Curator } Has Memorabilia From Rock Hudson His Lover Christian-( Do U Know if He Died of AIDS?))

With thanks to Andy: Martin Flaherty, a man who inherited most of Rock Hudson's belongings, has put together an extensive  .collection that is said to be unbelievable, dripping with minutiae to satisfy even the biggest Rockhead.

His site sells Rock's stuff—click here for a quick peek that might easily meld into browsing for hours. It's got incredible, everyday items of Rock's, as well as the personal effects of Rock's close friend, actor George Nader. We're talking about Nader's bronzed baby shoes and photos of his great-great grandparents.

And talk about pop eating itself—the site even offers Rock's fan mail for sale. Would be interesting to buy some letters and contact the authors to see what they've been up to for the past 40 or 50 years, if not decomposing.

And don't get me started on Rock Hudson's home movies (remember  the movie of the same name?), which are also up for grabs.

Still from one of Rock's home movies

In case you're thinking "how sad!", Flaherty says:

"It would have given both Rock Hudson and George Nader great pleasure to know that their personal possessions were now available to their fans."

Check out Flaherty here on The Will: Family Secrets Revealed, which includes recreations of Rock's life with Marc Christian that exquisitely filmed but beyond campy. (The actor portraying Christian is sexy but miscast—far too old.) Who knew Susan Stafford was one of Rock's besties?

Have to admit I have held a grudge against Rock—in the way we do with stars we don't know personally!—over his treatment of Christian. It could be the editing, but Flaherty seems to portray Christian as a spoiled boy toy (maybe he was, but hey, that's nothing new) undeserving of the lavish gifts Rock allegedly gave him, but what about the gift Rock could've given him? A shame that courts had to decide if people had a legal obligation to inform sexual partners they have new, totally incurable, fatal, sexually-transmitted disease. (Christian never got HIV from Rock, instead dying of a drug overdose a couple of years back.)

But I do still have a fascination for a gay man who made his way through Hollywood and society on his own terms in a time when being out was out of the question; he's definitely a major part of gay history.


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