A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory

Esther Robinson's twenty-six-year-old uncle, Danny Williams, disappeared in 1966 during a visit to his family's home in New England. Years later, in her attempt to understand this mystery, Robinson interviewed her uncle's family and his friends, who were among the inner circle of Andy Warhol's Factory, about his last twelve months. The personal reminiscences of the family hit up against the investment of the Factory in its own mythology; it is not surprising that the portrait of Williams that emerges is complex and contradictory. Some luminaries from the Factory circle report that Williams had been Warhol's lover, some recall him as a budding filmmaker, others don't remember Williams at all. The family believe he was responsible for Velvet Underground's EPI light show, some from the Factory claim he was only minimally involved, When Robinson learns that twenty short films Danny had made at the Factory still exist, this cache provides an intimate glimpse of life at the Factory, including footage of Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, and John Cale, but the man behind the camera remains an intriguing enigma.

This page may by only partially complete.