THE FILE ON STORMY FOSTER
A Cartoon Movie Serial in Twelve Chapters
CHAPTER EIGHT:
“MAGIC BIRD OF FIRE”
TIME AND PLACE:
HAWAII, 1990 (and in flashback, 1943)
CAST OF CHARACTERS:
FREDDY BANG, the STUDIO OWNER
IRENE BANG, the CLUB OWNER
FANNIE FOSTER, the MUSIC DIRECTOR
STORMY FOSTER, the GREAT DEFENDER
MAMO, the HIGH PRIESTESS
TONI SANTAMARÍA, the LEAD SINGER
BASIL SINGAPORE, the DECOY
SNOOKS, the PARROT
Basil Singapore here. Today I want to clarify what my relationship with the man known as Stormy Foster was, as well as answer some questions that you probably have about his elemental powers. I’ll explain how he got them, and also how he ultimately lost them.
But first, let me give you some context about me and my wife Irene.
We’ve been married since 1945. We were one of countless “lavender couples” who wed to hide our sexuality from a hostile world. It was one way that Lesbians and Gay men could live normal lives back then. Marriage gave us a pass into the heterosexual world and protected us from persecution. That protection was especially important to me! I came to Hawaii as a visitor from not just a Gay-affirming society, but a society made up entirely of Gay people. Such persecution was inconceivable there, and I was ill-prepared to deal with it.
Irene and I are husband and wife in every way but sexual; growing old with her has been a joy, even though we live apart for much of the year. We love our children and grandchildren, and we love each other; neither of us has any regrets. The only downside of marriage was presenting a false face to the public, but we never lied to each other or to our LesBiGay brothers and sisters. For many years, our homes and various businesses were safe spaces for Gay activists. Irene was an activist when I met her during World War II; I became one later on. The Great Defender was responsible for both her activism and mine.
I’ve told you how I met him in 1942, when he sojourned on Pajaro Island to escape pursuit. The island had been my home for many years by then. He lived with me and my Kauwani brothers in a communal house for several months. We called him by his true surname “Absalom”. I was there when the Kauwa faith elders declared Absalom a religious icon. I saw him transformed from an ordinary man into an emissary of our gods. I’m probably the only one still alive who can explain the divine gifts that he possessed.
My explanation will be difficult for laypersons to accept; but for those of us steeped in the Kauwa faith, his story is akin to that of Jesus Christ from the Christian Bible. He was our Messiah! And not only for us, but for Hawaii's entire Lesbian and Gay population. He spearheaded the fight against Deacon Diamond, that evil "Christian" evangelist who wanted to herd us all into concentration camps.
Absalom left us, but his name never left the lips of the Kanaka Tanga – an ancient name for our homosexual race. You see, the Akua was a legendary figure in our religion, and his arrival signaled a major turning point in our history. Just how major was something that only the queen and the elders knew, and they kept that knowledge secret; but after Absalom’s departure the people pressed to know more about him and his amazing powers. Gradually, Mamo and the elders divulged some of the information we sought.
STORMY FOSTER’S ELEMENTAL POWERS
For most converts to the Kauwa religion, passing the sacred tests of faith opened the door to eternal life; successful initiates became what you would understand to be immortal. However, when an Akua passed these tests, he or she was also given limited control over the natural environment. The Fire Test resulted in the ability to control flame; the Water Test enabled control over tides, and so on. These powers were dormant until activated in a special ceremony conducted by our queen, Pajaro Hina.
It was written that a Magic Bird of Fire, the same one who had led our people to their secret island refuge, would accompany the Akua on his holy mission. That bird was none other than Pajaro Hina, who had the power to change her shape. Yes, she was the parrot that Absalom called Snooks! She masqueraded as his pet, but she was actually his spirit guide, mentor and overseer. The queen was to him what she had been to the Kanaka Tanga eons ago, when she helped them escape the murderous Maka Inana.
In her bird guise, the queen shared something like a telepathic connection with the Akua. This connection gave her the ability to change his appearance and channel his powers over long distances. She could also return those powers to a dormant state. That would happen whenever Absalom wasn’t involved in activities that furthered his mission.
