John Gilman (left) and Bob Heide (right) in Greenwich Village recently, with a George Segal sculpture.

I’ve known Bob Heide and John Gilman since the late 1960s, when Bob was most active as a playwright, and was on the scene at Warhol’s Factory on East 47th Street, known as “the silver Factory,” where Warhol churned out a torrent of paintings, films and sculptures, which have now become some of the most influential work created in the second half of the 20th century.

Bob and I still keep in touch on a regular basis, and I was thrilled when I heard that Bob would be giving a lecture at The New School, in New York, talking about his work with Warhol and his entourage during the artist’s most creative period. Now, The New School has posted the entire lecture online, and so I’m pleased to be able to bring it to you — it’s the authentic testimony of someone who was there. This lecture took place on a very cold night in Manhattan, on January 31, 2012. Despite the weather, the auditorium was, as you will see, filled to capacity.

As the New School’s website notes, “Andy Warhol’s fame grew during his years in New York City, and his unique persona and career were shaped in large part by his association with the downtown arts scene in and around Greenwich Village. Playwright Robert Heide, who wrote some of Warhol’s screenplays, and Thomas Kiedrowski, the author of Andy Warhol’s New York City, discuss Warhol’s involvement with Greenwich Village and its artistic and literary denizens before, during, and after his rise to fame in the art world.” It’s a fascinating look into Warhol’s creative process, by someone who really was on the scene during the era, making Bob’s oral history of the period absolutely invaluable.

A party at the Silver Factory in the mid 1960s.

Click here, or on the image above, to see Bob’s entire lecture, some 77 minutes long.