The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.Ī blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. ![]() Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Unique and vividly written, the memoir effectively serves a dual purpose: to showcase the author’s life and exuberant pride as a Deaf individual and to bring increased awareness to the Deaf community by spotlighting “the beauty, power, magic of ASL.”Īn honest, heartfelt, and thoroughly memorable portrayal of growing up Deaf.Ī former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.ĭiscovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. He discusses how the creation of the book proved challenging during the conversion process from ASL into written English, noting how he used a method called “ASL gloss.” While DiMarco admits that the written translation naturally lacks much of the innate charm of the ASL experience, his continued advocacy remains critical to diminishing the awareness gap between hearing and Deaf communities. ![]() Interwoven throughout the narrative are pivotal moments in Deaf history and culture that have shaped the author as an individual. Once DiMarco’s star began to rise and he signed a reality show deal with Netflix, he became more comfortable coming out as sexually fluid. In his teens, an acute attraction toward other boys blossomed, and in college, his natural talent for modeling led to success on America’s Next Top Model and Dancing With the Stars-although he admits that the former became an unexpectedly isolating emotional journey. As a young man, DiMarco enjoyed playing Little League baseball while slowly developing a keen defensiveness against the taunting and mean-spiritedness he experienced in public school. He regularly left his hearing aids at home, preferring to use American Sign Language while attending a school for the Deaf where some of the teachers were against using it. DiMarco recalls his rascally childhood in Queens, a time characterized by immense curiosity, independence, and innocent wanderlust. “Nico and I had joined our older brother as the fourth generation to be born Deaf in our family,” writes the author. ![]() In his debut book, DiMarco begins with the complicated births of he and his twin brother, Nico, in 1989. ![]() The life and legacy of a Deaf model and activist.
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