Felicity Chandelle, pilot and crossdresser, died Monday at the age of 102. She was, as far as I know, the world’s oldest living crossdresser. I interviewed her a few years ago, when she turned 100, and not long after that she donated all of her papers – many of them magazines about crossdressing – to the LGBT Center Library here in New York. Some of them would not be able to be used until after her death, whereupon her male, legal name could be revealed, as if her part of her collection, too, were crossdressed.
Thanks for the gift Felicity. Fly right.
Helen,
I was a long-time friend of Felicity, having met her at Casa Susanna in 1962. We had stayed in spasmodic touch over the years and had a burst of correspondence when the Casa Susanna story came out in the NYT a couple of years ago (I was listed as Fiona, which was the name I used then). When I last spoke with her she was over 100 and sounded as if she intended to go on for ever. In fact she told me her weight and blood pressure had not changed since she was in her twenties.
I picked up on her death when I came across Zagria’s blog and asked her for more information. She referred me to you.
Felicity was a good friend and I will miss her.
Kate
Kate
How lovely to hear from you. 1962 at Casa Susanna is pretty amazing. I know that Felicity flew until she was quite old, too, but I don’t know how old she was.
I was interviewed not long ago by someone doing a documentary about Felicity. I don’t know when/if it will ever be made.
Helen