As a punishment, the queen could also revoke the Akua's powers. That would happen if he abandoned his mission before it was completed, or if he took someone’s life. If a disgraced missionary prayed fervently to our gods, Mother Penis and Father Vagina, and begged their forgiveness, this punishment could be lifted. However, there was no guarantee; it was up to the gods’ discretion.
But as I said, there were aspects of the Akua legend that were never explained to us. We weren’t told why the Akua wasn’t an exclusively same-sex-attracted person like we were. We weren’t told what his arrival meant for Pajaro Island; and we weren’t told if our queen would ever return to us. After Pajaro Hina left with Absalom, Mamo took over her royal duties; for how long this would be, we didn’t know. We grieved the queen’s absence, but we had to accept the will of the gods.
1943 RHUMBA CHILDREN SOUNDIE
Irene here! Basil needs to visit the little boy’s room, OK? So while he does that, I’ll talk about some rare film that features Stormy Foster. To my knowledge, there’s no footage of The Great Defender performing his amazing feats, and that’s a shame. I also regret never shooting any home movies of Stormy. However, four clips of him performing with Rhumba Children have survived. How that footage came to be is an interesting story.
Back in the 1940s, “Soundies” were a thing. They were the precursor of today’s music videos: Little film clips that you played on special jukeboxes with view screens installed in them. A lot of wartime musical acts promoted themselves with Soundies. By late 1943, there were a few of those jukeboxes in Hawaii. It was my idea that Rhumba Children should do some promotional films; I was confident that their floor show from my nightclub, The China-Bahama, would translate well to that medium.
Soundies were filmed on the mainland, mostly on the coasts. Not that I was cheap, but I didn’t want to spend the money to fly everybody to California or wherever! My brother Freddy said, “Why don’t we film them here at my studio? I can get hold of all the equipment we need.” So we recreated China-Bahama’s stage on the ground floor of Baby Grand Recording Services. I selected the on-camera wardrobe, my choreographer Theresita Carmen whipped up some fancy dance steps for the Children, and their music director Fannie Foster wrote brand new song arrangements.
In the early planning stages, Freddy decided to film in color. Most Soundies were cheaply made and they looked it; we were on a tight budget, too, but God forbid that anyone should notice! Not with what I knew about staging from having run a nightclub, what Fannie knew about scene lighting from her years as an actress, and what Freddy had learned about creating special effects on film. Our Rhumba Children clips were going to knock Soundie production values up a notch, as well as give both the group and my club some great promotional vehicles.
We worked very fast: All four clips were shot on a single Saturday morning and afternoon. One of them débuted an unreleased tune called “Rhumba King”. Stormy sang lead on that and "Loose Lucy" and Toni Santamaría was featured on "Love Potion" and "Hold Me, Squeeze Me". We got marvelous close-ups of Fannie, Pryce Rand and Laird Douglas, Jr. playing the living daylights out of their instruments! Nothing was pre-recorded; it was all live music and dancing, just like a night at the club. Very spontaneous and exciting, and it only took a few hours to get what we wanted. Later that month, we screened our clips for a private audience and they got a very good response.
But we felt like complete fools after presenting them to the Soundies people. The technology in their jukeboxes couldn’t reproduce color! Freddy offered to refit the ones in Honolulu for color projection, but they had some objection or other to doing that. We also got pushback from mainland production companies that dominated the Soundies market. Long story short, Toni Santamaría’s Rhumba Children, Volumes 1 - 4 were only available in Hawaii, and only for a short time. Freddy hated how the clips looked in monochrome, so we had them withdrawn from circulation after just a few weeks.
We were going to go back and re-film them in black-and-white, but Doug - that’s Laird Douglas, Jr - got drafted and had to leave the group. By the time Basil replaced him, we’d moved on to other projects. The film negatives were lost for many years, but I found them among Freddy’s effects. Basil and I are in the process of digitally upgrading the sound and restoring the faded color; when our restorations are complete, we’ll donate the footage to the Hawaiian Gay Archive . . . oh, Basil is back now.
