THE MURDER OF DWIGHT HARRIS: A STORY BY RICK CASTRO

IN THE LATE 1970’S I WAS A STRUGGLING SOMETHING….

DABBLING IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY, I WORKED FOR THE CALIFORNIA APPAREL NEWS AS AN LAYOUT  ARTIST. THIS WAS THE ERA WHEN YOU ACTUALLY RECEIVED TYPE WRITTEN PRINT, THEN RUN IT THRU A GLUE BACKING MACHINE, LAY-IT OUT, CUT WITH AN EXACTO BLADE. AND THEN PASTE TO THE PAGE- CUT &PASTE.

I WORKED THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT- 9PM TILL 4AM

I WAS SURPRISED I EVEN GOT THE JOB. I WAS  ENROLLED IN A FASHION ILLUSTRATION CLASS AT LOS ANGELES TRADE TECHNICAL COLLEGE. 
I FOUND OUT A CLASSMATE WAS WORKING FOR C.A.N.
 (CALIFORNIA APPAREL NEWS).
 I ASKED HER IF THEY NEEDED ANYBODY. SHE SET ME UP WITH AN APPOINTMENT.  THEY HIRED ME. JUST LIKE THAT I BECAME A LAYOUT ARTIST.

I DIDN’T FIT IN AT C.A.N. THE OFFICE WAS VERY CLICKY. I DIDN’T HAVE A CLICK. 

THERE WAS ALLOT OF BROWN NOSERS, AND I DIDN’T DO THAT WELL. 

 NOT THAT TYPE OF BROWN NOSING ANYWAY. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN…

LUCKILY FOR ME THE FASHION EDITOR REBECCA VOIGHT LIKED ME. SHE WAS A FRIEND OF A FRIEND. I’D SHOWN HER MY ILLUSTRATION PORTFOLIO AND SHE LIKED IT.

THE REIGNING KING, (MORE LIKE QUEEN) OF WEST COAST FASHION ILLUSTRATION WAS FERNANDO FLORES.  HE ILLUSTRATED ALL EDITIONS OF C.A.N. AND ALSO ILLUSTRATED FOR HOME MAGAZINE, AND LA TIMES FASHION SUPPLEMENT. 

THAT WAS PRETTY MUCH IT. DURING THE 70S, LOS ANGELES DIDN’T HAVE AN INDUSTRY. FASHION WAS ALL CENTERED IN NEW YORK AND PARIS.

FERNANDO FLORES HAD GONE ON VACATION, OR SOMETHING OUTTA TOWN AND DIDN’T MAKE IT BACK FOR DEADLINE. I WAS TOLD IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THIS HAD EVER HAPPENED. 

SO THE JOB OF ILLUSTRATING AN ENTIRE ISSUE OF CALIFORNIA APPAREL NEWS FELL ON MY LAP. JUST LIKE THAT I BECAME A FASHION ILLUSTRATOR.  

MY SALARY QUADRUPLED IN ONE WEEK.

I THEN WENT ON TO ILLUSTRATE  FOR MENS APPAREL NEWS. 
KEEP IN MIND THE CIRCULATION FOR THESE PAPERS WAS MINIMAL.
 THERE SIMPLY WAS NO FASHION INDUSTRY IN LOS ANGELES.

ABOUT 2 MONTHS LATER A NEW DESIGNER BY THE NAME OF MARLENE STEWARD BROUGHT HER PAPER JUMPSUITS INTO THE C.A.N. OFFICE. THEY WANTED TO CREATE AN EDITORIAL WITH HER JUMPSUITS. MARLENE LIKED THE WAY I WAS DRESSED AND ASKED ME TO STYLE THE FASHION SHOOT.

I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT A STYLIST WAS. I THOUGHT IT ONLY REFERRED TO HAIR?

“DRESS THEM LIKE THE WAY YOU DRESS,” IS WHAT MARLENE STEWARD SAID TO ME. SO I DID. JUST LIKE THAT I BECAME A FASHION STYLIST.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE SHOOT WAS AN EAGER, YOUNG BLACK GUY NAMED DWIGHT HARRIS.

WE WERE THE SAME AGE, SO I GUESS I WAS ALSO YOUNG, (21) AND EAGER. 

