Howard, A Memory — Howard Ashman

I was heading out to Indiana University to visit my brother, Howard. It was 1973 and he’d just started in graduate school there. On the phone, he told me about his new friend, an undergrad like me who I simply had to meet. Her name was Nancy. “You’ll love her,” Howard said. “She’s almost like another sister to me”.

I decided immediately I would not love her. No one could be like a sister to Howard except for his actual sister - me.

But I was wrong and I did indeed love Nancy. I still do. And not only was she like a sister to Howard, she became like a sister to me. She still is.

Today is May 17, 2020. It would be Howard’s 70th birthday. To celebrate, I’d like to share something Nancy recently wrote:

Howard, a memory

On Memorial Day weekend in 1987, my husband Michael and I moved to Los Angeles to live and work with Howard Ashman. Howard had found us a brand new apartment on Coldwater Canyon Avenue in Studio City. They had finished building it just a week or so before we moved in. The three of us – Howard, Michael and I - planned to co-habit in a spacious two-bedroom, two-bath apartment with shared kitchen, living room and dining room.

Howard was to be in LA two weeks every month to work on The Little Mermaid animated feature for Disney, but he wanted some “family” in LA (besides his beloved sister Sarah and ever patient spouse Bill—close friends were considered family.)

And Michael and I needed to get out of our rat-and-cockroach infested NYC railroad flat in a hundred-year-old tenement building. I was to be Howard’s assistant on the film. Since Michael was pursuing a brand-new writing career, we jumped at the opportunity. Oh, did I mention that Howard eventually got Michael a job on Mermaid -- because that’s just what Howard did.

The three of us moved in with our rental furniture until it was time to make things more permanent. So, one hot, sticky July Saturday, Howard rented a large truck and we drove over the hill to Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood where we went from store to store buying a sofa, bedroom furniture, a dining room table and chairs, somehow managing to hoist them into the back of the pickup. We did all this in one day. Howard also bought some artwork (which we still have.) That same day, we also hit Pottery Barn for dishes and kitchen stuff (we still have the dishes, too.)

Once the apartment was done, we moved on to furnishing our large patio.

The following weekend we embraced LA life and descended upon Sears for patio furniture and a major barbecue. Howard wanted to grill, and being a wonderful cook and grill master, we weren’t about to say no. He bought a super deluxe Weber model. This was great…except for the fact that there seemed to be no end to its various parts and pieces. Howard was determined to assemble the thing in one day so he could be grilling by dinner. There was an impressive onslaught of frustrated screaming, cursing, throwing of tools, and foot stomping but Howard wouldn’t quit until he put the damn thing together. Because no matter how daunting the task—and this grill was pretty daunting (I think it took him eight hours to put together) nothing ever stopped Howard’s pursuit of perfection—be it a barbecue or a song. We ate really late that night, but really well (New York steaks and corn on the cob.)

That summer was a heady time for us, meeting new people, starting new jobs in a new industry, and finding our way around a sprawling new city. There were delicious dinners at Siam—Howard’s favorite local Thai restaurant, movies at the Mann Chinese Theater, and leisurely strolls along Ventura Blvd.

Howard regaled us daily with stories about the moguls and inner workings of the Walt Disney Company, a slate of possible future projects (he’d been hired to write the screenplay for What’s Love Got to Do with It?), and the Queen of Rock ‘n’ roll, Tina Turner herself, who used to call the apartment looking for Mr. Ashman. It was an incredible introduction to a place we would call home for the next 33 years, thanks to our generous, caring, and brilliant colleague and friend, Howard Ashman.

Nancy Parent

Nan and Michael still live in LA. In 1993, they welcomed a son. He’s an actor now. His name is Howard.