BASIL SINGAPORE JOINS
RHUMBA CHILDREN
Thank you, my darling. From the first time I saw Absalom, I was in love with him! We eventually became intimate, but it took time for our relationship to develop. As we’ve told you, the Kanaka Tanga was a homo-social and polygamous society; all the men were Gay, all the women were Lesbians, and everyone had multiple same-sex partners. However, the sexual act had religious significance; it was not recreational!
There was physical attraction but not lust; free love but not promiscuity.
It’s really impossible for heterosexual people to understand our kind of sexuality. Having sex with another man or another woman is a form of prayer to our gods! And it takes love to make love; every Kauwani knows this. Two or more people must have a true and noble feeling for one another. If it’s lacking, then the sexual act demeans those who engage in it.
At first, Absalom did not understand; he thought we were just “getting our rocks off” as he used to say. Even though we were eager to initiate him into our customs, we had to wait until he acquired the right attitude.
All traces of shame had to be banished from his mind; he had to feel what we felt.
He knew how to have sex with other men, but had no real concept of what Gay relationships were. I remember how he didn’t think men should "waste time" with kissing and cuddling. That was shocking to us! He didn’t believe we could or should have tender feelings for each other.
We had to disable all the homophobia and heterosexism that the Maka Inana had taught him. He was somewhat resistant to change, but ultimately Absalom’s heart proved open to Kauwa teachings. When that change of heart became clear to us, we welcomed him into our loving circle. We showed him that same-sex lovemaking was the pathway to a divine state.
Absalom had many, what you would call “love affairs” with brothers on the island. I believe I was the last one to make love with him. Our connection was intense and enduring, and I thought we were well on our way to becoming life partners! But he could not make that commitment; it broke my heart, the day he told me. He still longed for a heterosexual union with a woman! That’s when I knew he would not, could not remain on Pajaro Island. There was no life partner for him there.
FIRST CONTACT SHEET:
STORMY FOSTER NUDES
Everyone assumed that The Great Defender was a homosexual man, but that wasn’t so. I considered him bisexual but bisexuality was barely talked about in the 1940s; and at any rate, Absalom didn’t identify either way. He described himself simply as “a guy who digs girls” but who was “fine” with having male lovers, too. He was a true convert to the Kauwa religion and sincerely believed that same-sex love was holy; but Absalom was honest about his feelings, and I know he wouldn’t want to be remembered as Gay. Just as a committed advocate for Lesbian and Gay equality, and he was unquestionably that!
After Absalom left our island, I missed him terribly. Finally, I couldn’t stand living without him any longer. I decided to go back to Hawaii, where I’d come from many years earlier, and against the odds get him to reconsider becoming my aikane, or husband. When I traced his whereabouts to Club China-Bahama and went there, my heart sank: I saw that he was deeply infatuated with Irene. But when I realized that Irene was a Lesbian, it made me hopeful that my love could still conquer his heart. I was determined to stay near Absalom, and I found an opportunity to do so.
PROMO FOR THE 1943 DANCE DATE
WITH RHUMBA CHILDREN ALBUM
Laird Douglas, Jr, the conga drummer for Rhumba Children, left the group shortly before I arrived in Honolulu. When I learned that Irene was looking for a replacement, I approached her and lobbied for the job. I’d been a professional folk musician before going to reside on Pajaro Island, and I’d kept my skills up playing at religious ceremonies and festivals.
So I auditioned for Irene, and then for Toni Santamaría and Fannie Foster, who jointly made decisions for the group. They hired me and I remember jumping in at the deep end: Their third album had just been released, and I had to learn those new songs in addition to their older repertoire. They also had a special show coming up, a performance for the USO.
It was a hectic pace!
However, I quickly adapted my drumming style to their Latin-flavored music. I liked their sound, and their bawdy songs reminded me of Polynesian folk music. I wasn't expected to sing very much, but everybody in the group danced; Irene's choreographer put me through my paces. I worked hard to bring myself up to speed, but in the end I very much enjoyed performing with Toni, Fannie and Pryce Rand as well as Absalom. By then, of course, he was widely known by his stage name, Stormy Foster.
