Coca Crystal
Coca Crystal | |
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Born | Jacqueline Diamond December 21, 1947 Manhattan, New York, U.S |
Died | March 1, 2016 | (aged 68)
Occupation | Television personality |
Parent(s) | Jack Diamond Rita Dunn |
Part of a series on |
Anarchism |
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Coca Crystal (December 21, 1947 – March 1, 2016) was an American television personality,
Biography
Born as Jacqueline Diamond on December 21, 1947, to Jack Diamond, owner of J. Diamond Furs and Rita Dunn, a former fur model.[4] She was born in Manhattan and raised in Mamaroneck.[4]
Starting in 1969, she was a contributor to the East Village Other (EVO) and the name Coca Crystal was created as her pen name.[5] She would write about politics, women's issues and personal events, many of which earned her the title "slumgoddess".[6]
In 1975 she adopted her sisters mentally and physically handicapped son, Gustav Che Finkelstein, after her sister was arrested and imprisoned for possession of Hashish in Morocco. Gus got a “executive producer" credit and his babysitter was interviewed on her show. She cared for Gus up until her death.[2]
Her cable-access, weekly variety show television show The Coca Crystal Show: If I Can't Dance, You Can Keep Your Revolution would always start out with lighting a joint, oftentimes she would be pulling the joint from a flower pot and then smoking it.[3] She would talk about protests, anti-nuke activism, local and world news with special segment called Newborn News and invite a wide variety of guests. Some guests on her show included: Philip Glass, Debbie Harry, Abbie Hoffman, Judith Malina, Cesar Chavez, Dana Beal, Tiny Tim, and Tuli Kupferberg of the Fugs.[3][4] One of her frequent guests, Glenn O'Brien went on to host his own long running public-access television show, TV Party after he appeared on Coca's show.[7]
In April 1977, a woman claiming to be Crystal called the
In 2013, a play written, via interview with Coca Crystal and titled If I Can't Dance You Can Keep Your Revolution: The Coca Crystal Story was performed by Danielle Quisenberry.[8] The play was shown at Emerging Artists Theatre, TADA! Theater, and part of the East Village Theater Festival at Metropolitan Playhouse in New York City.[8][9][10]
Crystal died of respiratory failure on March 1, 2016, in Rochelle Park, New Jersey, at age 68.[4] In 2006 she was diagnosed with lung cancer and had struggled with many treatments prior to her passing.[2]
See also
- TV Party
- The Poetry Project's Public Access Poetry
- Potato Wolf TV by Collaborative Projects (COLAB)
- Jamie Davidovich's The Live! Show (1979-1984)
References
- ^ "Forgotten Female Saints of the Counterculture". Flavorwire. 10 April 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
- ^ a b c Oldershausen, Sasha Von (2012-05-13). "Coca Crystal, a Wild Child Turned 'Unconventional' Mother". Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
- ^ a b c Unconscious and Irrational (2009-03-21). "Coca Crystal's Dance Revolution". Unconscious and Irrational. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
- ^ from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
- ^ "RIP Coca Crystal". EV Grieve. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
- ^ "Recollections, Crystal". East Village Other. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
- ISBN 978-1783204229.
- ^ a b Maurer, Daniel. "On Stage, Coca Crystal Gets an East Village Other". The Local East Village. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
- ^ "If I Can't Dance You Can Keep Your Revolution: The Coca Crystal Story". allevents.in. Archived from the original on 2018-05-20. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
- ^ "One Woman Standing". Brown Paper Tickets (BPT). Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
External links
- Coca Crystal Video Recordings and Papers, Fales Library and Special Collections at New York University Special Collections
- Coca Crystal's Youtube videos
- Promo for The Coca Crystal Show: If I Can’t Dance, You Can Keep Your Revolution (1994)
- The final video: Coca Crystal Show (June 16, 1995)