LARRY WATSON

Michael Easterling

7/5/2018

Larry was a member of the church and served on various boards and committees. He was friendly enough but he could be prickly and I had heard he could be difficult. Jeri and I were with him in a social setting or two which we both enjoyed. But he was quick to challenge and he could be testy.

He was an actor and a good one. Jeri and I saw him perform in some plays and we were both impressed. He was believable and un-self conscious on stage. Unfortunately NYC is full of good actors and he couldn’t seem to get one of those break-through rolls.

We were friendly enough but in fact sort of kept our distance from each other but that all was to change. One day I was sitting in Madison Square Park and I saw him walk into the park. He sat down on a bench across the park from me. When he did something fascinating happened and I don’t think I’m exaggerating. Squirrels ran to his bench like they knew him. And then I began to understand why. I could see him reach into his pocket and pull out a bag of……….peanuts. First he put them on the bench and then as he held them in his fingers the squirrels would come up and take them gently from him. This went on for some time. As I was leaving the park I walked over by him. He gave me a wide smile and said: “Don’t tell anybody.”

After this Larry and I were much more relaxed with each other. He would ask me to have a sandwich in the park with him and to feed the squirrels. We did this more than once and they were fun, relaxed completely enjoyable times. Some little squirrels and some peanuts changed our relationship.

Larry started getting sick in 1989. He stopped auditioning for rolls and I saw him at church less and less. Once I visited him in the hospital but he would not tell me anything other than he was badly dehydrated. After he was discharged I would Ieave messages for him but he didn’t return my calls. Then, out of the blue I was told by his aunt that he was very ill and had moved back home to the mid-west. When I asked her what was wrong with him she talked about an “infection” but in truth she seemed to be evading me. When I checked with her again in a short time she shocked me by telling me he had died. I told one of his close NY friends and she was as shocked as me and knew no more than me. I kept trying to get answers but couldn’t get them. There was this great silence and great mystery that surrounded Larry’s death. It was all so very sad.

After Larry died I received this beautiful tribute about Larry written by Dylan Guy.

For Larry, whose dream was to play the Mark Hellinger Theater.

Hearing the haunting blues

of a lonely horn, I turned

into 46th Street to

The Mark Hellinger Theatre.

It was night, I had just

heard the news and you

were everywhere.

A cool breeze glanced

across my cheek.

Through the mist

your image played

over the theatre photos

and the horn suddenly

went into mayor key,

announcing your presence.

I stood holding my breath

as your name flashed

on the marquee;

a reminder that talent

doesn’t know the boundaries

of life and death.

Our times of shared dreams

and cappuccino , echoed

in my mind and I smiled,

knowing for those few

moments you had pierced

the veil of time.

It was you, at last on

the Great White Way,

a new star twinkling

in the heavens.

©1995