November 8, 2026
To: Jorge Luzio, Atlanta, GA
Dear Jorge,
Yesterday I received a package from my friends Campbell and Kieran from Bluff Island. They had stayed at my house in Atlanta during Pride and sent me an incredibly thoughtful gift as a thank you. It was a vintage 1959 Yogi Bear. Kieran had remembered from one of my Letters from Comfort that I had a number of bears at Comfort and that my very first stuffed animal was a Yogi Bear that I had chewed the ears and nose off of. I thought, “this will go in my collection of bears.” And then I corrected myself. I have a lot of bears, I like them, but I don’t think I “collect” bears. I don’t specifically look through eBay and LiveAuctioneers to find vintage stuffed bears.
I DO collect art and antique boats though; done with intention.
Last night it was so fun to see you at Reese and Nick’s and then to walk down to a party at Mark and Jeff’s. Jeff is a collector. He collects replicas of famous crowns and last night he unveiled his latest acquisition, the Imperial Crown of Brazil. Now collecting crowns is a VERY specific endeavor and I asked Jeff how he got started.
His fascination with crowns began in 3rd grade when he saw a photo of Queen Elizabeth at her coronation wearing St. Edward’s crown. At 9 years old he made a replica using a battery to get the pieces of cardboard to curve correctly below the cross.
Later in life, for a costume, he created a crown and glued on hundreds of crystals. It was worn by various guests at parties. He loved the crown…and the idea of crowns…but he was not a collector. Until he saw an exact replica of the Prince of Wales crown up for auction and bought it. It started his collection. When he met Martin Adams, the maker of crowns and jewelry on Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, his collection started to really grow. Martin has built several crowns for him. We had a delightful conversation last night with him at the party.
What makes these interesting to Jeff is that a headpiece could signify the control of an entire country. “Heavy is the head that wears a crown” is the adaptation of a line from Shakespeare’s Henry IV. Before the unveiling of the Imperial Crown, Jeff spoke to the assembled crowd of friends and gave a brief history of the crown. He told the story of Princess Isabel, the regent of Brazil, who signed “the Golden Law” emancipating the 700,000 slaves in the country. While it made her popular with the newly freed people, it created a powerful opposition from the slaveholding elites. Their opposition helped bring down the royal family the next year. In essence, she imperiled her chance to wear the crown in order to free a people. An incredibly moving thought.
I think you agree that the crown is beautiful, amazingly crafted. And it prompted a discussion among some of us attending: “What do you collect?” Tom collects turtles. Bartow collects Blenko glass. I asked Gauthier what he collects.
He answered, “People.”
What do you collect Jorge? You’ve had all night to think about it. Loved seeing you as always. And yes, let’s make a plan for New Years.
Stephen