More on Randy Gener attack

More on Randy Gener attack

To send Randy cards or personal wishes: For ATCA members, his family has requested that mail be sent NOT to the hospital, but to Randy’s home address, which is listed both in our last printed directory (2009) and also under the private Members Directory on the ATCA website.

Non-members who want to send Randy cards or letters should write via ATCA administrator Barry Gaines. (If you have questions, contact Barry at bjgaines@unm.edu.)

Randy Gener, c/o Barry Gaines
12809 Northern Sky NE,
Albuquerque NM 87111-8089

In a remarkable act of collegiality, the Canadian Theatre Critics Association has pledged $1,000, which it is raising from individual members’ gifts. ATCA v-p Brad Hathaway has conveyed the concern of those in the IATC Critics Symposium at the International Theatre Festival of Kerala, in Thrissur, India.

Fund-raising continues, primarily for the expected long-term therapy.

The first ATCA member to see Randy in the hospital after his attack was executive committee member Eddie Rubin on Jan. 27. He sent the excom this informal report (edited for space):

“Well, I bought Randy – in the name of ATCA – a huge red heart box of chocolates, as well as a small pot of Tulip buds that will take 3 weeks to open so I was told, and of course an ATCA signed card.

“Randy is talking, not much. He is still in shock and seemingly bewildered as he does not know much of what happened other than what he has been going through.

“He has had massive cranial surgery, especially on the right side. He will have additional operations at a later date to provide better structural stability to his cranium. He is in pain but receiving medication for it. Last week it was touch and go as to whether he would even live the doctors said. They say it is a miracle that he pulled through and that he is on the mend. The entire process will take a year or so. It is also a miracle that none of his motor skills have been affected.

“His partner Steve told me Randy had just left the theater where he saw Roundabout’s “Machinal” on 42nd Street. He was headed home from some after theatre VIP party and stopped by a bar in Hell’s Kitchen to pick up a few magazines to see if here could write for them. He was a few yards from his apartment when he was attacked.

“There have been a lot of assaults and hate crimes in the Hell’s Kitchen area due to gentrification as well as a few gays bars opening in what was a kind of tough working class area. The detectives are pursuing this case heavily. Following TV coverage, a sketch of someone has been created. A possible witness has come forward and a security camera provided a license number.”