In the end, Wendy O. Williams had just about enough of the world’s shit. As a child in Webster, New York, Wendy was a student of music, studying the clarinet and even making an appearance on The Howdy Doody Show. At 16, she ditched school and hitchhiked her way across the country, selling crocheted bikinis …
For aspiring model Barbara Bates, the world was her oyster. As a teenager, she won a train ticket to Hollywood as a prize in a beauty contest in hometown Denver. During her whirlwind trip, she met Cecil Coan, a publicist for United Artists. 45-year old Cecil was smitten with 19-year old Barbara. Through his show business …
In the late 1940s, Spade Cooley had one of the highest rated TV shows in local Los Angeles television. With his infectious take on a blend of Western honky-tonk and danceable Big Band, the “King of Western Swing” was also the king of Saturday nights on KTLA in Los Angeles, attracting 75 percent of viewership …
Kim Walker appeared in guest roles on a dozen television shows. She was featured regular cast member in the nearly forgotten, short-lived series The Outsiders, based on the film of the same name. Kim’s big screen roles mostly included a handful of throwaway roles in little-known films. The exceptions being the John Cusack favorite Say …
But today there is no day or night, Today there is no dark or light, Today there is no black or white, Only shades of gray. My wife and I are avid accumulators. Our house is an interesting amalgam of pop culture pieces from our youth and antiquities that predate even our parents’ childhoods. Don’t …
Claudia Jennings’ life was filled with “almosts”. Born Mary Eileen Chesterton in St. Paul, Minnesota, she moved with her parents and two younger sisters when her father got a job with Motorola in Evanston, Illinois. Mimi, as she was nicknamed, was a star student all through school, bringing home top grades and honors. So, when …
Ever since a visit to a California airfield, Douglas Corrigan became interested in flight. He began taking flying lessons at an airfield where aircraft manufacturers B.P. Mahoney and T.C. Ryan ran a small airline. He eventually took a job at their San Diego factory. Just after Douglas was hired, a young aviator named Charles Lindbergh …
Even after winning the 1949 Miss Washington DC Pageant, Mary Jane Hayes wasn’t interested in a career in movies. She did some modeling, though, and it was during a photo-shoot that she was approached by a talent scout from Warner Brothers Studios. Mary Jane turned down his offers of “stardom”, but on a subsequent visit …
For 28 years, Max Manning taught sixth grade in Pleasantville, New Jersey before retiring in 1983. In those years, how many students knew anything about their teacher’s past? Max was born in Georgia and grew up in South Jersey, just outside of Atlantic City. He was a stellar athlete on his high school’s baseball team. …
This week’s Illustration Friday challenge word is “capable”. The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems. Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Gandhi began a law practice in South Africa in the late 1800s, after several failed attempts at establishing a practice in his …
