David and Tina

Note from Jack Kerouac - front

‘When I started curating composer David Amram’s massive archive of papers there were many wonderful treasures I expected to find - a note from Jack Kerouac, a postcard from Langston Hughes, a misplaced poem from Gregory Corso.

But there was one thing that came as a complete surprise: Traces from Amram’s romance with actress Tina Louise, a few years before she would be iconically cast as Ginger on the television sit-com Gilligan’s Island. It’s a coupling that truly triggers the retronaut’s imagination: The New York bohemian and would-be Hollywood starlet straying from their respective communities to, for a little while at least, fall giddily in love.’

- Audrey Sprenger