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iiStory of 'Freak' accident
NN regory Gibson (r.) has made a career out of unearthing
$ ....... rare and valuable manuscripts, books and images.
ffi $ eut even he has never stumbled upon a cache like the
W one uncovered by dealer Bob Langmuir. In Gibson's
new book, "Hubert's Freaks'(Harcourt, $24), he details the
strange adventure of Langmuir, who bought fascinating freak
show material from several sources including okie, a self-
proclaimed Nigerian prince.
Hubert's Dime Museum and Flea Circus was once a Times
Square institution. But mixed in among stacks of old posterS,
address books, diaries and other ephemera was the truly
unexpected - lost images by the famed photographer Diane
Arbus.
How did you find out about Langnuir and all his strange
connections to Diane Arbus, such as his being in a life-
threatening car accident the same day Arbus committed
suicide?
I bumped into Bob four and a half years ago ... and him
telling me basically the story that's in this book over one long
night that went from the bar through dinner and me saying,
"Holy smokes, I'm in love with this story. lt's going in so many
directions, it has so many legs, it's like a centipede."
I suppose a story involving Diane Arbus and a freak show
is bound to be strange. But what happened when you gave
a reading at the Strand?
Okie the Nigerian prince was there and he challenged me
as to why I painted him as a criminal. I said, "l'm not a painter.
I I'm a nonfiction writer." There was some other clown there
who claimed he was the guy who found this stuff and not the
Nigerian prince.
Discovering a treasure like unknown Diane Arbus
photographs must be the drean of everyone in the
business.It's everybody's fantasy of opening that box and, "Oh my
God, it's the magic load and I just found it." But what happens
when you really do find it?
for Bob Langmuir, that meant an auction recently
that was called off at the last minute due to bizarre
circumstances involving a possible lawsuit.
As you can imagine, the effect on Bob, the consigner, has
been devastating. When it looked like it was going to be a
happy ending, I wrote that it was really strange that a tale
accompanied by this much strangeness should seem to end so
simBly and directly. I guess my instincts weren't far off.
Michaet Giltz
4-.),J " eg
iiStory of 'Freak' accident
NN regory Gibson (r.) has made a career out of unearthing
$ ....... rare and valuable manuscripts, books and images.
ffi $ eut even he has never stumbled upon a cache like the
W one uncovered by dealer Bob Langmuir. In Gibson's
new book, "Hubert's Freaks'(Harcourt, $24), he details the
strange adventure of Langmuir, who bought fascinating freak
show material from several sources including okie, a self-
proclaimed Nigerian prince.
Hubert's Dime Museum and Flea Circus was once a Times
Square institution. But mixed in among stacks of old posterS,
address books, diaries and other ephemera was the truly
unexpected - lost images by the famed photographer Diane
Arbus.
How did you find out about Langnuir and all his strange
connections to Diane Arbus, such as his being in a life-
threatening car accident the same day Arbus committed
suicide?
I bumped into Bob four and a half years ago ... and him
telling me basically the story that's in this book over one long
night that went from the bar through dinner and me saying,
"Holy smokes, I'm in love with this story. lt's going in so many
directions, it has so many legs, it's like a centipede."
I suppose a story involving Diane Arbus and a freak show
is bound to be strange. But what happened when you gave
a reading at the Strand?
Okie the Nigerian prince was there and he challenged me
as to why I painted him as a criminal. I said, "l'm not a painter.
I I'm a nonfiction writer." There was some other clown there
who claimed he was the guy who found this stuff and not the
Nigerian prince.
Discovering a treasure like unknown Diane Arbus
photographs must be the drean of everyone in the
business.It's everybody's fantasy of opening that box and, "Oh my
God, it's the magic load and I just found it." But what happens
when you really do find it?
for Bob Langmuir, that meant an auction recently
that was called off at the last minute due to bizarre
circumstances involving a possible lawsuit.
As you can imagine, the effect on Bob, the consigner, has
been devastating. When it looked like it was going to be a
happy ending, I wrote that it was really strange that a tale
accompanied by this much strangeness should seem to end so
simBly and directly. I guess my instincts weren't far off.
Michaet Giltz
4-.),J " eg