Scoopy’s Notebook
END OF THE HI-CAT-US: First
of all, we want to apologize to all the
Scoopy’s Notebook fans out there for
our brief hiatus — or “hi-cat-us,” as
we like to call it. Hey, we’ve just been a
little busy! ... O.K., to get right to it, let’s
start with one of the all-time Scoopy
All-Stars...Doris Diether! Margaret
(“Margie”) Sharp, a friend of the legendary
zoning maven of Community
Board 2, called us the other week to ask
if Diether was all right.
The longtime Villager subscriber
knew Diether well when she lived in
the Village in the 1950s but now lives in
Vermont. But Diether unfailingly calls
her every Christmas to wish her well.
She didn’t get a call this year, though,
leaving her worried.
It turns out that, as usual, there was
a very simple explanation: The Village
activist’s Christmas tree is so big this
year, that the guys who brought it in put
it in a different spot — and it blocked
her access to the place where she keeps
her box fi lled with friends’ telephone
numbers.
But she still did send out her usual
slew of holiday cards — 487, in all. We
actually got two! Speaking of which,
Diether was very pleased to get a Christmas
card from new C.B. 2 Chairperson
Carter Booth.
“I was surprised,” she admitted to us.
PHOTOS BY SARAH FERGUSON
Michelle Shocked in her customized
Rangers jersey.
She was about to head to “a couple of
New Year’s Eve parties.” Of course, she
was getting ready for her big 90th birthday
bash at Judson Church on Thurs.,
Jan. 10. On that note, there was a bit of
a fl ap over whether admission should be
charged, which would have gone to help
pay for a new elevator to the Washington
Square South church’s fourth fl oor. But
Diether insisted to us, “You don’t charge
admission to a party.” Our understanding,
though, is that people will be able
to make a voluntary contribution, and
certainly, it’s a worthy cause.
But yes, Diether is O.K., and Scoopy
is O.K. We’re all O.K.!
SHOCK’ING FOLLOW-UP: After
our article about Michelle Shocked’s
surprise New Year’s Eve jam session at
C Squat went to print, the folksinger emailed
us with some more details about
her connection to the Lower East Side
squat scene and radical ’zine artist Seth
Tobocman.
Shocked, who squatted in San Francisco
before she came to New York City,
said she got to know Tobocman when
she was hanging out with the Yippies at
their old headquarters at No. 9 Bleecker
St., sometime between 1984 and 1986.
“Seth’s infl uence on my own artistic
development was seminal,” Shocked
said of Tobocman, who publishes the
graphic ’zine “World War 3 Illustrated.”
“His subject matter, his personality,
everything. When I was asked
by the Guggenheim Museum where I
fi rst heard about the police murder
of graffi ti artist Michael Stewart, the
fi rst thought that came to my mind was
Seth,” she added, referencing the mural
that Tobocman painted in Stewart’s
honor on a wall at La Plaza Cultural, at
E. Ninth St. and Avenue C.
Shocked, who is now a born-again
Christian, shocked many of her fans
when she made what were widely construed
as anti-gay remarks at a concert
in 2013. Tobocman said he confronted
her about that when they came up with
the idea of her performing her song
“Graffi ti Limbo’ (which tells the story of
Stewart’s murder) to accompany Tobocman’s
graphic slideshow at the C squat
event.
“When she approached me a month
ago, I made it clear that I support gay
rights, including gay marriage, and
that this is a non-negotiable position,”
Tobocman told us. ‘My drummer, Eric
Blitz, said something similar to her. She
insisted that she also supports gay rights
but was honest about the fact that she
does attend a black church where antigay
attitudes are often expressed.
“Because I know her from back in the
day, I give her the benefi t of the doubt
on this, although I can understand how
some other people might not,” Tobocman
added of the controversy that continues
to dog Shocked’s career.
Shocked had been quite involved with
a Pentecostal church in West L.A. But
she recently relocated to Chelsea and
says she’s planning some gigs at KGB
bar on E. Fourth St. Stay tuned.
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