Utopia, by Louis Brown

(1) Who was Rosemary Gianuzzi?

(a) She was my close friend who lived in Whitestone, NY, with husband Frank Mershon.

(b)Rosemary is quadriplegic.

(c) She died last Tuesday of sepsis, blood-poisoning.

(d)She was an effective advocate for the rights of the physically disabled. That was her search for Utopia.


(2) The Paramahanda Yogananda Self-Realization Center is located on Garrison Street in Lakewood. These yoga people are searching for Nirvana, their spiritual utopia.

(3) Communists are Utopians. What was the psychology of Ho Chi Minh? Politically and in the area of ideology, he was a French communist. Did he achieve his version of Utopia? No. He died 9-2-1969 of congestive heart failure before the Tet Offensive was completed though that began Jan. 30- 1968.

(4) I heard that the Italian communists are helping and advising the communist rebels in Colombia, South America, that 1/3 of Colombia is run by the Communists, another 1/3 is run by the drug lords and the other 1/3 is run by the right-wing, so-called “pro-American” government.

(5) I also heard that southern Mexico is run by a communist insurgent force called the Chiapas. Is that still true?

(6) Venezuela. Nicolas Maduro claims to be a socialist, a sort of Utopian. He is still in business. Will he be able to maintain what he perceives as his utopia, a socialist Venezuela?

(7) My personal search for Utopia included trips to the Dominican Republic, Charleston, S. C., Nancy, France and more recently Wheat Ridge, CO. A lot of war protesters went to Canada in the 1970’s.

(8) Gay Utopias:

(a) Cherry Grove: a real estate venture that was started in the 1920’s. Although it is basically a summer resort, there turned out to be broader implications. It is or was a true gay and Lesbian Utopia. It consists of a long boardwalk, and grocery deliveries are made with a motorized wagon; but otherwise there are no automobiles or motorcycles. Just Nature and geographical isolation.

(b)Nearby Isle of Pines: an even grander seaside resort which is a utopia of bisexual homeowners.

(c) New Hope, PA, and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Like San Francisco the heterosexual majority is very tolerant of gay people and support our civil rights. The gay businesses are integrated into the whole community. 

Is this Utopia?

© 29 February 2018

I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City, Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA's. I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.