Absalom was both surprised and delighted that we’d be working together. Not only did he know what I was up to, he didn’t rebuff my advances. In fact, we began making love again almost immediately! How I had missed his embrace; I cherished the memory of it, and still do. He told me I was the best lover he’d ever had and I became more confident in my plans; but nothing changed. He couldn't envision a same-sex marriage for himself. Absalom was devoted to Irene even though they had yet to make love and probably never would! So I resigned myself to being his friend-with-benefits: that’s what they’d call our on-again, off-again sexual relationship today.
I was the only member of Rhumba Children who knew about Absalom's super powers and his costumed identity as The Great Defender. Of course, Irene and her brother Freddy knew, too, and they were helping him in his crusade against Nazi propaganda. At Irene’s request, I took part in The Great Defender’s secret radio broadcasts from Freddy’s recording studio. I made sure the Kauwa doctrine quoted in his speeches was accurate, and sometimes I would make that content even stronger than Absalom intended. I'd helped to teach him what Gay Pride was, and I wanted to do the same for others who were raised to believe heterosexist lies.
I’d also accompany Absalom on bongó drums when he sang his self-composed Gay Pride anthems. Sometimes we harmonized, too; but according to Irene, my most important job was keeping his costume clean! Somehow, that task fell to me! Maybe that was serendipitous, because there was one time when I had to wear the costume myself.
Adolph Hitler’s fifth column reached very high into American government; there were even people in the War Department working against the Allies. To this day, some of the infiltrators have gone unidentified and unpunished. The Nazis went after anybody who was corruptible! So it should come as no surprise that Hitler had one of the most corrupt government officials of all-time in his power: J. Edgar Hoover!
What I’m about to tell you comes from the late Jeff June, who was the personal assistant of Deacon Diamond. I knew Jeff, but not well; Absalom convinced him to become an informer for the Allies. Several times, he overheard conversations between the Deacon and Wilbur von Schweiss, Hitler’s man in Hawaii. Those conversations confirmed rumors that have persisted for decades: That J. Edgar Hoover was a closeted Gay man and a cross-dresser! And this fact was known to Hitler during the war.
One of Hoover’s closest associates was a Nazi spy. He managed to get evidence of Hoover’s sensational secret and put it in the hands of the German Gestapo. They blackmailed the FBI director into doing certain favors for them. One was ferreting out the identity of The Great Defender! Von Schweiss had been sending reports of Absalom’s exploits to Berlin, and they’d caused great concern. The Gestapo ordered Hoover to put his men on the job and track him down. They almost did, and I was the cause of that!
As I’ve said, Absalom and I resumed our intimate relationship shortly after I joined Rhumba Children. Sometimes, he’d come to my apartment after a late night of chasing vigilantes and foiling police raids on Gay meeting places. We would make love and play the kind of lover’s games that were common on Pajaro Island; but I made the grave mistake of capturing one of them on film.
SECOND CONTACT SHEET:
STORMY FOSTER NUDES
In her parrot guise, Pajaro Hina was The Great Defender’s constant companion but she was never there when he visited me. Without her magic to transform him back into his true identity, he had to remove his costume himself (and it was usually on those occasions that I would launder it for him)! One night when Absalom arrived at my apartment, I was waiting for him, naked and in bed. I called to him from my bedroom. As he sauntered in, he began performing a slow striptease. I had my camera sitting on the bedside table, and I grabbed it.
I snapped pictures of him as he stripped off his Great Defender mask and uniform; and after we had sex, I snapped him again in the shower.
Then I got a few more pictures of Absalom laying on my bed.
It was a spur-of-the-moment thing; knowing that I’d only have him for a little while longer, I wanted some keepsakes to cherish. Obviously, I needed to develop those nudes myself; after I did, I shared them with Absalom, and then locked them in my desk drawer. Imagine my shock when I returned home one evening to find that someone had broken in, sprung the lock on my desk and stolen the photos! The next day, FBI agents came to Club China-Bahama during rehearsal and arrested Stormy Foster! Absalom's FBI file reveals that Hoover’s men had narrowed their search down to him and a handful of other possibilities. The agents took him to an undisclosed location, brandished those photos and tried to sweat a confession out of him.
J. EDGAR HOOVER FINGERS
STORMY FOSTER!
