Tile Mosaic c. 1920s & 30s
Collected from La Closerie des Lilas
Paris, France
Ceramic, metal, wood
On loan from the estate of Juan Auguste "Le Neuf" Pierre

"My back is turned and my attentions occupied, would he [Hemingway] attempt to bed my wife? Without a doubt. Would he succeed? How could he? In the ways of the here and now, he is lost. But on paper he is in his element. The irony of our relations - I live for today and he will live forever." Ted Perez to George Plimpton at the world premiere of the John Wayne classic 'Rio Lobo' in which both men had bit parts.

Honorable Discharge Paper Wallet
Glenn Austinbaum
38th Parallel, Korea
Leather, zipper
On loan from the estate of Helen Austinbaum

A unknown friend pulled Ted from the choppy waters in a harbor near Seoul. Ted had fallen in while inspecting a rather suspect freight of cigarettes and barrels of distilled "water". This G.I., Glenn Austinbaum, a devout Shaker, did not accept any of Ted's attempts to "set him up". Rather, a firm handshake and a smile did the trick just fine. The next week, Glenn died of acute dysentery. Ted carried Glenn's discharge papers back to his widow in Sawbrook, Arkansas. Upon receiving them, she promptly returned them to Ted saying, "give body and spirit in these papers". Ted complied, understanding more with his heart, rather than his head, what widow Autinbaum meant. 

"GAUCHO"
Artist: Joy Kemble  -  Circa 1969
Newport Beach, California
Oil on Canvas
18" x 21"
On loan from the estate of Alex Rinker

"If you want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him... The people who give you their food, give you their heart." - Cesar Chavez

Welder's Glasses c.1955
Jim "Trope" Poisson
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Courtesy of Jim "Trope" Poisson

"Why not a flux core?" This simple suggestion propelled flux-cored arc welding to the forefront of the industrial welding space. And to think, it was the result of a need to repair a mailbox at an orphanage for the blind Ted had founded in Staten Island. "Is there a concept that taunts man more than 'harness'? We have harnessed light, heat, nature and have thusly emerged from the caves. Imagine what heights we might visit if we are to ever harness ourselves."