Cathy Cluff

Land spreadin’ out so far and wide...just give me that countryside. Goodbye city life!

My galpal Madgy and I sing the retro TV show Green Acres tune as we drive my ’69 classic, Mother Lincoln, up Highway 101 en route to Ojai. The name of the town comes from a Chumash Indian word meaning “moon,” and it’s a mere hour from Screenland. Now, just before we hit the center of town, we take a sharp left into a haven of rest and repose, a spa retreat called The Oaks, one of the top five destination spas in the U.S., according to Condé Nast Traveller. Us girls are on a mission to revamp, rejuvenate, and reward ourselves because back in civilization it’s unquestionably a mad, mad, mad, mad world (to reference a madcap must-see movie).

We check-in and, after a wholesome, homemade dinner (they only serve nutritional meals) in the courtyard amid an overhanging trumpet vine, graceful trees, vibrant flowers, and shaped shrubs, Madgy and I sashay back to our newly renovated mission-style suite and slip in a DVD. I guess we can’t escape Hollywood altogether because we watch The Dick Cavett Show: Hollywood Greats with Kate Hepburn (many other legends appear in very candid interviews). Following that, Madgy stays inside and I sip iced green tea on our quaint patio. Cathy Cluff walks by and we strike up a conversation.

Cathy, forty, is managing director of The Oaks. Her mother, Sheila Cluff, founded the Spa in 1977. Sheila, a fitness guru and a former pro figure skater, is seventy, and she must practice what she preaches, because the woman is striking! Turns out that Cathy has been involved with the AIDS community for a long while.

Cathy pulls up one of the smart rod-iron chairs and sits next to Madgy and me. I’m still clad in my bathing suit from a late afternoon swim. A few feet away, our own private fountain creates a tranquil ambiance.

Ruby Comer: Cathy, this is heaven. And I like the ‘dance, dance disco’ lights in the whirlpool!  Do you remember when you first heard about HIV and AIDS?
Cathy Cluff: In college [she instantly replies].

And what comes to mind when I say AIDS?
A lot of things...an insurmountable problem—still—that somewhat has lost its hold. I mean, it used to be the “hot topic,” now no one pays attention. The general public thinks it is under control and it very much is not.  [She looks out to the begging night-lit swimming pool.]

[I catch her glance.] Girls, we should all take a splash in that pool!Cathy, how did you get involved with the AIDS community?
I had several male friends who were positive and three close friends passed away within a span of one year. [She shakes her head.]

How awful. I know others as well who suffered many losses in short periods of time. That really hurts.[Madgy exits into the room with her iced coffee and a sly, knowing smile. My curiosity is piqued. What’s this girl up to?!]
It truly does. I got involved with raising funds for Christopher House, a Ventura County hospice. One AIDS walk we made $40,000! [She pauses while the luminous moon casts an ethereal glow.] At one of the Christopher House events, I met my partner of ten years, Anita [Thompson]. She’s a photographer. Together we’re raising two kids, Sophia, five and a half, and Roman, one and a half. [Anita adopted Cathy’s birth children and together they’ve broken legal ground in Ventura County, which has made it easier for same-gender couples to adopt]. 

Such powerful names you chose.
Now that I’m totally entrenched in being a mom, I have to say that AIDS, for me, is very much on the peripheral. I don’t have time for Pride festivals or fundraisers anymore, because I’m just in a different mindset. Though I support what I can through The Oaks.

Hunky dorey. That’s great to hear, Cathy.
It seems those that are presently involved [with AIDS fundraisers] are much younger and [the support] has stayed within the gay community, as opposed to the general public.

Which is sad, especially since HIV is attacking the African-American community, the female population, and so on.
I get frustrated when I listen to political commentators who don’t support needle exchange, condom distribution in prisons, etc. Then my antenna goes up! [with bulging eyes and furled brows, she snickers with a snarl.]

Good. We need assertive, caring people like you! 

Just then, Madgy comes outside swathed in her Jacques Marcel original chartreuse-colored, polka-dotted bikini. Between you and me, she looks like a runway model that got run over! But, she’s ready to dive.

C’mon, girls, let’s take a cool dip! [The three of us saunter toward the pool.]

[Before she departs to change, she says in a soft understated tone] “Ya know, Ruby, it would be nice not to even have to explain what AIDS is to my children . . .”

Ruby Comer is an independent journalist from the Midwest who is happy to call Hollywood her home away from home. Reach her by e-mail at MsRubyComer@aol.com.

November 2006