The Lion d'Or

Is that a Sharpie in your pocket or are just pleased to see me?



Roy with MarciaLouise





The knife that was auctioned





Reading the poem



Auctioning the "Été" jacket

<< click on all images to enlarge >>

"I drove to Montreal Thursday afternoon to meet "the gang" at Pacini restaurant for supper. It was a beautiful drive in the sunshine and I enjoyed viewing the last flush of autumn colours. I was only the third person to arrive and was greeted warmly by Carol and Darlene. It was fun to watch as people arrived and hugged and caught up with each other...just like a family reunion... and from there on I felt like I had come home. Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming to me -it was as if I had known these people forever. I sat across from Michel and Glorita and enjoyed there banter very much (Michel seems to be quite a "teaser" and always has a twinkle in his eye!). I recounted "my story of how I became a Roy fan" over to each one who asked me and I asked them about their stories too. I was fascinated by all these great people from the four corners of the world - who were all drawn, like me, by the incredible magnetism of Roy Dupuis. We were all joining together at this one place in time and space because of Roy and his love for his Rivers - how magical! I was told over and over again how excited they were for me and for Lyn (the only other "RV" at this gathering). They were thrilled for us that it was our first time to meet Roy. They told Lyn and me so many wonderful stories about him that I just could not believe it...could he really be as amazing as they made him sound?? I could hardly sleep that night wondering what Friday would be like...

Friday we gathered again at Aux Petit Extra at midday. We were in a private dining room at the back. I felt so lucky that it was going to be such an intimate gathering (only three tables of about six each) for my "first time".

I must stop here and single out Maxine for all her work and dedication - THANK YOU MAXINE FOR ALL YOU ARE AND FOR ALL YOU DO FOR THE FOUNDATION! You are an exceptional person! So organized, so kind, so welcoming, so sweet! I just cannot say enough about her...

Maxine formally welcomed us all and gave us our Rivers Foundation package which had treats - the best treat being a beautiful picture of Roy from "Un Été" that Michel had taken (she said Roy had chosen it as his favourite). Thanks Michel! We immediately settled down to watch the filmed copy of a live performance of "Blasté" (unfortunately, the film was still being edited and we did not get to see the last act of the play, but I knew the basic story from reading about it on RDO so it wasn't like I did not know how it ended). It was a powerful, hard-hitting play and the performances by Roy and Céline were excellent. The third actor was ok but I did not get connected to him as much, I am not sure why. I did not feel as much emotion from him...I would like to see the film again once it is completed so I could take my time, watch it repeatedly, and to think about it. (I wonder if copies might be made available to us???) It was very thought provoking and I can see why any actor, committed to excellence (like Roy), would be eager to tackle such a challenge. (One funny moment: during a particularly gruesome abusive scene between Roy's character and the soldier (Roy was on his knees, if you know what I mean...)...someone opened the door and looked into our dining room...and retreated and closed it again very quickly!!! We laughed about that afterwards..."what kind of a group is meeting in there???").

So...Roy walked into the room and...my first thought was: "Shorter than I thought." and my second thought was: "What a smile!" and third: "He is even more gorgeous in person!"   He seemed very relaxed and at ease with everyone and (yes, some of you guessed correctly) he was wearing jeans, the yellow plaid shirt and the "old-faithful" leather jacket (and his black cap turned backwards - my only small disappointment was that I could not see all his hair!) I hoped that he'd have been almost clean-shaven like he was in the summer but I knew that as he had had some time off that he would have a beard - but it was not too long ...and looked great of course!

Our table was the last he visited so I had some time to wait...I thought I was doing ok, we were chatting (I could watch him in a mirror across the room which I did now and then...I could not believe he was in the same room with me!!!... and he was talking and laughing a lot so they seemed to be having lively discussions). Then he was in front of me and shaking my hand! I thought I was going to explode!   (so much for thinking I was going to be ok...) I have never felt such a RUSH of heat!   When he looked directly into my eyes it was like looking directly into the sun - I was BLINDED!  I wanted to just stop time and stare at him...but I tried very hard to get control and speak normally when he spoke to me. Once his gaze moved on to the next person I was able to start breathing again! We talked about "Blasté" (he told us how exhausting it was to do, how he would wake up each day with the character weighing heavily on him - tense, troubled, with knots in his stomach, and would not feel the weight lift until the performance ended each night.) He was asked how he found his way around the stage in the dark in all the blackout scenes - did he ever worry about falling off the stage? He said he did fall off once during rehearsal: "And it really hurt!" (But, thank God, no serious damage to Our Beautiful Roy!). He told us about getting caught in a storm at sea while sailing his boat this summer (he found it exhilarating and he and the boat came thru it ok). Our time together seemed so short (but I know we were very lucky to have more time than he could usually give at a larger gathering) and then it was time for pictures (I was amazed to see that in the picture with him my face was not **purple** - but I had very rosy cheeks! No need for makeup to give me colour!) and before he left the room, Roy made the point of shaking every one's hand ( he said to me: "I will see you later"...Yes you will!). He is such a gentleman!

