No Speed Bumps

A Scrapbook Memoriam of Great Charm

Angus Fitzroy

Toby McCutcheon

The other day, Art Mariano sent me the URL for a curious little 85 page scrapbook memorial put together by Angus Fitzroy to commemorate the thirty year relationship with his friend/lover (?) Toby McCutcheon.

I thought it was absolutely charming, if somewhat slight, but have found myself coming back to it over and over again. A sure sign of something of greater interest. And for a post.

The book charts the relationship between the two men in a potpourri of sketches, photographs, cards, magazine covers and stamps. Most are captioned - with pithy, erudite, thought-provoking, gay funny, or just plain quirky remarks.

There are images of the two friends at home in England. And in gay company. The comments here often reflect the particular humour of the period - like a photograph of two men dancing captioned 'Foxtrot anyone?'

There are pictures of Angus and Toby in all corners of the globe - from France to Cuba to Algeria to Athens to Istanbul to Egypt. One with the cute 'I was forever hungry in Hungary'.

Snaps of muscular athletic men, mostly from the athletics/health magazines of the day. One sticks in my mind - of a body builder whose nipples Angus has saliently 'annotated' with gold stars.

Tender reflections on the relationship - Will something of me survive? And ask 'What was that?' 'You?'

There are sketches of nudes - the one I love best is of a guy with a hard-on, captioned 'Surprise!'

This is the most easy and delicious document of gay social history.

Now I've probably overdone the inclusions but ...

Then, after all the gaiety and lovely lightness of the scrapbook, there is a final entry opposite a woodblock of a medieval knight ...

... which brings the notebook into closing dedicatory focus:

Dear Toby, you shall forever be my number one man. My knight in armour. You will forever shine in my dreams as hero. Galahad has nothing on you. I would rededicate myself to you over and over again for all time.

The perfect epitaph we'd all want our loved one to be able to write of us. Or vice versa!

After wiping the tear from your eye, were there any entries that particularly took your fancy?