It was clear that Marvin wanted me pregnant - and I did nothing to prevent that.”
We knew every inch of each other’s bodies. “We made love at every opportunity, night and day. “The explosive power of our sexual union was incredible,” she writes. Soon after, they made love for the first time in Gaye’s sparse one-bedroom apartment, which had a “hideous gold couch” where Gaye’s assistant, a junkie named Abe, had taken up residence.īut any surprise at his living conditions was quickly overshadowed. Mutually enamored, Gaye brought Hunter to an Italian restaurant in Hollywood, where he bribed the waiter $20 to bring his underage date apricot sours. The divorce from Anna, with whom he had a son, would get ugly in the years to come. Motown was Gaye’s record label, and both Gordys had played an outsized role in Gaye’s career. Her mother was close friends with his producer.Īt the time, Gaye was estranged from his wife, Anna Gordy, sister of Motown impresario Berry Gordy. “His sound erased all pain.” Hunter met Gaye when she was just 17. “His face expressed a gentleness that carried the same promise as : that life, lifted into melody and framed by harmony, never has to be harsh,” she writes. Hunter recalls her first time seeing Gaye in person. Her mother, Barbara, was friends with Ed Townsend, Gaye’s producer, and he brought her to the studio to watch Gaye record. Janis Hunter met Marvin Gaye when she was 17. Marvin Gaye’s immense, undeniable talent for singing and songwriting, and his equally impossible-to-dismiss sex appeal, were accompanied by increasingly heavy drug use - freebasing cocaine eventually did him in - and erratic moods, a constant tug of war between thrills, love, lust and terror. “After the Dance,” a memoir by Gaye’s mistress-turned-wife Jan Gaye, written with David Ritz, recalls a love affair propelled by just these sorts of mind games.
And yes, I do admit, it is exciting to watch you fall.” Marvin and Jan Gaye Courtesy of Jan Gaye “To watch purity turn to perversity is a fascinating thing,” he told her. She refused, the couple left and Gaye told her how he really felt about the fantasy that his prodding had made real. He told Hunter, “You go off with them if you want. The next night, when the other couple returned for more, Gaye’s enthusiasm had become something else. He didn’t participate but acted as ringleader, urging on the sexual proceedings between his hesitant, eager-to-please girlfriend, 17 years his junior, and the couple they had just met.Īfter, Gaye projected his joy at the event onto Hunter. “A small intimate orgy is just what the doctor ordered.” “I think they want to take this party to the next phase,” he said. The four had been smoking weed and snorting cocaine when Gaye noticed the pair sizing her up. The help is always welcomed and there is a fit for everyone who wants to serve.Janis Hunter was a mother of two in her early 20s when her longtime lover, father of her children and one of the world’s most lusted-after soul singers, Marvin Gaye, suggested an amorous liaison with another couple. I found that just asking how I could help or where I could serve opened opportunities to get plugged in. “One piece of advice is to just show up and make yourself available.
Upton has continued to support me throughout my doctoral program and has always been a wonderful support throughout my journey.” We presented together at several conferences and she always took the opportunity to connect me with other school counselor educators. Upton encouraged me to get my doctorate while I was still a master’s student. Amy Upton who was my advisor at South Alabama where I earned my master’s degree in school counseling. When asked if she had a significant mentor, Jan shared “I have been very fortunate to have a few mentors. Villares connected her with the SACES graduate student committee and she been involved since that time. They then connected at the SACES meeting and Jan asked how she could get involved and plugged into SACES. Elizabeth Villares at the ACES conference in 2019. Jan got involved in leadership initially at the SACES level when she introduced herself to Dr.
As a busy doctoral student, you might find Jan during her free time knitting, spending time with family or relaxing with her 10-year-old Yorkie-Milo. As doctoral candidate at the University of Florida, Jan Gay currently serves as the ACES Graduate Student Representative to the ACES Governing Council.