Now to College
NOW TO COLLEGE
W
hen classes began in the fall, we followed a predictable schedule. BUT, the summers during college were anything but routine. Two trips to Europe on Teen Tours were replete with adventures, including my dating Steven Ward. He was the London osteopath who pimped for European royalty, and palled around with Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice Davies, infamous call girls/prostitutes. He serviced the infamous Sir John Profumo, Member of Parliament, who lied to the House of Commons about his dealings and was ceremoniously expelled, throwing the English government into crisis. That summer, Steven took me for a weekend to the estate of Lord Astor which the Germans had occupied and luxuriated in during the war. I met Lord Astor in his library as he was bending over to peruse his books while enthusiastically scratching his derriere. Much time was spent at the charming swimming pool, bedecked with sophisticated, glamorously dressed and coiffed ladies wearing broad brimmed hats – while trading stories about horse races at Ascot. At this gathering, I felt invisible in my Bermuda shorts, cotton shortsleeve blouse, white socks and sneakers. Also NO make-up, short stunted hairdo, and nothing to say. Despite my American naïve teenage personality, Steven took a shining to me, and we discussed the English healthcare system on which I had recently written a comprehensive report. He was homosexual, never threatening, and invited me several days in a row to sundry coffee houses, pubs, art galleries, rose gardens, and interesting neighborhoods. I had Page 37
