Tomie’s favorite hotel in NYC was the Mercer Hotel in Soho. He loved sitting in the lobby - reserved for hotel guests, celebrities, and models.
When he was designing a large room he planned to add onto his house, he tried to replicate a wall from the Mercer lobby in his new room. He called the completed room the Mercer Room.
Tomie was staying at the Mercer when Russell Crowe infamously threw a phone at a hotel clerk.
I scheduled Lasik surgery for my eyes in Montreal. I asked Tomie and a friend to accompany me as “nurses,” all expenses paid (health care is not cheap). I researched for weeks to find a Montreal hotel similar to the Mercer. I settled on the Hotel St. Paul, on the edge of Old Montreal. The Rolling Stones had stayed there. Why not Tomie?
We enjoyed the hotel so much that we returned for Tomie’s birthday with friends. Left to Right: Steve Ackerman, Bern Collins, me, Tomie, Jennette Stark (from Vancouver), Peter Collins.
Jennette wrote a poem for Tomie’s birthday. A Dale Carnegie graduate, she wanted to stand and recite it at dinner in the hotel, but I suggested she wait until breakfast to perform.
Across the street from the hotel was Bar a lunettes, an eyewear bar. At the time we were there, you sat at a counter, similar to one in a drinks bar, and the person behind the counter considered your face and brought frames to try on. Most of the frames were bold and from Europe. Tomie believed that eyeglasses were merely fashion accessories and he wanted to own as many as he could. He added to his collection of eyewear that day.
Our visits to Montreal, an easy drive from New London, were always so enjoyable. (Bob)
