From My Collection: John Huston

Here's another neat item from my collection, and the story behind it:

As can hopefully be read above (click to enlarge), this is an autograph to me from legendary director-actor John Huston.

When I was in high school in the late '70s, our choir spent two weeks of summer vacation touring and performing in Mexico City, Taxco, and Acapulco. While at LAX waiting for our flight to Mexico City, my mother and the school's Spanish teacher, who both acted as trip chaperones, were walking through the terminal when they spotted Mr. Huston waiting for a flight.

My mother mentioned to the teacher something along the lines of how much I loved old movies, and it just so happened that the teacher had met Mr. Huston through friends on a previous visit to Mexico. She was no shrinking violet and went right on up to reintroduce herself to him and obtained the prized autograph for me. Needless to say, I was amazed and appreciative!

A fun postscript is that -- just as was the case with Professor Drew Casper, mentioned in last night's post -- many years later this Spanish teacher taught my oldest daughter.

Here's an interesting article on John Huston and his love of Mexico.

And while we're on the subject of John Huston, I recently picked up the book LOVE CHILD: A MEMOIR OF FAMILY LOST AND FOUND by Huston's daughter Allegra. It received positive critical responses, and it looks like an interesting read.