Raw, Gritty and Brave! James Palacio A.K.A. Fiona St. James recalls his very colorful existence in this very detailed account of his accomplishments along with the trials and tribulations of life. Since his birth, this self-aware Bronx born Native New Yorker has been an out and proud gay male. He has always had the support of a loving family and close circle of friends.
It was the time of NYC nightlife at its best, along with the glory days of Fire Island. His gripping story telling including careers, romances and extracurricular everything! Sex Drugs and Rock n' Roll! An eye opening and very real no holds barred reliving of a time when all was fair game in NYC. His honest and graphic nature in sharing his memoirs with specific details makes for a very refreshing and vulnerable journey. A must read for all!
.........I was averaging 4 days a week on the set of "OZ" and certain weeks 1 day at Bloomingdales to keep up my discount. The great thing about being the only one in drag is that the camera loves you. The different directors definitely utilized that fact and it afforded me lots of camera time. Bob Balaban who directed an episode, at one point had me walk right towards the camera with it focused on my breast, When the Director of Photography pointed it out and said that my breast were filling the screen, he responded "Exactly!" Whenever I could be featured in a story line, I would be. So that season one of the ongoing stories was a boxing tournament amongst the inmates where each gang had a representative boxing in the name of the gang.
Well I wasn't fighting but I was the Ring Card Girl for all of those episodes. The fun part was wearing risque attire and showing a lot of flesh. They let me use my own outfits and I produced variations with thong backs to show my ass. Each director would be on the set the episode before the one they were directing to get a feel for things. They each had ideas of what they wanted me to wear, but one by one as they saw my ass exposed, they would change their mind and want that. The costume designer would run up to me and say, Chazz Palminteri or Matt Dillon want your cheeks showing. My ass has always been one of my strongest assets! The first time I filmed that part was on my birthday and it was the best gift ever when I first threw off my robe and the entire cast and crew hollered when they saw me scantily clothed and practically naked. Great for the ego!
My best friend Tammy on the set had commissioned someone to make me an AMAZING birthday cake and the entire company sang me happy birthday at the end of the day. It was the last scene we shot that day and a wonderful way to be wrapped for the night. Each subsequent time that I was fortunate enough to reprise that role just kept getting better for me. It was 4 more times. The ex-dancer in me was paying off with my cute ass getting seen by the world, yet again. :-)