“Thanks for the Lunch, Baby.”

Abstract

It’s hard to believe but after thirty-one years, I’m once again back in Nice, France. I taught here from 1981 till 1983. This time my stay will be brief. Back then, my old friend James Baldwin was living a short distance away, in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Today, as I step out of the blazing sunshine into the cool Restaurant Tolentini (Jimmy’s favorite restaurant in all of Nice), I see that Jimmy has already arrived for our lunch. There he is again, with that famous, wide-open smile....