21/02/2024
Vale Lionel Willis,
Very sad to hear the news today that Lionel of the fine city of Adelaide has passed at the ripe old age of 84.
I first met Lionel in 2012, he was dressed in a pineapple shirt with some diamonte encrusted short shorts, he danced in the middle of the crowd I had gathered, dolling out hip thrust after hip thrust to both the shock and entertainment of the crowd. After my show finished, he came and gave me a 20 dollar note, he was a little frazzled with his conversation but was charming, intriguing and polite nonetheless. After the conversation ended, he asked if he could borrow $20; I gave him back his $20 and he kissed me on the cheek.
Since then I’ve toured through Adelaide a good many times, with every visit I would reacquaint with Lionel, his incredible collection of clothes and his wonderful dance moves. I got to know the man quite well in these times. Dear Lionel had some heavy issues with his mind which often had him seem very distant and confused, though some days he would be quite settled and clear. It was on one of those clear days Lionel and I shared a coffee and croissant and he told me his story. He had grown up in Adelaide in a pretty broken home, he had known from a very young age that he was gay. Born during WWII in 1940 Lionel had seen Adelaide go from a large country town to the cosmopolitan city it is now. He shared some really sad stories of heartbreak and lost loves. I couldn’t help but think how different his life would have been if he had been born in a different decade.
Dear Lionel lived through a lot of trauma, yet his light still shone through. How lucky I feel to have known him over the years, I even had the pleasure of having him hip-thrust in the audience for a number of my shows.
The Earth lost a truly beautiful soul today, the wide streets of Adelaide town will never feel the same. Goodnight sweet prince.
Malachy
