BL if he ever wanted to leave during the epidemic, and BL says that he didn’t. He explains that he continued to sing and perform throughout the crisis.
BL says that he would like the theater in Cherry Grove to be named after him.
Participants
- Tomik Dash
- Robert Levine