Apr
17th
Thu
17th
Though he is now pushing seventy, he is still going strong. Biz handles about seven women a day. His muscular fingers and thick arms have a miraculously soothing touch. He is discreet, and that is why New York ladies prefer him. He visits each of them in her apartment, and has special keys to the bedrooms; he is often the first man they see in the morning, and they lie in bed waiting for him. He never reveals the names of his customers, but most of them are middle-aged and rich. ‘Women don’t want other women to know their business,’ Biz explains. ‘You know women,’ he adds, offhandedly, leaving no doubt that he does.
— Gay Talese, on the septuagenarian masseur Biz Mackey, from New York: A Serendipiter’s Journey.