02/04/2024
In this recently unearthed interview Richard had just mentioned having seen “The Powder and the Glory,” a documentary film about rival cosmetics divas:
“Elizabeth Arden had horses and stables in Kentucky. She was from somewhere in New England, from a very undistinguished family. Anyway, Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden were heads of the two leading cosmetics businesses, you know, which was very unusual in the 1920s. They never spoke though their establishments were five blocks away from each other. When Elizabeth Arden was feeding a horse a carrot in Kentucky, the horse bit her finger off. They rushed her to the hospital to sew it back on again and when Helena Rubinstein was asked what she thought about that, she said, “Well, what happened to the horse?” “
I recorded this interview with the poet and translator and teacher and my friend Richard Howard on June 1, 2010 when Richard was alive and well at 82. He died on March 31, 2022. Richard Howard was…
