RUNAROUND SUE---ALL OVER THE PLACE

LET'S START WITH PALM SPRINGS---BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO DIRECTOR LUCIE ARNAZ AND PRODUCER MICHAEL CHILDERS of ONE NIGHT ONLY--the charity event for Jewish Family Services of the Desert. This year it was "Sondheim in Love," and it was a smash. It had an opening and closing number, a theme, and a Broadway professional direction that elevated it right to the best show they've ever done.

Marilyn Maye, Lucie Arnaz, Michael Childers, and MD John McDaniel celebrate their show!!!

We are always there for each other. Thank God.

Lucie and Bradley James, the multi-talented singer-songwriter and choir director for Mother Teresa's Nuns Choir

With Mark Sendroff--THE No. 1 Killer Broadway lawyer

THERE WAS ANOTHER SHOW ALSO IN PALM SPRINGS---COYOTE STAGEWORKS' "ART."

It was directed by the brilliant Don Amendolia, and starred Coyote's Founding Artistic Director, Chuck Yates. We were all there for their opening at the Annenberg Theatre. And two weeks later, Chuck and Don put on a production of AGNES OF GOD. Coyote has received numerous honors as the top legit production company in the desert. Keep an eye on them!

Chuck Yates and actress Valorie Armstrong at the after party of ART at TRIO Restaurant.

And, as I must from time to time, I check to see that the Lucy statue's foliage is properly trimmed. It is my own private civic duty.

FUN AT THE BROAD

I like to hang around the new Broad Museum in downtown LA. I love the art, of course, but the architectural shapes just fascinate me.

In the mirror room

Harder to find

He kills me

Photographer Natalia Knezevic shoots the plates. She's like a young (female) Julius Schulman.

Looking waaaaayyyyyyyyy down

MEANWHILE..............BACK IN LOS ANGELES

TREVOR DALEY, CHIEF OF STAFF FOR CALIFORNIA FOR SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN

Handsome Trevor throws wonderful dinner parties to introduce interesting people to each other. His latest was held at Mud Hen Tavern. It was really cool!

AND FOR NO REASON AT ALL.............

Elizabeth Keener and I had a three-hour dinner at Musso's

SEE WHY THIS IS ALL OVER THE PLACE.........NEXT UP

I was at a luncheon for former Congressman J.C. Watts, once the big hope of the Republican Party. He was smart and got out when he could. He is a preacher and a businessman, and we were celebrating the release of his new book, DIG DEEP. He is a truly inspiring speaker.

Thank you, Nishan Partamian for inviting me

shows, restaurants

CLARENCE THOMAS AND O.J. SIMPSON--BOTH TRAVESTIES OF JUSTICE

AND THERE THEY ARE.....a murderer and a sexual harasser. Both of them used their race to twist our system into giving them what they wanted.

CONFIRMATION, the Anita Hill movie is running on HBO this whole weekend, and I am just as angry watching it, as I was watching the recent O.J. Simpson mini-series. But, I am also ecstatic that these travesties are being revisited by the TV medium so people can be reminded of the crap that has happened and still happens daily.

Because Robert Bork didn't get the U.S. Supreme Court nomination, President George H.W. Bush did a f--k you and gave us Clarence Thomas

And, I love this President Bush. He was one of the most qualified people ever to become president. My heart breaks at his "Clarence" revenge

Bravo Kerry Washington as Anita

God Bless you, Anita Hill. You told the truth. You stood up for the rights of women and all people who are victims of sexual harrassment. You couldn't beat the establishment. Those men on the judiciary committee, particualry Ted Kennedy, buy many others, all had skeletons in their closets and tried to shut this down. I'd love to know who coached Clarence of his "race card" line of "high-tech lynching of an uppity black." If the glove don't fit, you must acquit.

MANSON GIRL LESLIE VAN HOUTEN SHOULD GO FREE

I am working on a book right now about all the interesting people I've ever met. The Manson Girls take up an entire chapter. For a short version here, I was asked to go speak for Career Day at the Women's Prison at Frontera, California in the mid-70s. I guess the warden thought my success as a Hollywood columnist would help stimulate the prisoners to want to become something. The auditorium where I spoke was full. When my speech was over the warden asks me if I would "go meet some special prisoners." I said, "Sure." As we were walking across the grounds, he told me they were the Manson Girls. I stopped dead in my tracks. I told him the I had just seen Sharon Tate the week before the murders and I would never say yes to talking to people who killed her.

