I was dating Mark F not the carpenter, he was married.
--- In [email protected], Vaj <vajradhatu@...> wrote:
>
>
> On Jan 21, 2012, at 10:09 PM, awoelflebater wrote:
>
> > OK, this subject of seminars and physical violence seems to be a very
> > important one for some of you. I am going to include a quote I received
> > today from my newly-connected friend/FFL lurker/former Robin follower who
> > has given me permission to use part of her email to me. She has been
> > following my posts and obviously saw that I was going to address this
> > subject tonight. She is an avid FFL follower as I told you before. We shall
> > call her GL. You should also know that she is no apologist for Robin but
> > was a Canadian involved very early on with Robin's Victoria days.
> >
> > I want to start with this incident she outlines in her email because
> > chronologically it is the first real seminar setting which took place in FF
> > back in 1982. It is the session when Lavern was allegedly struck by Robin.
> > It is fortunate GL emailed me what she did otherwise I could tell you
> > nothing of the incident as I was not there, I had not yet attended any
> > Robin gathering. It is the seminar I told you my friend had attended and
> > had piqued my interest in Robin initially. But I digress.
> >
> > Here is the excerpt from GL's email to me regarding the event:
> > Dear Ann,
> > Here's what I remember about 'hitting' or not. I think R's account Jan.17
> > was about right, message# 302057 (his last post). Were you in Fairfield in
> > summer of 1982? Somewhere in the bottom of my storage boxes is a videotape
> > of the Fairfield incident. (I was there, on the video crew.) I don't
> > remember who else was on stage, who hit Lavern on the shoulder/back. One of
> > R's devoted assistants, I have a couple of ideas, but don't want to name
> > here. He said it was an accident, he turned and accidentally made contact
> > with her, or was trying to keep her from falling off the edge of the
> > platform. oops! It was a shock for all of us. R was furious, and found a
> > way to somehow incorporate the incident into the bigger unfolding story of
> > Fairfield.
> >
> > Now I am not sure, because I don't have the will or the stamina to go
> > through the long list of posts dealing with the hitting issues, why this is
> > such a hot topic or by who(m?) it has been brought up (but I am guessing
> > perhaps Vaj) or even what the exact questions regarding hitting are. So
> > bear with me and may I assume it is a simple question like," Did Robin ever
> > make physical contact with a confrontee that could be described as assault
> > ?" Hopefully that is close enough. The simple answer is, "Yes, I saw Robin
> > make/imply physical contact with a confrontee that could be described as
> > assault."
> >
> > There is something you first need to know about Robin in the old days. He
> > abhorred being touched or touching people (at least the people I know). He
> > used a silk cloth to sit on, especially in public places, he would often
> > have a wet cloth handed to him after making contact with his hand with
> > someone on stage. It was so rare to get a touch from Robin that it was
> > considered a great honour to have him lay a gentle hand on your shoulder.
> >
> > I have witnessed so many confrontations they must number in the hundreds.
> > They could arise during a meal, a walk or in the far more formal setting of
> > a taped seminar. I missed virtually nothing as I was a permanent fixture as
> > one of two camera operators. Hours and hours standing behind a big tripod
> > my eye to the viewfinder watching every second with our switcher in the
> > back punching between cameras for optimal camera angles.
> >
> > Assault figurative attack or bombard (someone or the senses) with
> > something undesirable or unpleasant.
> > My dictionary gave me this definition so let's run with it.
> >
> > Confrontation was not that fun. Trust me on this. It could be an assault on
> > the senses, yelling or just having to hear what you did not want to hear.
> > And in one case I remember there was what I believe to be an assault on the
> > body, by Robin. I only remember it as an assault because the result was
> > that the confrontee's eyeglasses were broken. The glasses fell off of the
> > confrontee's face and hit the ground and were broken. I do not know if they
> > were broken while still on this man's face or broke when they hit the
> > ground. I remember feeling very shocked and very sad because this was
> > Robin's best, oldest male friend and the vulnerability of this man standing
> > there with his eyeglasses shattered at his feet was deep enough to stick in
> > my memory. I can not say if there was real force involved and there
> > certainly wasn't blood and I can not even say if there was contact or just
> > implied contact and the confrontee moved his head quickly and the glasses
> > spun off. But to me this was an assault because in that moment a man
> > appeared shattered along with his glasses. And at the time I did not
> > understand why it had to be.
> >
> > So I am sorry to have to disappoint anyone hoping for a real knock down
> > drag 'em out expose. Robin simply did not punch or kick or throw people
> > around. He was not a physically violent man. No one ended up with stitches
> > or bruises or bloody noses.
> >
> > This writing has been hard on me. I think I want to stop now.
>
> On reflection this brings back a flood of memories: the silk handkerchief
> that Robin would delicately place on his seat before gently placing his
> derriere on tamasic common chairs, the camera-people, etc.
>
> And I remember now clearly a riveting tom-girlish camera-woman. Ravishing
> IMO. I believe she was dating the carpenter who retrofitted Robin's Fairfield
> digs with privacy screening on the second floor deck. His brother Jack visits
> here early every fall. I seem to remember she was from Chicago though, not BC.
>
> If any of you remember Henry, I see he has a teacher training facility in
> India (Rishikesh?). Great guy.
>
