Chapter 11: Cast a Giant Shadow - Part 1

Victor, narrating a fashion show.

Jaye decided retire after a boyfriend proposed, so I booked her one last time at the Penthouse and a "lesbian show" stag with Layna at a client's home.

I did my first "grad gown" bridal show on March 4, 1989 with two Asian designers working at 250 West Broadway. To be done in the Holiday Inn ballroom, the show also involved Black & Lee Formal Wear, a florist, hair and make-up artists, with tickets sold of which I was to take 10%.

Unfortunately, the show failed and I had to sue the designers, who had refused to pay. After a couple of mediocre productions, I had to sue another client who didn't pay because there was hardly anyone watching. This inability to draw large crowds put me in debt for the first time, and affected why I couldn't get Colleen Savage more money, because she couldn't bring in audiences singing in the Richmond Inn Lounge.

Jaye called me in August, needing help to escape from an abusive relationship. I had just signed to produce the Cloverdale Fair Fashion Shows. Unable to help at the time, and needing to spend two hours on HandyDART going back and forth, my skill was affected. The Cloverdale Fair shows failed because I was short of models, exhausted, and couldn't focus, working with an "I" ramp built in a grassy area. These shows were the worst of my career.

By the time I got back to Jaye, her phone was disconnected. It was Patrick Martin who found her years later and planned to reunite us, until he died of a heart attack in 2006. Jaye East was the most important woman I ever worked with. My career has never been the same since losing her.

Being in debt, I had to let my secretary of six years go and I even stayed overnight at the office a few times getting gigs for Colleen to sing at Jake O'Grady's and the UBC Faculty Club. I re-read Frank Sinatra's biography, and knew I just needed a good, major show to get me over this slump, like how "From Here to Eternity" (1953) had saved Sinatra's career. Despite being in debt, I didn't panic or lower my values, relating to Burt Lancaster or Montgomery Cliff's character in "From Here to Eternity", who didn't give in either even if it meant losing people they loved. That's why it's my favourite movie of all time.

Learning the Blues

Cynthia Seeser

At 30 years old, Cynthia Seeser was considered by former agent John Casablanca's to be washed up and unable to make money for them. I met her in February 1990 while eating lunch at the Bombay Bicycle Club where she worked. Cynthia was German-Italian, a Jane Seymour look-a-like who became the epitome of a Victor Dino  model – beautiful, elegant and mysterious with terrific legs and pretty feet, whom one couldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

I gave Cynthia a lead model position, sending her to pose for Gunther Pichler, who shot flyers for The Bay and Field's. We did our first "scuba dive" demonstration show presented by Dive & Sea Sport at the Deep Cove Yacht Club where, after being in the water, she modeled wetsuits, drysuits and apres wear.

The success of that show was followed by equally good productions at the Wedgewood and Rigney's Bar, but by then Ernie Malick, who had taken control of the Granville Island Hotel, demanded I produce a show on a Sunday afternoon. I agreed, provided he promote the event. This wasn't done, so the show failed. This made Malick try to bar me from entering the hotel again.

Heather was kicked out of her home for being pregnant that summer while I was suing the Cobalt Bar for firing Hilary because they wanted a bigger name that wasn't agreed upon. I became a second father to Heather, who often needed advice, even if I had my own problems.

Despite the lawsuits, I carried on, taking on Stacie Steele, a lively R&B singer, and doing another show with Bev Boys Sports at Richards, though with fewer people in attendance. I teamed with a Japanese agency, sending Tara Scurr, an Audrey Hepburn look-a-like, to Tokyo, then bringing her back before Christmas because they couldn't guarantee regular work there. I ended 1990 still in debt but determined to find my own "From Here to  Eternity".

I stopped doing fashion shows at Richards, The Bayshore, and The Wedgewood in 1991, when old clients Primavera, Suzie's Lingerie and Bev Boys Sports closed or were bought out. So, I had to find new and creative ways to satisfy existing connections.

Linda Thulin

Linda Thulin finally retired after seven years. She had become a successful hairstylist and felt it was time to move on. I was proud of her. A month later, Layna chose to retire, doing one final  "lesbian show" with Tracie, an Angie Dickinson look-a-like lover, so that by April, all of my team from the early 1980's were gone.

I carried on with good productions at Club Soda and the Brentwood Racquet Club, even if it meant being carried two flights of stairs. I did another scuba dive demonstration with Cynthia again modeling apres attire barefoot in front of Deep Cove Yacht Club members. I kept pushing Cynthia, who posed to do edgy outdoor photos for Bill Almond and John Thomson, while I found work for Stacie Steele and Colleen Savage at Jake O'Grady's and the UBC Facility Club respectively.

In the fall of 1991, I moved my office to 850 West Hastings (despite still being in debt) and had hope for new possibilities, beginning in the New Year.

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My mother died on April 18th, 1992 with Susan in attendance. She had been ill for a long time after suffering a stroke, but my Father never left her side. He arranged for home care and even stopped working for a year; completely devoted to making sure she was looked after. It was an example of unselfish love that helped me later when Martina got sick.

We buried Mom at Ocean View Cemetery, making me cry like I hadn't done since Susan got married, nine years earlier. Composing myself, I did a third scuba dive demonstration at the Deep Cove Yacht Club, using the same format: Cynthia in the water, then modeling après attire barefoot in front of an appreciative audience. I spent my 35th birthday with Susan and focused on dealing with legal matters, winning every case, then paying creditors, and not doing any other shows that year.

Put Your Dreams Away

Between 1983 and 1988, I had produced over 85 fashion shows. Since Jaye retired in 1989, I had only done twenty-two productions and now, more than ever, I began 1993 with a "grad gown" fashion show, involving Black & Lee Formal Wear and Chantilly Bridal Boutique, having kids from Carson Graham High School model the outfits as a fundraiser with me taking 10% of the sales. With Heather as choreographer and Cynthia as commentator, the show, held in the school gym, was a smash and the most satisfying event since my first scuba diving demonstration with Cynthia three years earlier. It was covered by the North Shore News, who took pictures and asked, "Why couldn't anyone do such a show before?"