When Donna Hill passed away late last year, the Rudolph Valentino and the silent film communities lost a great friend. And so did the Louise Brooks community. Donna was also a personal friend -- I believe my wife and I first met her some 20+ years ago when we visited her San Francisco apartment to show her our rather modest collection of vintage Valentino postcards. No surprise, she had them all.
We hung out together at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and Cinecon, went ephemera shopping together in Hollywood -- Donna knew all the best places, and we talked, about Valentino and Brooks and early film and so much more. My wife, Christy Pascoe, who was also Donna's friend, designed the covers for the second, expanded edition of Donna's fabulous book, Rudolph Valentino The Silent Idol: His Life in Photographs. If you don't have a copy in personal library, order one today!
Back on January 3, I posted "Homage to Donna Hill" here on the LBS blog. It recounts some additional memories, and includes a few more images.
Donna was, as well, a longtime supporter of the Louise Brooks Society. She gave her wise counsel regarding the Louise Brooks Society website and its publications, and supported both. She also helped with the silent film and Louise Brooks exhibits I mounted at the San Francisco Public Library. Back in 2007, she had me on her podcast, "Stolen Moments," to talk about Louise Brooks -- and, she helped me with my keynote address at the 2019 Valentino Memorial Service and the subsequent video I made documenting the "relationship" of Brooks and Valentino "Through the Black Velvet Curtain." Donna was always encouraging, willing to answer questions, and helpful at making connections and introductions. She is what "community" is all about.
I mention all this because just recently a memorial service / celebration of life was held in Hollywood, when Donna was interned in the Hollywood Forever cemetery near her great passion, Rudolph Valentino. (Whoever arranged that, thank you. It is such a beautiful gesture.) I wasn't able to attend the service, but wanted to share the video which was made of the occasion. It is heartfelt, and well worth watching.
Just last week, I received a "message" from Donna. It was a copy of the just released reprint of Rudolph Valentino Recollections by Natacha Rambova. I received a copy because I contributed to the Kickstarter which funded the book's publication, and have my name printed in the back of the book. Donna was integral to the book's publication, and she contributed images from her personal collection which were reproduced in this new edition.
This new edition also contains a new and insightful foreword by Donna, who begins by stating "Natacha Rambova was a woman ahead of her time", and then goes on to compare Rambova to some of the influencers of today. Donna was that as well, a friendly and generous silent film influencer the likes of which we may not see again. We love you Donna Hill. And we miss you.
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