DWIGHT WAS TALL, LEAN, SEXY WITH A  SHORT-CROPPED BEARD. HE WAS VERY QUIET, ON THE SHY SIDE, BUT KNEW WHAT HE WANTED.  HE WAS A GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER. METHODICAL IN TECHNIQUE, YET COMPLETELY TRUSTING CREATIVELY WHAT I THOUGHT THE MODEL SHOULD WEAR AND LOOK LIKE.

WE DID THE SHOOT TOGETHER WITH MARLENE STEWARD’S PAPER JUMPSUITS, (SHE WENT ON TO DRESS DEVO, MADONNA AND MANY OLIVER STONE FILMS)  LATER DWIGHT ASKED ME IF I WOULD DO A “TEST” SHOOT” WITH A MODEL HE’D BEEN WORKING WITH- RUTHIE GALARGO.

COINCIDENTALLY I’D JUST REUNITED  WITH RUTHIE THE YEAR PRIOR AT THE OPENING OF THE WEST COAST FIORUCCI SHOP IN BEVERLY HILLS.  I’VE KNOW RUTHIE SINCE I WAS 17 FROM THE GAY CLUBS IN HOLLYWOOD LIKE GINO’S.

 (THESE EVENTS BOTH NEED THEIR OWN STORIES)

DWIGHT WANTED TO SHOOT AT THE SANTA ANITA RACE TRACK.

 INSPIRED BY THE DECO STYLE, I PULLED CLOTHING FROM A NEWLY OPENED SHOP IN WEST HOLLYWOOD- TOO SOON TO KNOW. THE FRENCH OWNER  BROUGHT IN SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING EUROPEAN CLOTHING LOS ANGELES HAD SEEN. HER NAME WAS MICHELE LAMY,
(AGAIN THIS NEEDS ITS OWN STORY)

ON A SUNNY LA AFTERNOON, DWIGHT, RUTHIE AND I SHOT ROMANTIC IMAGES AT THE RACE TRACK.  RUTHIE THROWING HER BETTING TICKETS IN THE AIR LIKE SHE HAD WON. HORSES RACING IN THE BACKGROUND.  VERY CINEMATIC.

BTW- RUTHIE WENT ON TO MODEL FOR THERRY MUGLER AND PHOTOGRAPHERS PIERRE & GILIES. (NEEDS IT’S OWN STORY) 

AFTER THE SHOOT DWIGHT DROPPED RUTHIE  OFF FIRST, THEN DROVE ME HOME. 

HE HELPED ME CARRY THE CLOTHING INTO MY SINGLE ROOM APARTMENT ON LAS PALMAS AVE- THEN MADE AN OVERT PASS AT ME WHICH I QUICKLY ACCEPTED. 

ALTHOUGH QUIET WHEN SPEAKING, DWIGHT WAS NOT SHY IN BED……
AND HE HAD THIS HUGE DICK WHICH I FOUND INTIMIDATING.

I HADN’T BEEN WITH MANY MEN AS OF YET, SO THIS WAS NEW FOR ME. 

BTW I’M NOT A SIZE QUEEN, SO I BLUNTLY STATED,  

“THERE IS NO WAY THAT IS GOING ANYWHERE IN ME.” 

DWIGHT HAD A TIGHT BODY. AND A KILLER ASS, BUT HE ALSO DIDN’T WANT TO BE PENETRATED. WE DECIDED ON MM, (MUTUAL MASTURBATION).

A FEW DAYS LATER THERE WAS A SORE ON MY DICK! 

I WENT TO THE DOCTOR AND WAS PROMPTLY GIVEN ANTIBIOTICS. I DIDN’T SEE DWIGHT FOR MONTHS AFTER THAT. I WAS MAD AT HIM. WHEN I FINALLY DID SEE HIM AT A PARTY I TOOK HIM ASIDE AND OVER THE MUSIC YELLED,

 “YOU GAVE ME SYPHILIS!”

 “ I DIDN’T KNOW,” HE HELPLESSLY REPLIED.

 THIS WAS THE 70’S. IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON.

