"Vali came to New York having been in Positano for fifteen years or so, and she pitched a tent in the loft of the painter Mati Klarwein and was living in it.
I went to see her there with Sheldon, and we became very fast friends. I had a loft downtown then, a big beautiful place, and she spent a lot of time there. I took some nice photographs of her and we were always very close. She was the first one who mentioned the fantasy that we should get married and have a giant gypsy wedding. A while ago I wrote to her and said let's do it now, in Australia. I'm speaking here more of the spectacle and the drama and the joyous explosion of the whole thing than the idea of having a serious marriage. It would be like King and Queen of the Gypsies, a grand, theatrical spectacle. The whole beautiful thing about my relationship to Vali was that it was really a love story in my life, one that is significant. But I never got it on with Vali, you know, I'm a little bit shy. Not that she doesn't understand being shy, she can be shy herself. I think it was very lovely that we both understood that wasn't what was happening, although it was very affectionate. When she would visit me in my loft she'd always treat me in a certain special way, she'd make Turkish coffee and say, "Here baby, I don't even make coffee like this for Rudi, you know, hahaha." She lived with Rudi in Italy, but she was sowing her oats while she was here. She's never made any big pretense about being Miss Faithful exactly, or of being easy to possess. She was always a bit wild to say the least..."
Ira Cohen on his friendship with Vali Myers.
#iracohen #valimyers #chelseahotel
