As the sun set on Camp Vincent 2016 and a supermoon rose over the Malibu coast on Sunday (13 November), I feel so blessed to have spent the past 10 days celebrating the life and legacy of Vincent Price with a wonderful group of friends – and it ended so beautifully.
But first, on a surprisingly hot Saturday morning, Victoria Price escorted us, plus a handful of new recruits, on a tour of her dad’s old haunts and former homes.
First up was Hollywood Forever Cemetery where both Vincent and Coral Browne (Mrs Price No3), had their funeral services, and where Coral’s were scattered amongst the white rose bushes by the entrance gates.
After catching up with old friends like Cecil B De Mille and Peter Lorre (whose funeral Vincent gave the eulogy), we headed out to Pinks, an LA institution for hotdogs (Vincent’s fast food of choice) and Koontz Hardware in West Hollywood (where he hung out daily).
Then it was up to the Hills where we drove past Vincent’s former homes as Victoria gave us an insight of what it was like growing up in the glare of the Hollywood sign, before decamping at the legendary Beverly Hills Hotel for cocktails and cake.
In the evening, we were Carson bound to the Phantom Carriage Brewery, where a special dinner was held to celebrate the launch of the reprint of Vincent and Mary Price’s Come Into The Kitchen cookbook.
This took the form of a four-course meal paired with the brewery’s craft beers, accompanied by screenings of The Tingler and Comedy of Terrors, which were introduced by Victoria and myself, and some horror movie-inspired music. It was a super evening, where we all made new friends with some LA-based Vincent Price fans.
And so we come to Sunday. Following lunch at Paradise Cove in Malibu – the setting for hundred of films and TV shows, including the Beach Party films – and where the Price family enjoyed coming to to eat and fish, we headed out to Nicholas Canyon Beach.
It was here where Vincent Price once owned several acres and had a beach house where his children, Barrett and Victoria, spent many a summer before the land was repossessed under the Reagan regime.
At the bottom of some ruined stairs (the only reminder of where the house once stood) our group created an altar of flowers, shells, rocks, kelp, and a drawing done by the ever talented Gregg Buxbaum of a baby seal wearing Vincent’s favourite straw hat.
As incense and a sage smudge stick – bought during our Southwest travels were set alight – were set alight, we held hands and vowed to go out into the world with love and hope. Then, just as we finished, a flock of pelicans soared above us – very slowly – in a V formation. Now, was that a sign or what?
This year’s tour was an opportunity for fans to ‘Explore. Savor. Celebrate‘ life just like Vincent – something both Victoria Price and myself plan to continue for the foreseeable future, beginning with organising Camp Vincent 2017, which will take place in Madrid, Barcelona and Sitges in Spain in September, as well as some pop-up events in the UK and the US.
We are also working on some cool online swag. So, if you’re interested in hearing and seeing any of Victoria’s presentation, Vincent Price: Master of Menace, Lover of Life — then you can sign up right here to receive more information. There are lots of personal family photos and behind-the-scenes pictures and stories. But mostly, this gives you a glimpse of the glorious life philosophy of Vincent Price. We will also have a live virtual Q&A, which we plan to roll out in the new year.
I do hope you will join us.
Peter Fuller (November 2016)
#VincentPrice #CampVincent @masterofmenace
After a flying visit of Arizona’s Painted Desert; visiting iconic hotels on Route 66 much favoured by Hollywood stars of the Golden age; an inspiring immersive tour of the sacred Hopi lands; and going off-road to view ancient petroglyphs and the famed red rocks of Sedona, Camp Vincent flew out of Phoenix bound for Los Angeles, where we have a series of legacy events set up.
The first one literally brought me to tears. Not tears of sadness, although the sight of seeing hundreds of homeless people living in tents on the sidewalks of Downtown LA was quite startling. These were tears of pure joy and excitement.
As guests of the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College, we were treated to a private tour of the archives where some 2000 items of historic and artistic value donated by Vincent Price and his second wife Mary (Victoria’s mother) between 1957 and 1993 are carefully stored in a new state of the art facility.
Over a decade ago, I visited the collection when it was housed in a bungalow on the college grounds under the curatorship of the late Thomas Siliman. But seeing them in their new home was breathtaking and inspiring…
Today, Camp Vincent sets off on the legendary Route 66 following two days of art, food, film, ghosts, comedy and movie memories.
We also marvelled at the unique abode design of the city’s buildings, visited the oldest home in the US circa 1600s, and heard tales of restless spirits that haunt old hotels like La Fonda and La Posada from one of Santa Fe’s leading ghost walk tour guides.
Personally, it has been Vincent’s lifelong love for indigenous art, and its preservation and development, that is cornerstone to my own journey in celebrating his legacy. So listening to his recordings from the IAIA archives while looking at photos of Price in situ was a very moving experience for me personally.
