Stuart Oderman

Became friends with Lillian Gish after he wrote to her as a student studying at Keene University in 1961 and they remained friends until Lillian's death in 1993. In 2000 his book, 'Lillian Gish: A Life on Stage and Screen', was published.

[Describing his 1954 meeting of Lillian Gish at the Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1 at the Museum of Modern Art] I cut school one day so that I could come to this very theater to watch Broken Blossoms (1919). I was only 14 years old. I sit in my seat, look to my left and Ms. Gish is sitting right next to me. 'You belong in school,' she said to me. We started talking, and I told her that I loved silent movies and that I would love to have a job like Arthur Kleiner, who was the silent film pianist here at that time. Ms. Gish takes me right over to Mr. Kleiner, who took me under his wing and gave me piano lessons for the next two years.