Page 155 - The Life and Times of the Legendary Larry Townsend

Jack Fritscher 139

before it travels up to the torso. This allows a reduction of
the blood-thinning medicine he was being given. All his
family will be present on Sunday for a Monday consulta-
tion with the doctors because Tuesday [under his living
will] is the fourteenth day of his sedation, and that is a
milestone in consideration of his present state and his
further treatment. Honestly, it seems that he is leaving
us.
Thankfully, one great thing he did this month was
that, after that June 28 email I wrote to him which I
copied to you, Larry did, in fact, drop his lawsuit against
Lambda Rising bookstore and other small bookstores;
he narrowed the focus to Nazca Plains. He actually was
working his way into handling and focusing the stress
and betrayal and chagrin he felt when the copyrights to
his books were violated.
Larry has always been such a thunderous presence,
moving like a storm-front blowing across the social and
literary landscape, that it seems impossible that he now
lies quiet.
Because he always stood up for himself, and because
you sometimes accompanied him to the opera, and
because he loves Puccini, you can understand that as his
time comes I hope that his family puts headphones on
him and plays “Nessun Dorma.”
“Nobody shall sleep!...Nobody shall sleep! / Even
you, oh Prince, / In your cold room, watch the stars / …
[If] we must, alas, die. Vanish, oh Night! Set, stars! Set,
stars! / At dawn, / I will win! I will win! I will win!”
As ever, Jack and Mark

On Sunday, July 27, I wrote to a dozen leatherfolk on the
email tree:

Our friend Larry Townsend remains in ICU where he
has been since July 13. Contrary to internet rumors,
he has not had a heart attack. Larry has pneumonia
and is deeply sedated on a ventilator, and he has other

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