Gore Vidal (149 page)

The high-spirited Maria Britneva and Gore Vidal, c. 1960.
(Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Gore Vidal Collection)

John F. Kennedy, Gore Vidal, and Tennesee Williams, Palm Beach, 1958.
(Courtesy of Gore Vidal)

Melvyn Douglas, Lee Tracy, Gore Vidal, Frank Lovejoy, Leora Dana, and Joe Anthony at the first reading rehearsal of
The Best Man
, New York, 1960.
(Courtesy of Lyn Austin)

President-elect Kennedy greeting the cast and author of
The Best Man
backstage, New York, 1960.
(Performing Arts Research Center New York Public Library)

Gore Vidal welcomes John F. Kennedy, who arrives to campaign in Dutchess County, 1960.
(Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Gore Vidal Collection)

Gore Vidal campaigning in Kingston, New York, 1960. Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman are in the audience (bottom right).
(Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Gore Vidal Collection)

(
Top
) Mike Pendergast (far left) and other New York State politicians with Harry Truman and Gore Vidal at a Dutchess County political event, 1960. (
Above
) Eugene Vidal, Gore Vidal, and Joe Hawkins on election eve, 1960, about to get the news that Gore has lost the election.
(Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Gore Vidal Collection)

(
Left
) Gore Vidal at home in Rome, c. 1964.
(Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Gore Vidal collection)

The first meeting of Gore Vidal and Italo Calvino (left), Judith (Chichita) Calvino (left), and Howard Austen (center), American Academy in Rome, 1974.
(Courtesy of Gore Vidal)

Gore Vidal at La Rondinaia, Ravello, 1996. (Author's photo)

Howard and Gore at their daily chess game, Ravello, 1996.
(Author's photo)

At Ravello, 1996. (Author's photo)

Gore Vidal and Howard Austen fulfilled their initial commitment to provide total cooperation. To both of them, I am deeply grateful. With the exception of the mysterious 1948 diary, I have seen everything. I suspect the diary contains nothing that would surprise me. Having access to it withheld whetted my curiosity, which now, having completed this biography, I discharge into thin air. Neither Mr. Vidal nor Mr. Austen saw the manuscript or any portion of its publication, with the exception of my quotations from our oral interviews, which I gave Mr. Vidal the opportunity to participate in editing since they inevitably contained slips of the tongue and by-the-way comments not intended for publication; he also was allowed to see the quotations from his unpublished letters for his information but not for his response. He played no role in their selection or use. Toward the end, he expressed his desire to see the manuscript. Doubleday and I were successful in maintaining our position that it was neither in his nor our interest for him to read it before publication.