This from Michael Musto:

quote:

I sadly received this email yesterday from scene survivor Jacob Burckhardt about one of the downtown bright lights who've made my years and years of clubcrawling all the more luminescent:

"Just to let you know, Gerard Little, aka Mr. Fashion, aka Mahogany Plywood, passed away around noon today.

He did a lot of performing at the Pyramid Club, Club 57, P.S. 122 (with Ethyl Eichelberger) in the '80s. He ran a guest lecture series at King Tut's Wawa Hut and appeared in several films that Royston Scott and I did more recently (check out louisthefourteenthstreet.com). You can also see him on youtube (write Mr. Fashion and Nefertiti in the search box and you will see his most recent performance at P.S. 122 in May, or Mr. Fashion and Limelight and you'll see him in great form in 1984)

He died of an HIV-related cancer. There will be a funeral in New Jersey on Saturday."

Ciao, bella! It's the death of Fashion.

Update: There will be a funeral on Saturday, August 9th at 10 AM at Trinity Church, 218 Passaic Street, Hackensack, NJ. The public is invited to attend.

Photo by Jacob Burckhardt

Moved Reply:

Sad. I did not know Mr Fashion but thru the cobwebs of my mind I recall seeing his name quite often while flipping through the rollerdex. RIP VIP!

Moved Reply:

Gerard was very low key.
Very talented and right up there in the Pyramid Club royal pantheon but he never pushed it.
Very sweet man.

There was no line between his life and his art, like many of the more obscure "greats" of the analog age his constant self recreation went largely undocumented.

Godspeed, Mr. Fashion

And another great has left us. Gerard was a true gem. I never heard him say a bad word about anyone. Rest in Peace.

quote:

Gerard was very low key.
Very talented and right up there in the Pyramid Club royal pantheon but he never pushed it.
Very sweet man.

Oh, Mr Fashion! What a legend. I'm posting a bit late, but funny I had been thinking about MR. Fashion because on the first episode of Projecxt Runway this season, Stella, the biker chick*chose trash bags for the "gristedes Challenge" and then found that they were falling apart. All I could think was, Mr. Fashion would have won that challenge - and he would have told anyone, you want at least 3-mils thick if yoiu are going to make a dress from a black plastic garbage bag! A couple of weeks later, I got an emil from Linda Simpson about Gerard passing . . . I was too depressed to post it here.

We did many shows together at Pyramid - and true to what others are saying, he was so kind and sweet to everyone. Oh he could dish, get angry, and be frustrated with queens, like the rest of us, but he didn't hold grudges and he did always find something good to say about everybody.

Remeber his song "I'm a Negro From Conneticut"? It was one of my favorite "old gems" from the Pyramid Treasure Chest(nut). He was a master of the Hattie Hathaway school of "hold the script in your hand" acting technique. And his Wah-Wah Hut lecture series was brilliant with guests like Quentin Crisp and Tiny Tim. Oh Gerard, I wish you peace.


----
* I adore her.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Hapi Phace,

I had the honor of modeling garbage bag gowns for Gerard's "fashion shows" and being in 2 of his plays at PS.122... He was indeed generous, brilliant, and FIERCE!

Thank you Garage! We will miss you...

*

I first knew Gerard as a bowtie,Afro wearing High School artroom outcast.We danced together for many years at the Center for Modern Dance Ed.in Hackensack,N.J.Was one of the original Fashion Victims at Club 57etc.,on cable TV before anyone had cableTV,had a part in His Frankie Lymon Movie,he made my wedding dress 30 yrs.ago-in true Gerard fashin I was late because he had to finish the dress-and counted old him among my dearest old friends.We last spoke around his birthday,April 26,and was shocked and saddened to hear of his death.He was one of a kind.I loved him .He will be missed and remembered fondly by many of us here on the other side of the river.So long Dr.Pap Smear,Mr. Dan Skin,MR. Fashion,Gerard Little.....Love,Fifi Budoir(Elissa Machlin-Lockwood)

I just found out that there will be a memorial for Gerard on Wednesday October 8th, at 8PM at Millenium, 66 East 4th Street, just below the LaMama Annex. I'll post any further details as they come in.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: daddy,

PLEASE COME AND HELP US RAISE A TOAST TO THE MEMORY OF OUR FRIEND GERARD LITTLE. WE WILL BE SCREENING CLIPS OF HIS PERFORMANCES AND FILMS FROM THE EARLY 80'S TO EARLY '08. THERE WILL ALSO BE AN OPEN MIC FOR THOSE WHO HAVE AN ANECDOTE THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SHARE.

HOPE TO SEE YOU ON WEDNESDAY!

ROYSTON SCOTT

>>>>> Mr. Fashion
>>>>> Velvet Johnson
>>>>> Mahogany Plywood
>>>>> Gerard Little
>>>>> Come to a Memorial
>>>>> Wednesday, October 8, at 8PM
>>>>> at Millennium Film Workshop
>>>>> 66 east 4th st., between Bowery and Second Ave.
>>>>> More Information at (212)673-0090

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chi Chi,