Explain THIS!

Eric: Lacey.

Everyone thinks they know him. You actually do, in my opinion. You actually know Lem.

Can you PLEASE explain what THE HELL is happening in this photo. Be TOTALLY honest.

The energy of Jim (Lacey’s dad who raised her): I don’t think we need to know everything. Okay?

Lacey: Lem is a ham.

He likes to “ham it up”.

Do you know that saying? To “ham it up”?

Eric: Yes.

Lacey: He was a huge ham. He likes to be really silly sometimes.

I mean, he’s an extraordinarily intelligent man. Very sensitive. But he loves being…a ham.

Eric: Go on?

Lacey: …I think he’s embarrassing himself, by accident, in this photo. Probably in this moment. He’s a very well-bred, sophisticated…elegant person. Very…intelligent. …But I think he got taken advantage of, by “mean girls” so to speak, and actually genuinely embarrassed himself.

Eric: *Thinking*

He was a man?

Lacey: Yes. Completely.

Eric: What happened?

You can guess. It’s cool.

Lacey: *Feels like crying*

*Has to gain her composure.*

I think the Kennedys used to make fun of him. Not for being gay. For just being him.

And it didn’t entirely make sense, because he was so intelligent. He really was.

He was…such an intelligent person!

*Fights to keep her composure.*

He…probably was trying to impress someone. And trying to be funny. And trying to be…happy. When he was…angry, sad, and mystified.

Eric: Yeah!

So what actually happened?

Lacey: This is actually very difficult for me to talk about. But I’m trying.

Let’s see.

He…was hosting a dinner party? For a small group of friends. At his house. In Manhattan. Probably in the late 1970’s or very early 1980’s.

He got drunk. Not high.

And he wanted to weep, fall apart, and shoot himself in the head. Just die, you know?

And instead, he…started trying to engage with his guests. Really, connect with them. Ask them questions about themselves, about their lives. Stuff like that.

And things got carried away.

He started talking about JFK, and his family. Because they were fans of the Kennedy family. Like, actual fans. Like it was a television show.

And they wanted to take a photo of him, in “the chair”. I think that’s a chair JFK owned and used. Was it upholstered by Jackie Kennedy?

He…was…kinda uncomfortable? Like…not…completely okay with it? But…he knew they were fans. And he was such a sweetheart. Such a really nice person. Such a cool dude. Yes, men like that do and did exist.

Anyway, he…went too far, for himself. But he was drunk. And…he wanted to bring joy and happiness and…happiness, to his guests.

Eric: Go on?

Lacey: He…posed in a sexual way…reminiscent of “JFK’s poses”. The way Jack Kennedy used to ask him…to pose.

And…it made him feel even more like absolute crud.