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July 31, 2009

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

7

Merv Griffin tell-all bio is

engaging, if a bit tabloid-y

by Terri Schlichenmeyer

You just can't help it.

Much as you might try, picking up one of those tabloids while waiting in line at the grocery store is unavoidable. This star divorced that one after he had an affair with this one over there because she split up another star's marriage and...

It's just way too much fun to stargaze.

Read the new book Merv Griffin: A Life in the Closet by Darwin Porter (Blo Moon, hardcover, $26.95), and get an eyeful. Just remember-you've been warned.

MERV GRIFFIN

One of the most powerful memories that Mervyn Edward Griffin ever had was when his parents were forced out of their home and their belongings confiscated when he was just five years old. Even at that tender age, he vowed to his mother that he would build her a mansion someday.

Though his father didn't want him to be a performer, talented Merv loved "putting on shows" for neighbors in his aunt's house. That

same aunt taught the boy to play piano and, in short order, he was a better pianist than she.

Long before he was a teenager, Porter writes, the future TV host and media mogul knew he was attracted to boys. That attraction strengthened during Griffin's adolescence, though his father tried to quash it.

Because his uncle was a tennis pro who owned a club and gave lessons to Hollywood's elite, young Merv was able to meet and spend time with stars such as Errol Flynn, Johnny Weissmuller and others. Though much of that time was spent ogling men in the locker room, Merv became close friends with people --both men and women who quickly furthered his budding career. Soon, he was singing for and with some of Hollywood's brightest stars.

Never one to miss an opportunity, Griffin manipulated his career at every turn by pouncing on every opportunity he found. By the time Merv was called for an audition with Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, he was well-known and had an established fan base.

And he had quite a reputation in Hollywood-for more than just his singing.

Reading like a Naked Who's Who of Hollywood, Merv Griffin: A Life in the Closet is, on one hand, a delightful guilty pleasure.

On the other hand, it's a bit overwhelming because names are tossed out like fastballs and chronology seems to be merely a suggestion.

Porter says in his acknowledgements that he spoke to "hundreds of people associated with the entertainment industry," and not just about Griffin, who died in 2007 at age 82. His research, though staggering, is nothing if not thorough. Astute readers, however, will notice a lot of direct quotes and entire conversations that purportedly happened decades ago, which makes for an engaging read but eventually feels tabloid-fake. While it's true that this book fits with others in the tell-all genre, many readers would be happier with just the facts, ma'am.

Still, if you're a hopeless tabloid junkie and you can't get enough scandal, pick up this book. It will have you hung up and hooked.

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Evicted

Chris Krueger transforms an appliance box into an apartment building, part of a cardboard city erected on Payne Avenue.

Dozens of the boxes were put up in front of the Virgil E. Brown human service building on July 27 to protest delays in Cuyahoga County's disbursement of federal housing funds for low-income people with HIV.

Every "building" in the box town was emblazoned with an eviction notice because the money, which is routinely late, is now five months behind. A number of AIDS Taskforce of Cleveland clients have already received eviction notices.

Krueger, a Taskforce intern, joined scores of agency volunteers, supporters and staff on the sidewalk, handing out fliers explaining this to passersby.

The next day, the county issued checks totaling $108,000 to the Taskforce.

Executive director Earl Pike wrote an update on the Facebook social networking site, noting that county officials sent him messages assuring him "that on behalf of the Ryan White staff and the county we will accelerate contracts in the 2010 grant year" and are working towards "seamless provision of funding from grant year to grant year."

-Anthony Glassman

Stone Graphics, 216-701-7711,

nd Laax Finish