Memories from Brian Mee

In a message dated 7/28/2007 10:18:44 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, MStanislaw21 writes:

Dear MaryAnne,

Here is a little something for the blog on how I met and came to know Connie.

It was in 1967 that I first had the pleasure of meeting Connie in her well known antique shop "Monogram". Her daughter Joanna and son-in-law Barrie Cross with whom I had worked with in New Zealand, introduced us.

Connie was an authority on SE Asia Antiques and Paintings and very well known to the Museums and Art galleries throughout the world. Her shop and Thai House were a testament to her good taste with exquisite pieces artfully arranged.

She was a truly gracious hostess and her parties at the Thai house were legendary and the setting quite breathtakingly beautiful. Guests often included Royalty, Movie Stars, Ambassadors, Government officials, world business leaders and people from all walks of life. Everyone was made to feel welcome and comfortable. This was not an easy task with such a diverse collection of people, but Connie had the extraordinary ability of making everyone feel completely at ease.

She possessed many qualities: generosity, kindness thoughtfulness, friendliness. She was a most remarkable Lady in every sense of the word, a Lady who treated me like her adopted son, which I cherished. It was a great privilege to have known her.

As you will realize on reading Maryanne's (her talented granddaughter) book on her life, Connie was quite a gal!!

Brian Mee
Her unofficial second son.


Dear Brian,

Thank you so much for your lovely note about Connie. We did have a great time with Connie.

Keep well,
MaryAnne

---

More Photos of Connie

Dear Maryanne,

I hope this email finds you well.
I have just found a few pictures of Auntie Connie at my father's house and have scanned them and posted them on Google web albums.
You can down load these onto your computer with high resolution.
I hope that you find these helpful for your web site.

Best Regards,

David

Stories About Connie #2

Dear MaryAnne.

Thank you so much for your e-mail. I was quite excited to receive it. Of course you may use the photos and letter. It would be an honor to be a part of your project. I wish I had more photos to share with you.

I was pleased to hear that your family is in contact with Gigi. And I did not know that Bert was a distant relative or that she had passed. Thank you for letting me know.

I have a question about another one of Gigi's friends who was very ill. Possibly you might have information about her? Her name is Pitat Sudasna.

I do travel to the Bay Area on business so maybe one of these days we can meet. I know we would have lots to talk about. I am attaching my most recent picture of Gigi and myself. We were on a dinner cruise on the Chao Phya River during the Loy Kratong festival two years ago. What a wonderful evening.

Best Regards,
John

Stories About Connie

Good afternoon, Maryanne. I was so excited to find the website about your grandmother, Connie Mangskau, that I just had to send an e-mail. You have done a wonderful job sharing photos and parts of her life with those of us that knew her. Before I get ahead of myself, I would like you to know how I found the site. I will try and condense a long story that I am sure most people might find a little hard to believe.

I have a small statue of Buddha in my living room that came from your grandmother's shop, Monogram. It was a "going away" gift from your grandmother and Gigi Curzi, her employee and friend. I was getting ready to return to the United States in June, 1970 after a two year Army assignment in Bangkok and Connie and Gigi wanted me to have something special to help me remember them. I am not sure that they could have imagined how much their gift continues to do just that…and here comes the unbelievable part. Ever since having the Buddha statue, it has moved inside of its case, sometimes frequently and sometimes not at all, but always to its left. This has been happening since 1970 and at first I was a little concerned. I tried to blame it on earthquakes or the rotation of the earth or accidentally bumping it but was never sure my rationale was a sufficient explanation for the movements. Several years later, during a trip to Bangkok, I told Khun Gigi that the Buddha was moving by itself and I was a little perplexed. She smiled and told me "of course it moves, my dear, it has a spirit." From that point I just accepted the fact that I have a statue of Buddha that moves and that is that. My friends, or course, think I have taken leave of my senses. Yesterday morning I noticed more movement than usual and thought to myself that the spirit seemed a little "restless." But it was time for me to go to work and deal with the Los Angeles traffic and not think about my moving Buddha. However, while driving I could not stop thinking about my time in Bangkok and conversations with your grandmother and Khun Gigi. When I finally arrived at the office , I got on-line, and "googled" your Grandmother, something I had never done before. I was amazed when I found your site. It was as if someone was leading me by the hand. Coincidence? I am not sure.

