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Gore Vidal Ticked Off at McVeigh Play

Author Gore Vidal is said to be extremely upset and considering a lawsuit against a play that portrays him as coming on to Timothy McVeigh.

Edmund White's "Terre Haute," which recently finished a successful run in Britain, involves the relationship between a thinly veiled, Vidal-like writer named James and a McVeigh-like killer, Harrison. In one sexually charged scene, James comes on to Harrison during a prison visit, gushing: "If I thought you'd never know, I'd unzip that orange jumpsuit just a bit so I could see your chest. Touch it." The McVeigh character opens his shirt to show off his torso as a "gift" to the Vidal character.

Anything to make a buck off a dead person, I guess. I have no knowledge of Gore Vidal's sexual orientation, but I can assure you that had the real Timothy McVeigh ever heard a male say that to him, his response would have been quite different. In other words, McVeigh was straight with a capital "S."

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    Gore Vidal (none / 0) (#1)
    by TomChicago on Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 09:06:41 AM EST
    I'm surprised that Gore Vidal would take anything like this so seriously.  The situation portrayed sounds more like Truman Capote's work on In Cold Blood than anything Vidal has done.  I haven't seen the play, though, and I don't know that Edmund White has said anything about this.

    Yeah I thought (none / 0) (#4)
    by dutchfox on Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 12:20:30 PM EST
    of the Capote book immediataly

    Parent
    I suspect it's the "ick" factor. (none / 0) (#2)
    by Avedon on Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 09:30:08 AM EST
    I can see why Vidal let his disgust get the better of him.  I'd want to sue anyone who suggested I'd make a pass at some creep like McVeigh, or Cheney, or Bush.

    I wouldn't do it, but I'd want to.

    actually (none / 0) (#3)
    by cpinva on Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 10:54:09 AM EST
    from everything i've seen, read and heard, i suspect mr. mcveigh was straight with a capital "VH", for virulent homophobe.

    but yeah, i'm inclined to agree with avedon, "ick"!

    Cf. Vidal's "The City and the Pillar" (none / 0) (#5)
    by digaman on Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 01:11:51 PM EST
    > I have no knowledge of Gore Vidal's sexual orientation

    Well, it's not exactly a secret.  Vidal was one of the pioneers of gay frankness.  But it's a shame that he's taking this so seriously.

    really? (none / 0) (#6)
    by cpinva on Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 01:29:50 PM EST
    i had no idea. of course, as a rule, i rarely, if ever, pay much attention to other people's sexual orientation, unless it somehow directly affects me and mine.

    as i think about it, so what? lol

    Parent

    Gore Vidal's... (none / 0) (#7)
    by desertswine on Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 07:54:36 PM EST
    partner of 53 years, Howard, died in 2003.