Friends, family and fans gathered to celebrate the life of Candida Royalle on November 22, 2015 at Judson Memorial Church in New York City. Included among them was Efrain Gonzalez who has been photographing erotic sub-cultures such as the BDSM community at New York’s Hellfire Club for over 30 years. Efrain shared his photos of Candida’s memorial with us, along with some of his favorite photos of Candida.
As Candida told us in her 2014 interview with The Rialto Report, “There’s no time to waste. Whatever it is you want to do, do it now. It isn’t going to be easy – but that doesn’t ever stop me. There’s only one Candida Royalle, that’s for sure. It’s really been a colorful life indeed.”
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Photos from Candida Royalle’s Tribute Event
Annie Sprinkle, Michael Dattore, Susun Weed
Gloria Leonard’s daughter, Robin Leonardi, Vanessa del Rio, writer and ex-Show World worker Guy Gonzalez
Director and producer Michele Capozzi, Vanessa del Rio
Robin Leonardi, daughter of Gloria Leonard
Rick Savage (right)
Michele Capozzi, Annie Sprinkle
Gerard Damiano Jr., Robin Leonardi
Efrain Gonzalez‘ favorite pictures of Candida Royalle
Candida Royalle, Veronica Vera, Annie Sprinkle
Siobhan Hunter, Annette Heinz, Gloria Leonard, Candida Royalle
Annie Sprinkle, Candida Royalle, Veronica Vera, Gloria Leonard, Jane Hamilton
Veronica Vera, Stuart Cottingham, Candida Royalle
Your photographer Efrain Gonzalez
I’m agnostic, but if there was ever a spiritual place to hold a memorial for Candida, Judson would be it. My friend Ken is a parishioner there, I’ve been there a handful of times, and it is such a welcoming and calming environment.
The pictures are fantastic, but is there any transcript or record of what was actually said? Would love to read that.
The service was livestreamed and I believe once the video testimonials are compiled, there was mention of it being archived and available for viewing.
Beautiful pictures, beautiful woman, beautiful life.
Thanks Rialto for keeping it in perspective and keeping it dignified.
She was lovely. Did Robert Kerman attend?
I don’t believe so, Gregory. There were more than 100 in attendance and I don’t remember seeing him.
Beautiful photo essay of a moving event. I was honored to be among the speakers. So much love in the room and so many people who rarely are seen at industry events (like the great VDR) were in attendance. Efrain captured it all so beautifully.
good to see my family here on this special day;
big hugs and special sweet kisses to everyone.
Seeing all of you together warms me from the deepest placesin my heart. Thank you all.
I can feel all your breath as whisps of joy and wonderment caress my cheeks.
Thank you,
Roy.
It was a beautiful memorial for a beautiful person, we will miss you Candida !
“There’s no time to waste. Whatever it is you want to do, do it now. It isn’t going to be easy….”
That is so true indeed! I am just an admirer and I had been wanting to ask her a few questions via Facebook and I just kept putting it off and putting it off and then I found out she had passed away. My loss. Another painful lesson learned!
I had the chance to talk to her on Facebook and she was kind and generous.
It was a strange coincidence that a couple of hours after going through her imdb page out of the blue I read in the message boards news of her passing.
I left my condolences elsewhere, so I ‘d like to add that she was so sweet and a stunner with either her fabulous long her on her short coup.
Rest in peace sweetheart.
I had read about her answering questions from the public via the web elsewhere so I thought that yeah I would be able to get mine responded to as well and that I should do it.
I learned of her passing on ATKOL Forum. I was shocked and I didn’t believe it at first until I read the thread on her death.
Thank you so much, Veronica Vera and Annie Sprinkle, for organizing this memorial for us. And for the memorial in San Francisco, too. And thank you, anyone else involved with organizing the memorials, in case I’ve missed someone.