NATASHA SPENDER
61
Raymond took us for lunch and a perilously erratic drive round
his
Los
Angeles, taking both hands off the wheel to gesture grandly "That's
where Bugsie Siegel was SHOT!" and recapturing scenes which he had
used in his novels.
That evening Gerald Heard and Raymond came to dine at the
Hookers, and as always I found Gerald's gentle, erudite, mandarin
brilliance a peaceful delighl. Topics ranged widely: mescalin, Chinese
jades, the piano music of Schubert, Tolkien, and the private life of Dr.
Swift, all of which Raymond found very boring, and Evelyn and
t:<:dward Hooker's allentive efforts to engage Raymond in conversation
were of lillie avail. Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy joined us
after dinner, but even Christopher's appreciative account of our
afternoon drive failed to mollify Raymond's feeling of exclusion so
often engendered when subjects unfamiliar to him were discussed.
I didn't ever discover whether his upset state was due to some more
recent drama or developmel1l in his
La
Jolla life plans during the
previous two weeks, or whether it was simply a result of solitary
drinking. The following afternoon he arrived at the Hookers looking
very burly in a red lumber-man's cap and we drove to Palm Spring
through sheets of driving rain. There for five days a quiet regime of
work (the first time I had ever seen signs of daily work on a novel),
swimming, more vitamin pills, less drink and daily visits to the movies
somewhat restored his well being, when on the sixth day news was
brought Lo us of the sudden death of Edward Hooker. I wished to
return immediately to be with Evelyn, but Raymond was suddenly so
distraught that she and I decided that I wou ld return on ly after three
days for the funeral service. I tried to conceal from Raymond my
sadness, but his col1linued irritability led me to consult Christopher by
telephone, and we arranged that at the weekend we should all return to
Palm Springs together so that Evelyn could get away from her house
and be with friends, and Raymond also would have company. Inevita–
bly he was to be left alone for some days while I stayed with Evelyn,
with whom I drove back from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, Christo–
pher and Don Bachardy arriving the following morning.
Raymond, delighted to see us all again, seemed strangely jolly,
then grumpy, once again dissociated from reality but always animated
and contented in Christopher's company, and responsive to Christo–
pher's off-beat humor. Evelyn was superb, joining in when she could,
disappearing to rest when she felt unequal
to
il. Raymond was by turns
querulous then high-spirited and seemingly quite unaware of the
undertow of deep concern and admiration the rest of us had for Evelyn.
One afternoon when we all discussed religion, Christopher talked