We had to eat our delicious supper in a rush unfortunately because the visiting had run overtime and we were due next door at the Lion D'Or for the Soirée. It is a pretty venue - not large, very European in decor - with bistro style tables. I can't speak for the others, but I felt very special being ushered directly to our reserved table at the front! (again, thank you to Maxine and all the Foundation people who kept thanking US for being there and telling US how important we were - "Au Contraire" - I felt so grateful to ROY AND THEM!!!) At one point, the pretty blonde girl who is the Director-General of Rivers Foundation, Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny, publicly thanked all "Les Fans de Roy" for our support of RF and had us stand up for a round of applause by the audience! It brought a tear to my eye... It was a wonderful evening - with several good performers (I especially enjoyed the Jazz Trio and Yann Perreau), the MC was very funny (mostly all was in French and I translated sometimes for Karen who was sitting next to me and she said "hey, I'm going to sit next to you every time!" but they did try to make a point of speaking in English sometimes to make us feel welcome, which was very kind) and, of course, there was Roy. He seemed to be having a good time (a lot of joking and laughing) and his reading of a poem about the rivers (accompanied by a cellist) was my highlight! (again, I started to "tear up" because it was so beautiful)...Roy was visibly moved as well as I noticed his hands were shaking the paper he was reading. (It could not have been nerves (???), being the seasoned performer that he is, so I think it was emotion - you can tell he feels so deeply about this cause!)

One of the moments I will most cherish of the Soirée is when Roy came down into the audience and escorted a very elderly man up to the stage (at the time I did not know this was Frédéric Back, the Oscar-winning Animator who is revered as the "Father of Environmentalism" in Quebec, who also designed the logo for the Rivers Foundation). Roy was SO gentle and respectful with this man who was bent over and frail with arthritis (he supported his arm and walked a bit ahead of him to remove any obstacles in his way), it was extremely touching to see...What a gentleman! 

The Soirée came to an end with all the performers together on stage singing (with the audience joining in) "What a Wonderful World" - a positive high note to end on! I did not want to leave when it was over as I knew I would not be seeing "the gang" the next day...there were lots of hugs (and, of course, kissing on both cheeks in the "continental" way with Michel!) and promises to keep in touch and then I thought: "well, I guess I must go"...but Maxine came to the rescue and insisted we stay put as Roy wanted to say good-bye to us!!! Sigh!! 

Roy had come down into the audience again and was totally surrounded by Quebecois young people eager to speak with him (it seemed to me most of the audience was in their 20's or 30's - which is encouraging, that they are interested in the environment!) and Maxine was trying to gently ease him out of the "crush". Eventually one of our group said: "oh no, Roy is gone!" and I figured he had "run for his life" from the crowd...but again, Maxine came over and said he had just gone outside for a cigarette break and we should follow her out to him. There he was on the sidewalk, again, surrounded by admirers who just wanted " one more word or look" (can't blame them!) Poor Roy! But, as I have already quickly learned , Roy was his usual "gentlemanly self" - calm, cool and gracious with everyone. When it was my turn to thank him I took the opportunity to congratulate him on the performance of the poem and asked him if he wrote it. He said it was a compilation of parts of poems by several Quebecois poets. I told him it was a highlight of the show and he smiled and quietly said "thank you"...then I shook his hand and thanked him so VERY MUCH for the beautiful day full of beautiful memories that he had given me..."Avec plaisir" he said ("my pleasure") OMG! What a SWEET MAN!

I thought I would sleep well that night (as I had not slept more than 3 hrs a night for days in anticipation) from pure exhaustion but...I was TOO HIGH ON ROY! In fact, I was still high driving home the next day and the 3.5 hours passed like 3.5 minutes...I could not get the "stupid grin" off my face!

Our "Heroine" is a very happy lady now - changed, for the better, for all time - meeting Roy made me feel...how can I best describe it?...it's like in that movie "As Good as it Gets" (with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt) where the "crazy man" says to the kind, gentle lady he is obsessed with : "You make me want to be a better man"... Roy makes me want to be a better person! What a gift he has to inspire people!!