While living in Bangkok between 1968 and 1970, I was assigned to the U.S.Embassy and worked with a lady named Caterina Rillo. We became good friends and she introduced me to her sister, Gigi Curzi. I was "adopted" by Gigi's family and quickly became enchanted with Thailand and its culture and wonderful people, including your grandmother. I remember spending a lot of time at Monogram eating pastries from the Erawan Bakery and listening to all of the wonderful stories being told by your grandmother and her friends. It was a life changing experience for me, a young man from Des Moines that had never been out of Iowa.

The years went by but I always was able to make occasional visits to Bangkok and become re-acquainted with the people and places that captured my heart. I was invited to Connie's beach house in Pattaya during one trip and I have attached a photo from that visit. I hope you can recognize Gigi and "Bert" another one of Connie's friends that worked for her. Have also attached a photo that was taken at Connie's wonderful Thai style home in Bangkok. It was a celebration for Gigi's 60^th birthday on April 14, 1975. By the way, Gigi is now 92 and doing well. We are still in contact with each other except I call her by her Thai name, Malee. Her last name is now Ekaritbutr. Gigi's father was Ercole Manfredi, one of the Italian architects who came to Thailand around 1900.

I was in Bangkok on holiday when Connie passed away and can remember Gigi going over to your grandmother's house to help move the furniture around so Connie's spirit would move on and not try and stay in her home.

Anyway, I wanted to share a few stories with you and let you to know how important your grandmother was to me and how she impacted my life. And about the statue of Buddha, I am going to take it back to Thailand one of these days. That is where it belongs. I think your grandmother would approve.

Best regards,

John Mohler

Memories of Connie

MaryAnne,
Found the website! It is a lovely tribute to your grandmother and entire family.

You were there when I first met Connie. It was at a dinner party given by newly arrived Ambassador John Gunther Dean in spring 1981 -- I think you came as her "date" in that old Benz she had. I was a first-tour 25-year old diplomat working as Dean's staff aide; he was always good about including me in these dinners. This one was for key Thai cultural and society figures. I was lucky enough to be placed next to her, and I think she was pleased that I tried to speak with her in Thai. She said impulsively on that first night, "I must give a dinner party for you," which she promptly did. I was so touched that this elegant and famous grande dame of Bangkok would take any interest at all in a lowly young diplomat -- but of course she always made me feel very special. When I demurred from selecting the guests myself (she was always keen to meet new people), she put together a lovely group of lively guests, mostly expats. I remember meeting first for drinks on the upper terrace of the incomparable Thai House -- magical, it was -- and then walking across the garden for dinner in the brick house. "I told Jim Thompson from the first that I would continue to live in my comfortable brick house." she explained. We had khao soy -- the Chiang Mai treat that back then was virtually impossible to obtain in Bangkok -- and she had such fun explaining to us its history and how to eat it. To this day, it's one of my favorite dishes -- but I had it first at Connie's (how many people can say that?). We kept in touch until her death, and you were good enough to send me the program from her funeral. Such memories! A fine, generous, shrewd, lively, and fundamentally kind lady -- in the most literal and complimentary use of that word!

And then I had the honor to be your mother's guest at one of the last -- perhaps even THE final -- dinner parties at the Thai House, which by then (1994) was surrounded by tall apartment blocks. Even so, it was still one of the most delightful spots in Bangkok -- and, as always, was full of good company and good food, not to mention the incomparable antiques! I remember your mother showing us a rare silver Buddha, the likes of which I've never seen since. (Or am I confusing that night with a memory from one of Connie's parties?) And of course also during that period (when I was again at the U.S. Embassy) I was honored to attend your sister Linda's wedding -- one of the last public events her father Barry was able to attend before his death.

Good luck with the website, and many thanks for this trip down memory lane (to a Bangkok that no longer really exists...)!

- Scott Bellard

(U.S. Diplomat and family friend)

Contribute

Would love to contribute to your book!

David Assia

Reply from MaryAnne: Thanks so much! (David is Connie's nephew, son of Jean(ette) Assia)