The Defender was really up shit creek, as he used to say; he didn’t dare use his powers in that situation, and he could only get out of it with a good alibi. All of us were worried sick; we didn’t know where he was! However, Pajaro Hina came to me later that day. The queen reclaimed her human form long enough to tell me, in the Kauwa language, where Absalom was. Then she told me her plan to free him from his captors. She wanted me to impersonate the Great Defender!
She reverted to her bird form, and I felt a change come over me. I looked down and saw that I was wearing Absalom’s costume! The Magic Bird of Fire spread her wings and I was miraculously lifted into the air. The invisible wings on The Great Defender’s costume harness made it possible for me to fly, but I was unaccustomed to flight; the queen had to give me what they call a “crash course” and it really was! I got banged up quite a bit.
BASIL SINGAPORE AND SNOOKS
TO THE RESCUE!
Once I learned how to steady myself, we flew to a house on what is now called Kahanamoku Beach. Absalom was being held inside that beach house. “Snooks” screeched loudly so that he would know she had arrived. As the queen and I hovered high in the air, her colorful plumage changed to bright silver. Seconds later, lightning bolts came down out of the sky and obliterated that structure!
The explosion was deafening; dozens of bathers came running down the beach to see what had happened. Amid the smoking wreckage, I saw FBI agents sprawled around, dazed but uninjured. Absalom was there, too; he looked like he’d been knocked unconscious. I later learned that he was shamming.
Per the queen’s prior instructions, I shouted down to the agents: Fools! You’ve got the wrong man! You’ll never catch me! I imitated the high, girlish voice Absalom used when he was on the radio. One of the FBI men managed to grab his gun and take a shot at me, but I was far out of range. My job was done, so the queen guided me to a secluded area. Pajaro Hina changed back to her human form, and suddenly I was in street clothes again.
So this is what happened: Using mental telepathy, the queen and Absalom conceived a plan to deceive the FBI. I’m taller than he was, but we looked enough alike that I could impersonate him from a distance. Pajaro Hina put me in his costume and took me to where he was being held. Then the queen channeled The Great Defender’s Akua power and used it to destroy the beach house. She took care not to injure anyone, but Absalom pretended to be hurt. I stayed around just long enough for the FBI men to see me, hear me and assume that I was responsible for the destruction.
THIRD CONTACT SHEET:
STORMY FOSTER NUDES
Absalom had admitted to the agents that I’d taken those nude pictures. However, he told them they were for his girlfriend! They were meant as a gag, a spicy gift that they could share in private; he was going to make a booklet out of those photos, but they were seized before he had the chance. The feds didn’t believe him until I showed up in costume and threw them off his trail. They could no longer accuse him of being The Great Defender, so they let him go; but they never gave the pictures back! Somehow, those snapshots ended up in Deacon Diamond’s possession; they were later found among his effects.
Absalom and I didn’t meet anymore after that; it was just too dangerous! Besides, by then he’d told Irene how he felt about her. She had been politely deflecting his amorous overtures, but now it was important that they be perceived as a couple. FBI agents had actually questioned Irene before they took Absalom into custody; wisely, she thought it best to confirm having a romance with him. The two started being seen together in public, and on Christmas Eve 1943, they announced their wedding engagement.
By that time, I had started writing musical arrangements for Todd Yamaha’s orchestra; I needed something else to do now that Absalom and I weren’t spending time together anymore. I just buried myself in work; I didn’t want anybody to suspect how heartsick I was. Absalom was getting married, but not to me! Bitterness filled my heart; how I resented the ways of Maka Inana society! I vowed that, if I couldn't marry the man I loved, I wouldn’t be anybody’s husband. Little did I suspect that marriage was in my very near future, and that the love of my life and his would turn out to be the same person!
You've just read Chapter Eight! Click below to read
Seventh chapter in the Stormy Foster saga
Then be sure to read
Ninth chapter in the Stormy Foster saga
Concept by HAMPTON JACOBS and PATTY BALL
Art by STUFFED ANIMAL
Costumes by HENRIETTA la del BARRIO
Project Assistance by RODERICK MACK and DAVE PEARSON
Text by HAMPTON JACOBS