Lots of stories to tell regarding the journey that led to LADY IN WHITE.
In an earlier post, I featured one of the two most influential women in my life, my “Padrina Jeanne.” The other was RUTH BAIR.
Everyone of us can attest to the teacher in our lives that most influenced us; helped point us on our way. Technically, Ruth Bair taught English to high school students grades ten through twelve at my Alma Mater, R.L. Thomas, in Webster, New York. But to those who were lucky enough to know her, she taught us life lessons that have endured well into our adult lives. I used to (laughingly), after having been in L.A. for awhile, call her the “joy of my life and the bane of my existence.”
Ruth was a rebel with a heart as big as the planet. She was also a bohemian and an artist at heart. Her love was the theatre. Her classroom included little nooks and crannies where students could seat themselves on a sofa or chair and pour themselves a cup of coffee if they felt so inclined.
Ruth directed all of the high school plays and after my first audition for her, in my sophomore year, she took me under her wing and cast me in every production. My parents came to every one of the productions, of course, and my father would walk away beaming as teachers and other kids parents would congratulate him for what a talented kid he had.
Ruth taught me, as a young thespian, that the key to creating a character that would move the audience was to make sure that the “feeling” had been hatched. Technique was only a tool to bring forth the emotional subtext that drove a character.
Ruth also taught me and others that we needed to fight for what we believed in and for her, that often meant fighting a high school administration that was always making it difficult for her to realize her productions to the fullest. (Truth is, I believe that many of them were jealous of the deeply felt love and devotion her students felt for her.)
She was a widow whose husband, a doctor, died tragically in an automobile accident when her three boys were very young. I remember her confiding to me once that she and her husband were having marital difficulties and that they had fought that fateful day, just prior to his leaving the house, only to never return again. As a child, she had suffered from polio and wore leg braces for many years.
Ruth's life experiences had taught her how to fight and survive and I believe that she saw in me, the same stubbornness and drive. She truly believed that I had “the goods” and made me believe it, too. There was no question in her mind that I was destined to pursue a career in the arts. (Ruth never let up on trying to prod me back into acting even after I'd made it clear that my real love was in the making of films.)
My father, however, had his concerns.
One night, Ruth was invited to dinner at our home. Having finished our meal and still seated at the table, dad turned to Ruth, in all seriousness, with the question he was determined for her to answer for him that evening:
“Mrs Bair, do you really believe that Frank should pursue a professional career...as an actor?”
She replied in that breathy, whisper of a voice that she employed whenever what she was about to say was significant and meant to be taken seriously. “Oh yes, Mr. LaLoggia, I have no doubt in my mind! He is enormously talented and it is what GOD intended for him to do!”
If any of you are familiar with Italian/American culture, there are three things that are sacrosanct when it comes to what one must believe in and obey without question:
What GOD says. What the DOCTOR says. And, what your TEACHER says!
From that moment on, Dad never had another doubt.
AN ELEPHANT NEVER FORGETS: REAL ANGELS DON'T HAVE WINGS

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