EVERY NOW AND AGAIN I WOULD SEE DWIGHT AT FASHION RELATED PARTIES. EVENTUALLY I LOST TRACK OF HIM. WE WENT OUR SEPARATE WAYS. 

I WAS STILL A LITTLE ANGRY WITH HIM.

LATER I HEARD FROM A MUTUAL FREIND DANNY RIOS THE FOLLOWING;

DWIGHT HARRIS WAS AT THE ONE WAY IN SILVERLAKE. MY FAVORITE LEATHER BAR OF THAT ERA.YOU WERE ALWAYS GUARANTEED A HOOK UP AT THE ONE WAY.

IT WAS LAST CALL JUST AS HE MET SOMEONE.

BEING TWO FRISKY LADS THEY DECIDED TO WALK TO THE NEARBY PARK OFF HOOVER AVE.

DURING THE CLIMAX PART OF THEIR AFFAIR, A GROUP OF LATINO GANG GUYS HAPPENED UPON THEM. THE WITNESSING OF TWO MEN TOGETHER PISSED THEM OFF SO MUCH ,THEY CHASED THEM DOWN. THE OTHER GUY SOMEHOW MANAGED TO ESCAPE. DWIGHT WAS EITHER SLOWER OR DRUNKER, BUT THE GANG CAUGHT UP WITH HIM. BASED ON REPORTS DWIGHT HARRIS WAS EITHER BEATEN, SHOT OR BOTH……….. TO DEATH.

MY BUSINESS PARTNER MICHI AND I ATTENDED DWIGHT’S FUNERAL IN LEIMERT PARK. MUCH TO MY SURPRISE RUTHIE GAVE THE EULOGY AS HIS GIRLFRIEND. 

I’D NEVER BEEN TO A BLACK FUNERAL. VARIOUS MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY WAILED OUT OF CONTROL. EVENTUALLY THE ENTIRE ROOM WAS SCREAMING. 
AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY BECAUSE IT WAS SO OVER-THE-TOP.
 THEN I FELT THE INTENSE SORROW AND RAW GRIEF. AS HIS MOTHER THREW HERSELF ONTO HIS OPEN CASKET, WE BROKE-DOWN IN TEARS.  
THRU SOBS MICHI SAID TO ME, “I CAN’T TAKE IT. I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW HIM,
BUT THIS IS THE SADDEST EVENT I’VE EVER WITNESSED.”

A FEW DAYS LATER THERE WAS A STORY IN THE LA WEEKLY ABOUT A BOY THAT WAS MURDERED BY RIVAL GANG MEMBERS IN SILVERLAKE. THE GANGERS HAD COME TOGETHER IN MUTUAL HATRED FOR THE
 “FAGS MOVING INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.”  

ALL THE GORY DETAILS WERE GLOSSED OVER OR LEFT OUT, BUT I KNEW.

AS  A HEALING PROCESS A GROUP OF CAUCASIAN SILVERLAKE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND LONGTIME LATINO RESIDENTS  MET TO TALK ABOUT WHAT COULD BRING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER.

AT THE END OF AUGUST 1980, I ATTENDED THE FIRST SUNSET JUNCTION  STREET FAIR. WALKING DOWN SUNSET BOULEVARD WITH MY BEST GAY FRIEND DANNY RIOS; ALONG SIDE US WERE MEXICAN GANG MEMBERS WITH TATTOOS, THEIR GIRLFRIENDS AND BABIES IN STROLLERS. NEXT TO THEM WERE PUNK ROCK GUYS & DOLLS WITH LIBERTY SPIKES AND RIPPED UP CLOTHING. 
NEXT TO THEM WERE LEATHERMEN IN ASSLESS LEATHER CHAPS AND BLACK OR GREY, (CODE FOR LEATHER & BONDAGE) HANKIES WALKING ARM IN ARM. EVERYBODY WAS RESPECTFUL OF ONE ANOTHER. EVERYBODY WAS SMILING, HAPPY AND ENJOYING A RARE FREE EVENT IN THE CITY OF  ANGELS. 
 I’M ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE WHO REMEMBERS THE BACK STORY.

THE MURDER OF DWIGHT HARRIS WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE

 SUNSET JUNCTION STREET FAIR.

COPYRIGHT- 2018- RICK CASTRO