Host Robert and Luciana Duvall
Photo by John Flannery
Everyone knows Academy award-winner Bobby Duvall - perhaps our greatest living actor.
But he has also made a significant contribution to our region.
I first saw Duvall in the 60s in Greenwich Village playing Eddie Carbone in a revival of Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge.” He became that haunting Arthur “Boo” Radley, mentally disabled, appearing as if out of thin air from behind a slowly swinging door in an unforgettable scene with Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” He was the Corleone’s mob consigliere to the “Godfather,” the Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore who loved the smell of napalm in the morning in “Apocalypse Now,” the Texas Ranger, Gus Macrae, who chose death rather than have his leg cut off in “Lonesome Dove,” and so many more sensational roles on stage and screen.
But Bobby is also a great neighbor.
Bobby Duvall and his wife Luciana worked hard to help defeat the PATH transmission lines; they also resisted separate development plans by Disney and Walmart’s that might have destroyed the historic Bull Run Battlefield in Manassas.
Now, they are helping the PEC encourage us one and all to “buy fresh and buy local” from neighboring beef, pork and poultry farms, from vegetable and flower gardens, from Virginia wineries, and local bakeries.
This way, our local farmers earn more than the discounted prices wholesalers pay them, remain viable, and continue to supply us with what’s fresh and healthy.
Bobby and Luciana hosted a “Meet the Farmer” gourmet tasting buffet prepared by Chef Claire Lamborne at their 360 acre horse farm, the Byrnley Farm in the Plains, to show us what’s available in the region.
But first you have to hear the story behind the venue where they convened their tasting.
Years ago, Bobby found he loved “the seedy” and “the sweetness” of the tango dance.
While in Argentina working on a film, he met Luciana, a younger, striking, tall, dark-haired beauty.
They shared an interest in the tango, and they made a film that Bobby wrote and directed.
Bobby posed a critical question, by his character: “If I were younger, would I have a chance with you?”
Luciana’s character answers, “You have a chance now.”
And so he did.
They danced the tango on a finished polished barn floor at their farm.
That’s where we had our tasting – at the soulful center of their homestead.
Bobby spoke before the dinner was under way.
He insisted we had the richest soil in Virginia, praised the fresh chicken that was free of antibiotics, the beef better than that found in his beloved Argentina, without any hormones or steroids, the fine pork passed down through generations since James Madison, and the bread and exceptional wines.
Bobby finished by declaring, without a murmur of dissent, that “Virginia is the last station before heaven.”
Former Congressman Tom McMillen said this was “a communal celebration of the produce, once tasted, that you can commend to others.”
Anne Donovan Larson said, “Loudoun was once the breadbasket of America, and could be significant once again.”
We must preserve and buy fresh produce from our local farms, and thank the Duvalls for reminding us of the treasure we have before it’s squandered.
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