A drag bombshell with lots of self irony, a well shaped Mae West body, and tons of hair, was a queen...Lady Fingers.
Lady Fingers was a blog reader of mine. It sadden me when I got an email from her partner Cliff, telling me that she had pasted away this spring during the pandemic, as we had hopes to meet one day. Her humor was Lucille Ball, looks a cross of Lady Bunny meets Divine, and the voice of Dietrich. Lady Fingers was one of the first high profile drag queens and female illusionist on the scene in her local town of Huntington Station, and first hit the stage in 1972 with Neil’s Hollywood Follies on Long Island as Mae West. Within the next five years she befriended her mentors and many other drag queens. All of them great performers, icons in the New York drag and night scene, and charitable fund raisers in their own rights. Lady Finger followed suit and produced her first, and one of the first AIDS benefits in a Long Island night club in the early 80’s. There were more benefits and even Tupperware parties for GMHC to follow. In 1985 she moved west to San Diego with a couple of friends and discovered her home away from home, and met her life partner.
While there, discovering the essence of charity through a community of incredible people, she made a name for herself as a performer at scores of shows for just about every charitable organization in town. This led to a number of titles, Miss Sweetheart San Diego, Miss Gay San Diego. It was also here that she was introduced to the Imperial Court of San Diego where she has made lifelong friends and learned incredible lessons and what it is to love. She is proud to be one of the original producers of the Scott Carlson Thanksgiving Dinner, from its inception alongside Scott and for 4 years after he pasted. Now in its 32nd year thanks to the Imperial Court of San Diego when she could no longer do it and then move back east.
After returning to New York, and discovering that the Imperial Court System had reached the east coast, and there were members she already knew. . . she was elated. She joined the membership and stayed heavily involved while also doing charity shows all over and around New York. Four of those years were on the Board of directors, one as a member at large and three as Vice President. Before leaving New York for the last time in 2001, she was involved with not only TICONY, and her own shows, but took part in Wigstock for three years, and two invasions of Fire Island... before moving with her partner Cliff to Ann Arbor, MI. Once there, even though not performing, she did run a wig business out of her home. Queens could order and have the wig styled by her personally, and she'd have them shipped. She was a queen of the stacking of wigs. I ordered one myself you may see one day. The one thing Lady Finger's never did because of society's looking down on it, was to eventually transition to a female. Even though she was always about more of everything, over the top drag, and sky high hair, she always felt female inside, and lived mostly as a female right up to, sadly, her passing this spring. She told me in an email once she wanted her and I to go just once, to Night of a Thousand Gowns before she checked out, but it never did materialize, for health reasons. But if I ever do decided to go, I'll take a date, and in her honor wear the biggest gown and sky high hair I can find! May she be entertaining at the big cabaret in the sky.
Special thanks to her partner Cliff for taking time to send me this info and snapshots for this post.
