Relatively early in his career, Bernie Taupin....poet/songwriter.....and his 'then' girlfriend, Maxine..who was just out of her teens at that time, stopped by my Booth at The Atlanta Flea Market, on Piedmont Road in Atlanta....Bernie had landed a 'big paycheck' share of the royalties from his then lyricist/performer/pianist's highly publicised LP Album that contained a couple of songs..referencing Bernie's infatuation with his and Elton's young costume designer, Maxine Feibelmann; and, Bernie had some cash in his wallet to spend during their first visit to Atlanta that summer of 1971.....and had promised some extravagances to his 'girl', Maxine..... Bernie wandered down the aisles of second-hand-stuff, while Maxine engaged me, flirtingly, in banter about Fashion and Costuming. I reveled her with some stories about my brief career at Saks 5th Ave, showing her some costume jewelry from the 1920's, which enthralled the young, ambitious woman....When I mentioned that there was a new-ish Museum in Athens, Ga....She asked if I'd like to go there, with her, to see the Erte' gowns that were, because of their perishability.....old, rotting silk.....kept, wrapped in acid-free paper and folded in boxes..and not 'on display'......So...why not?.....We left Bernie to hang out with Elton, finishing off some lyrical rewrites, and drove to Athens......The Museum Director was't too keen on accomodating us...of course....until we dropped a few names, leading him to think I was some important so-and-so apprentice Costume Collector and Maxine was the lover of a potentially very, very rich musician/singer/lyricist.....Anyway, the Erte' garb was hauled out and, after Maxine whined "Oh, please....PLEASE!....let me 'try on' this gorgeous Art Deco gown, Sir!".....She got her way.. Within minutes, she had stepped on the long gown's lace train and ripped it from its bodice!..... Maxine offered to 'pay for it'....to Buy It from the museum.....After that remark, we were asked to leave...So, we drove back to Atlanta....with, at least...for me, anyway....a Memory. Bernie swept Maxine back under their umbrella of Celebrity and they flew off to 'the next stop on Elton's tour'.....The Tiny Dancer and Bernie moved to Lincolnshire for a half decade of Luxury and Bernie's almost totally forgotten undertaking, TAUPIN....an LP of his poems to then-popular sitar music......I awaited a collaboration between him and Ravi Shankar....why not?... George Harrison did it, didn't he? I suppose that Maxine's hiding behind her Art Collections, careful not to regain notoriety.....after filling her coffers with a few million bucks, having auctioned off some of her memorabilia.....
