This blog is in memory of Carl Djerassi who died recently. Djerassi is generally given credit for the invention of the oral contraceptive pill. This is a man who has changed the experiences of every person in the modern world.
The contraceptive pill for women allowed aggressive entry into the workplace for women without a national war footing. It also meant that women could enjoy sex without fear of unintentional pregnancy. Women had gained new freedom when better sanitation drastically reduced death rates from childbirth. Ending the fear of unplanned pregnancy was frosting on the cake allowing sex to be genuinely enjoyable. We men are grateful too. Thanks Carl.
I met Carl at the Vorpal Gallery, owned by Muldoon Elder, in the early 1960’s. Muldoon was a good friend and I spent quite a bit of time visiting Muldoon. Carl also frequented the Vorpal where we got to know each other. Carl came to my house once. We spent time chat chatting about art and his collections..
The way Muldoon became a friend of mine is an interesting story and an example of my early organizing skills.
I had bought three sculptures by Ron Boise from Muldoon. The Boise show was shut down by the San Francisco police (heavily Roman Catholic) for obscenity a few months after I bought my small pieces. One pieces on this page is approximately 12 inches high. I sold all three many years ago.
When the police shut down Muldoon's gallery my first act was to convince him not to hire a political lawyer who I knew was an incompetent Lefty ideolog and was later murdered by one of her Lefty criminal clients. I convinced Muldoon to use the ACLU because they were free and their lawyer, Ephraim Margolin, was infinitely more competent. Ephraim turned out to be superb in court and became a longtime friend of mine.
When the Gallery was shut down by the police I began an organizing project. I gathered hundreds of people to be supporters of the Vorpal Gallery and opposed to an obscenity trial. We got plenty of pro-art publicity and I met many of the wealthy art owners. I already knew that publicity would influence the future jurors.
The newspaper on the right describes the trial and my role as a conservative banker as a witness. It was enjoyable.
I attended much of the trial. The jury deliberated a couple of days; they were debating with one jury member who was the most Puritan, a former hooker from Texas. The jury came back with a not guilty verdict.
One byproduct of the trial, which had the prosecutors call the curator of the major San Francisco museums, was that a beautiful sculpture by Rodin was removed from the front of the Legion of Honor because it depicted a couple engrossed in an intimate embrace.