Carol, what you should have is a recording of the statements that aren’t true.” I didn’t
know he was joking.
One of my dearest lifelong friends, Gerry Goldstein, became my willing accomplice
and drove me to Azusa. With instructions from my sister’s husband Charles, he explained
how to conceal a microphone under my dress and carry the small tape recorder in my
purse. Well, small in terms of what such a piece of technology was in those days. When I
walked into the store, I saw Alan’s father behind the counter. He welcomed me with a
forged smile. “I am so sorry I had to lie about everything in the hearing, Carol. I know
you can understand how difficult it was for me and for Alan’s mother. This has taken a
great toll on us both.”
Almost in the next breath, he shocked me with another confession. “It has been a long
several months for us all, but Mrs. Ferber is thrilled that Alan has remarried.”
“Alan has remarried?” I glanced at Gerry from the sides of my eyes and swallowed my
astonishment before I could say more. California law required a newly divorced person to
wait a full year before remarrying. Alan and I were not legally divorced.
I believe it was critically important for Alan to find a new bride. There were few
openly gay or bisexual men in America in the 1950s; few outside Hollywood knew that
Rock Hudson was gay until he was dying from AIDS. I had never mentioned the subject
in the hearing, but now, I hoped the news of his ‘too early’ marriage had been caught on
tape so I could use this subject in court.
On Wednesday, June 29, 1960, I proceeded to make some sort of history. All of the
California major newspapers carried the story of the “Wife Wired for Sound.” The
electronic age won me a second divorce trial. Needless to say, Alan was painted as a
bigamist, and I became the recipient of a decidedly better settlement.
Winning this small victory gave me some satisfaction, but I couldn’t deny the fact that
my experience with men was having a far deeper effect on my psyche. Nibble by nibble
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