marion barry rip

i shook his hand once at perry's sushi, also r i p, i think.

i was having drinks with the hairy stripper.

the mayor was glad handing his way through the hip adams morgan restaurant.  he shook my hand but barely glanced my way; his twinkly eyes were riveted on anne, the mischievous, blond, hairy stripper.

i was the manager of an adams morgan shop and anne was an employee.  we used to hang out together. it was dc in the 80s. it seemed like everyone, not just the mayor, was doing a lot of coke. that's just how it was.

anne had applied for a job and i hired her.  she was a  ballet dancer but moonlighted at a gentleman's club- the good guys. she was constantly urging us all to go down there and see her work.  but i never did. at that time she was conventionally groomed, not at all hirsute.

but she often didn't show up for work in the shop, and gradually she seemed more and more strung out. i started urging her to take a break from the nightlife, make extra money some other way- teach dance or something, something that would help boost her health and self respect; it was naive of me, but...

then one day she came into the store: "i've been listening to everything you've been saying! and i'm going to do it!"

what?

"i'm going to stop shaving my legs and armpits and if the guys don't like it they can go f--k themselves!!!"

well, i don't know how she extrapolated that from what i had said, but i guess it was her own personal feminist statement.

she meant it.  she stopped shaving and...

...became even more popular at the club! so much so that she didn't need a day job anymore.

she was starting to look slightly weather beaten at a young age, but she was vivacious and men were always drawn to her. not the least, washington dc's "mayor for life." marion barry.