Whitney 114

"You told me that these glasses were made in 1968. Did you still go to school in this part of the city?"

"Yes, it took me eight years to finish preparatory high school here around the corner".

"You were called a genius as a child. What went wrong?"

"I had never learned how to learn. The school system was too rigid back then. I was far too young. And my plan for the future was to become a performing artist or an optician, not a scientist. I simply did not fit into the pattern of high expectations".

"That makes sense. Where did your family move to after the years in the big house?"

"A few miles further south. Call it new suburbia, not far from the river Amstel. The family business went through hard times and it ceased to exist three years later. It was a difficult time for all the family members. The big house here is the symbol of the golden years. That's the story in a nutshell".

"Is your book just about girls and women in glasses or about this history as well?"

"It's much broader than a family history or magicians in glasses. It's a bundle of fifty short stories, covering all aspects of life. The steps towards becoming a performing artist. Loves won and lost. And of course sketches of all the changes in society since the mid fifties".

"Do the orange glasses on my nose remind you of anybody in particular? Or are they simply meant as an example of how fashion developed in the sixties?"

"Ah, there was an incredibly attractive blonde that went to a different school. I had seen her from a distance on a couple of occasions. First at some sports event, then at a concert by a famous garage rock band called the Outsiders. Her glasses were orange but she was too vain to wear them all the time. One day I stood on this side of the bridge and she came cycling past on the other side. So I grabbed my bike with the intention to follow her but it took a minute to cross the street. Too much traffic. So I posted on this bridge, on the other side. A few days later she came cycling past and I followed her, say a hundred feet behind her. She disappeared in a street parallel to the Lane, a few blocks further. The third time I grabbed my courage together and went cycling next to her. And of course I introduced myself right away".

"While you were cycling?"

"Yes. And from then on we cycled to her house say twice a week. And then a chat at her doorstep. She also invited me to join her when she walked with her little niece in a pram. That was on the quay. I wrote several songs for her but no romance came out of that. We lived in different circles and she had more liberty and money. I simply was not hip enough at that time. Love in vain".

"Well, at least you immortalized her in your songs. Were you already performing your songs on stage?"

"Yes, that started just after the Love Summer of 1967. It was fantastic. The stage felt as the natural place for me. Can you do one more pose in these glasses?" (SNAP)

The actress handed the glasses back to the inventor and they crossed the road over the bridge.