Henry Post

Henry Post appears in the diary through a handful of sharply contrasting episodes: as a young man Andy Warhol took a liking to, a reporter entangled with Studio 54’s gatekeeping and legal troubles, and an accident victim whose injuries interrupted his work. The fragments do not provide a continuous biography, but together show how Warhol’s social world made room for affection, gossip, professional risk, and sudden vulnerability.

A Young Man Warhol Liked

At Cowboys, Warhol singled Henry out as one of the young men he liked, although he knew that others considered him terrible. What appealed to Warhol was a quality he described as nice and intelligent. Henry was there doing research for a story, an early indication that his place in this social world was not only as a guest: he was also observing it for work.

Reporting and Exclusion from Studio 54

Henry’s reporting put him at odds with Studio 54. John Fairchild Jr. had recently smuggled him back into the club, where Henry had been barred because of an article he wrote about it. When Ian Schrager recognized him, he asked Henry to leave in a gentlemanly fashion. Henry began to argue that the club was a public place, but became frightened and backed down. His account makes the club’s social access feel conditional: even a reporter’s claim to public entry could give way when confronted by the people controlling the door.

Henry later told Warhol that prosecutors were following a list of people who had bought drugs at Studio 54. The diary records this as Henry’s report, placing his knowledge of the club’s legal troubles alongside the professional consequences of writing about it. His reporting thus connected him to the club both as someone excluded from its rooms and as someone tracking what might happen beyond them.

The Accident and Its Aftermath

Henry’s circumstances changed abruptly when he crashed his new car while driving to Southampton. He woke in the hospital with no memory of what had happened; the car had hit two poles. Warhol, speaking to him while he was taking pills and painkillers, suggested that someone might have sabotaged him because of his exposés, then immediately regretted saying it, recognizing that the remark could make Henry paranoid. The exchange conveys both the severity of Henry’s disorientation and Warhol’s awareness that speculation could weigh heavily on someone already injured.

By the time Warhol spoke with him again, Henry’s leg was still in a cast. His car insurance company had arranged for a nurse to type for him, allowing him to continue working during recovery. Henry was also following changes in the publishing world: he said he had expected John Berendt to be fired from New York because the magazine had hired a woman three weeks before the dismissal. In these later glimpses, the crash has not removed Henry from his work or his reporting networks; it has changed the practical conditions under which he can carry them on.

A Character Seen in Passing

Henry’s portrait is assembled through reports and encounters rather than a sustained account of his life. Warhol’s liking for him sits beside the club’s rejection, the danger implied by his accident, and the resourcefulness of arranging typing help while his leg healed. The diary leaves these elements unresolved and distinct, making Henry a revealing presence in its social landscape: someone Warhol noticed personally, while the surrounding entries register the risks and loyalties attached to reporting on that world.