RANSVESTIA

about an hour and a half to refuel because they had gotten the word that L.A. airport was socked in and they might have to be diverted to Las Vegas, Phoenix or some such and had to have enough fuel to do so. But we finally took off and by the time we reached L.A. it was all clear and we landed about 1 a.m. when we were supposed to be in about 10:30. Everybody from the customs man to the taxi driver who took me home was annoyed at having to wait around two or three extra hours.

I think I'll go on another Christmas trip next year. It's kind of nice when you no longer have a family, to escape from the Christmas card, carols and crowd syndrome and the rush, push and shove attitude that the season carries with it. I enjoyed the trip a lot-it really wasn't bad travelling by myself though next time I think it would be a little handier if I spoke Spanish (or whatever). There was the usual mountain of mail and problems waiting my return which took me two weeks to dig myself out of but I made it.

The next issue of Transvestia will be our Centennial issue-No. 100. I have decided both in response to several requests and because of the milestone this issue represents, to devote it almost entirely to my autobiography and the history of the movement in the last 20 years. This will make it a collector's item since nowhere else has my personal history and the history of Chevalier Publications, Trans- vestia Magazine, Phi Pi Epsilon, the Foundation for Personality Ex- pression and the Society for the Second Self (Tri Sigma) all been tied up in one package.

I'm not doing this to blow my own horn but as my life and times are intimately tied up with all of the above I can't very well talk about one without the other.

I have been, in spite of what my detractors may say, an important cog in the wheel of progress of our subculture. It is now time for others to carry on and continue the work I have started. I can't live forever and neither can I devote all of my life to this cause. I think 100 issues is a nice round figure to arrive at and when it is put to bed I hope I will have been able to finalize some arrangements for someone else to take over the load.

So if you want to know how it all started and some of the problems that I went through which I have never before written about, get your order in.

Virginia