Tom Tryon Comments/Stories.

Hello There,

Thought you might like to know my story. I met Tom in NYC at a party in
Greenwich Village in 1985. I was about 30 at the time and he was I
think in
his early 50s. During a casual conversation he learned that I was a
horseback rider and that I rode horses in Central Park. He expressed
interest in doing same so we made a date to go riding on a Sat. or Sun.
morning a week or so later which we did. I wore my usual sloppy old
chinos
and dirty riding boots and he showed up in jodfers and a tweed riding
jacket and sort of n tweed beret and was very elegant and handsome
indeed.
Needless to say he was a fine horseman and we had a nice ride in the
park
around NYC's reservoir. I was in awe of him because I remember three of
four of his films and it isn't everyday that I had a one on one with a
genuine movie star. I asked him about Romy Schneider, the fabulous
European
star who worked with him in THE CARDINAL who died around the time of
our
acquaintanceship and if he knew this actor or that actress, etc. and
he
was very gracious in answering my questions. I was delighted to know
that
he had met Maureen O'Hara whom I have always been nuts about and who
had
made a picture at the Disney studio around the time he made MOON PILOT.
Her
film of course was THE PARENT TRAP.

I met him for dinner two or three times after that, including a dinner
party at my place and one at his. He invited me to go to the theatre
with
him once or twice. We saw James Earl Jones in OTHELLO and the
well-known
Broadway actress Marian Seldes was sitting near us and they seemed to
know
each other and chatted. At this time in his life he had been away
from
movies for a very long time already and was not recognized by the
public or
at least not that I could tell. He was however already a well-known
best
seller author of course.

I would have liked to keep in touch with him but after a few months we
kind
of drifted apart and I never saw him again. In 1990 I moved to Geneva,
Switzerland where I have been living since and I was very sad to learn
of
his passing a few years ago.

I will always have fond memories of our passing and brief friendship.

Best regards,

Jonathan Lippman