The spring of 1984 was dark and dismal, endless days and weeks and months of trying and failing. A degree in English and Modern Languages with professors who said "You can do anything you want. Go into advertising, or public relations, or book publishing." A hundred resumes sent to advertising agencies, public relations firms, and publishing houses all over the country, with no answer or "no openings." By the end of May, my friends had all gone home for the summer or graduated, so I walked the streets of Bloomington alone, looking up at the cross on the tower of a distant church and wondering if there was anything ahead but dead ends.
On the evening of June 15th, I saw Gremlins, starring 20-year old Zach Galligan as a teenager who accidentally feeds his mogwai after midnight, thus turning it into a rampaging monster.
The movie itself was of minimal interest. Zach may have had a buddy-bonding friendship with fellow mogwai enthusiast Corey Feldman on the way to winning the Girl of His Dreams.
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During the next years and decades, I didn't learn much more about Zach. I never saw him in any other movie or tv show, except maybe a 1998 episode of Star Trek: Voyager, where I didn't recognize him.
There was an occasional photo or reference on one of the gay celebrity websites that we had back in the days of America Online and Myspace. They revealed that:
1. Zach was tied up in a lot of his movies. This shot appeared over and over.
And:
2. He was gay in real life. I never questioned this.
A few days ago, I noticed a run on my earlier profile of Zach Galligan, so I started researching him for a new profile.
First, n*de photos.
A frontal, a little harder to find. I don't think this is him.