Then, the reporter in me took hold. "On second thought, I'll do it."

I was led to a special cement house all by itself on the grounds. There were guards in front. The yard was completely fenced in, including a top. It looked like a wire bubble. I saw the worn circular path in the grass where they must walk in circles every day.

I entered a foyer with more guards, and was told to take off all jewelry, valuables, my purse, anything sharp, and leave it with the guards. Inside of me I was freaking out. A steel door opened and I entered a reception area. When that door slammed behind me I thought I was never getting out and I broke out in a cold sweat.

Sitting on a bench was a beautiful young girl wearing a tennis sweater, jeans, and Gucci loafers. She had long, thick, brown hair, a full-lipped wide smile, and sweet eyes. IT WAS LESLIE VAN HOUTEN. I thought she was a former USC sorority girl from my class. I couldn't believe it. I had on Gucci loafers, too, so we laughed about it. Talking to her was easy and natural. There wasn't an ounce of anything scary or dangerous. As wild as it seems, I thought we could be friends.

Quickly, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkle appeared. Both were in prison garb. Susan Atkins has crazy eyes and looked at me like she'd cut me dead if I moved a muscle. Patricia Krenwinkle was cold and tough, but it was clear that Atkins was the more dangerous one. Atkins looked completely deranged.

I ended up visiting Leslie many times through the years. She told me that she ran away from home, after being named the Homecoming Queen, because her parents were too strict, especially her father. She was just one of those runaway kids who ended up in San Francisco. She said she'd really missed her father when she'd run away, and was very lonely.

"One night I was invited to a party and I saw the nice, clean-shaven young man playing the guitar and singing 'The Shadow of Your Smile.' He looked right at me and asked me to sit with him. He was older than most of the kids, and he just made me feel safe," said Leslie.

CUT TO: Leslie and all the others are at the Manson Ranch. Every day Manson makes them line up for the morning LSD. Same thing at night. "I never knew where I was or what was real," explained Leslie.

The day after the Tate Murders, Leslie heard through the grapevine that "something bad had happened." SHE WAS NEVER AT THE TATE MURDERS, A FACE THAT PEOPLE FORGET.

The next night Manson told her to go with Tex Watson and Pat and Susan. She didn't want to go. "We ended up at some house with a boat in front of it. Tex made us all go in and told us to kill whoever was inside. I stayed in the kitchen hoping to not get involved. I remember studying the colors in the refrigerator. We all were on LSD," said Leslie. "Tex came in and told me that Charlie told him that if I didn't kill someone that Tex was going to kill me. I was terrified and was pushed down the hall."

According to Leslie, she saw Mrs. LaBianca on the floor and thought she was dead. Tex was watching so she picked up a knife and stabbed her repeatedly. Leslie told me the only way she could keep doing it was because she believed Mrs. LaBianca was dead, and she did not want to die, too.

Leslie has been a model prisoner and has earned more than one college degree. She has never been a discipline problem and is horrified by what happened. She told me that, at one point, the prison doctors had to show her photos of Mrs. LaBianca's body just to have her remember, because she'd been on so much LSD. She lives with pain and regret every second of every day.

Leslie Van Houten has paid her debt to society in an exemplary way. I understand that LaBianca family members are upset. I wish they would meet her. Whether or not Leslie had been there the night of the murders, the LaBiancas would have been killed by the other people who went.

More than anything else, the story of Leslie Van Houten, because she was such a legitimate "good girl" who ran away because was "cool," shows the tragedy that can happen when parents and children don't communicate.

Let's see what Jerry Brown does.

And you can read my book(when I finish writing it, obviously) to hear all the rest of the Leslie stories as well as how much Patricia Krenwinkle has changed for the better, and the many myths and truths about the Manson Murders that have needed to be straightened out once and for all.

Susan Atkins died in prison. Good. That was as it should be.

WELCOME TO THE NEW WEBSITE AND BLOG SPACE

HI! Glad you arrived safely. Of course, I haven't written anything yet, but I will. Just got this up and running. You no longer have to go to old blog site. It's better to go here. But, if you forget, you will be directed back. To access any old blogs, just click archive on the menu.

Thanks,

Sue