Photo Credits: Our Weekly.Com
Over the years, I have two vivid personal Cosby memories pre-scandal. One was an in-person encounter with Dr. William “Bill” Cosby at an audition for a pilot show he had in the works. This audition took place in the Peachtree Center Towers in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. It occurred sometimes in the early 1990s; probably 1991 or ’92. I wrote a blog post about this meeting yesterday (ttp://haroldmichaelharvey.com/2016/01/05/my-audition-for-a-cosby-show/).
This blog post, as expected, drew a wide range of comments, inasmuch as, it dealt with Cosby memories prior to today’s scandal, and it seems, the public would rather forget this person and concentrate on the scandalized version of the 21st century.
These comments did serve to stir my interest in researching my memory banks for other Cosby memories that I might have had. I came up with one additional recollection that made a memorable impression on me.
This Cosby moment happened in the mid-1980s, perhaps, prior to Christmas 1984; and came during a time I was home studying for the Georgia Bar Examination. During this time period, it was my habit to simulate the testing day when preparing for the Bar Exam. I would begin a testing session at 9:00 am and conclude the test at the noon hour whether I had answered all 100 questions on that test or not; then I would break for lunch and resume a second practice test at 1:00 pm.
During lunch I would turn on the television set to catch a noon day news program on a local Atlanta station.
On one of these occasions, Cosby was being interviewed in the television studio by a pretty,” Farrah Fawcett” looking, blond-haired reporter. The interview was about a performance Cosby would be giving in Atlanta that week.
It was obvious to me that this reporter was flirting with Cosby live and in living color on local television. Cosby went to great length to rebuff the reporter’s advances. When it became obvious to him that the young reporter could not control her emotions, he very politely, professionally and grandfatherly chastised her for flirting with him.
Later that evening, over dinner, I told my wife how this very popular reporter had literally thrown herself at Cosby and how he dealt with the situation. Other than that day, I have never repeated this story until responding to a comment on my blog post from yesterday. Anyone can make of it what they like, but this is the impression I had watching that mid-day news program in 1984 of the pre-scandal Cosby.
That moment stayed with me. I learned that day from Cosby, how to handle a flirtatious woman. Believe me, there were many times an attractive woman would attempt to compromise me in my law office, hoping to get free legal representation. One woman took off every item of clothing and gave me a lewd look. I quietly walked out of the office, went downstairs to the security desk and instructed the authorities to go into my office and escort her out of the building.
This is what I learned in pre-scandal Cosby 101.
Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com.