Gasp! by Laura Axelrod

Farrah Fawcett's Early Life

It's hard to believe Farrah Fawcett is gone. Stranger still, to look through newspaper archives and see her life before she went out to Hollywood. If you are lucky enough to access the Corpus Christi newspapers, you occasionally glimpse old pictures of Farrah.

• October 28, 1959: The cheerleaders of St. Patrick's School Shamrocks, in green and white costumes, will lead the yells at 2:30 p.m. Saturday when their team meets the 'eleven' from Our Lady of Sorrows. Farrah is the one on the far left.
  
• February 14, 1965: Farrah is voted the most beautiful girl at Ray High School annual favorites dance.
  
• April 1, 1965: "Four W. B. Ray seniors will be honored at a punch party from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. today at 352 Palmetto. Hostesses will be Mrs. Louis J. Wehmeyer and Mrs. Edward P. Thomas." Farrah was listed as a member of the house party.
  
• May 17, 1965: Farrah is listed on the permanent honor roll at Ray High School.
  
• April 2, 1967 in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times: "Miss Farrah Fawcett, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James W. Fawcett, the Cliff House, left Saturday for Acapulco. She will spend her ten-day spring vacation from the UofT with classmates in Mexico. She has been named Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps sweetheart at the UofT. Mrs. Fawcett will join the group in Acapulco Monday."

• July 3, 1970: An ad for the film Myra Breckinridge, playing at National Twin I in Corpus Christi lists Farrah as one of the stars, along with Rex Reed, May (sic) West and Raquel Welch.

• August 30, 1970: "The Houston Astros seek a new "Miss Astro" to represent the ball club today in final ceremonies at home plate at 1:30 p.m." Farrah and Kristina Allen, each a former Miss Astro, received movie contracts. Clearly this position is a stepping stone.

• January 23, 1973: From Dorothy Manners: "I was on their first date together so it is of particular interest to me that Lee Majors and Texas beauty Farrah Fawcett, after five years of togetherness, will be married on June 28th. Both are doing very happily in their careers as well as in private life. Farrah recently appeared in "The Great American Beauty Contest" (20th-Centurty Fox) and Lee is finishing a pilot, "Cyborg," about an astronaut.

• March 15, 1974: On an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, airing at 8 p.m. in Corpus Christi: "Seems Steve (Lee Majors) is assisting the first female to go into space as an astronaut. She is played by Farrah Fawcett Majors, Lee's wife. There is a problem in space, so they must rendezvous at Skylab. Turns out Steve is no longer .invincible up there. Some good effects,  realistic dialogue and science editor Jules Bergman as himself to add authenticity."

We tend to remember life in moments rather than spans of time. When I think of my life in San Francisco, I think of walking down Market Street in the late afternoon, dodging pigeons and homeless people. I remember the crisp air and  slanted sunlight on brick buildings. It's spooky to think that when I die, I might feel all that again, for one more fleeting moment.

Farrah's death is a reminder of a lost world. Maybe it's hit me harder because of my Dad's recent death. I've spent a lot of time lately, considering death. What  happens when we die? The more I think about it, the less I'm inclined to think of time as a rigid construct. I'm also thinking that the live people are less alive than the dead.

Farrah Fawcett in Corpus Christi, 1964

In the May 3, 1964 edition of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times is an advertisement for the Lichtenstein's Hootenanny and Teen-Age Style Show. The Greenwillow Singers were the headliners. But if you look closely, you'll recognize a famous name...

Farrah Fawcett, 17 years old,  beginning her career in show business. Good luck, Farrah.

Arlo Guthrie and Billy Preston

In order for someone like Arlo Guthrie to succeed these days, he would have to:

a) Sing with computerized "help," even though he doesn't need it.

b) Write songs that proclaim his hotness.

c) Have a relationship with a famous actress, preferably from a former hit tv series.

d) Pretend he was better than his audience.

e) Stay the heck away from politics.

f) All of the above.

Arlo and Billy may know sound, but something terrible has happened to music since then. That's for sure.

P.S. Some info on Billy Preston from Fox 411 today.

Reading it for the Articles

It would be very wrong to say that I collect vintage Playboy magazines. I do – in a way – but it would be very wrong to say it. You would probably take it the wrong way. You would assume that I’m some kind of pervert or worse.

I don’t mean to mislead you. I don’t have a vast array of Playboy magazines. But while I was living in Austin (circa 2005) I bumped into a vintage knick-knack dealer who specialized in 1970s artifacts. Sitting on a harvest gold TV table was a stack of Playboys from the 70s and 80s. I found more on the floor near a coat rack.

The old joke is that people read Playboy for the articles, but it’s not really a joke. Important news articles were mixed with pictures of naked women, ads for sex toys and expensive porn vacations. And let’s not forget men’s fashion.

In the 70s, Playboy employed some of the best writers of the day. Robert Scheer interviewed presidential candidates for Playboy. John Luis Borges and Paul Theroux were published within its pages. And, of course, many famous and emerging actresses stripped for its photographers. The components, melded together, created a magazine that was ultra-hip and edgy for its day.

I sorted through the stacks, looking through the collection of memorable articles. Since they were $5 each, I had to be selective in what I chose to purchase. There’s the issue featuring an interview with Jimmy Carter, in which he admits that he’s lusted in his heart. In another edition, there’s an interview with “America’s No. 1 fugitive: Abbie Hoffman.” The country is introduced to the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” in another issue…

So you see, it’s not about the porn. Though I will admit that I couldn’t help but notice it. And I will tell you this: Playboy from the 70s is soft-core – sort of like Maxim or any other current over-the-counter men’s magazine. Like the rest of the country, Playboy in the 80s became something very different. It moved away from its “natural approach” and featured more glitz and tackiness. Perhaps it was only natural: as the US went, so did Playboy.

Rather than explain it any further, let’s take a look at the non-porn that Playboy featured in the 70s…. Starting with an ad for Johnny Carson Apparel.

Who knew that Johnny Carson could host America's favorite late night talk show, play tennis, scuba, and parachute out of a plane? Not me. I love how he says that he would like it "with the look of denim." Me too.

I really miss Johnny Carson.

Brett Somers 1924-2007

One of my all-time favorite people... Even if she was also my competition for Jack Klugman.

Forgotten History - Gerald Ford

I don’t like being cynical, not for the shiny New Year. Yet, the coverage of Ford’s passing has me watching Cops instead. And I’m a history buff.

The thing is, I liked Ford. It bothers me that Robert Dallek neglects Ford on his Portable Professor series. I’m annoyed that Nixon’s history has been rewritten, but Ford gets short-shrift. The Republican media doesn’t want claim a man who had to clean up after one of their own.

Commentators will repeat the mantra that “Ford healed the country,” but he didn’t. Not in that way. Pardoning Richard Nixon taught a generation that a US President could lie and get away with it. All Nixon had to do is be patient and history would be redrafted in due time.

Forgotten history. The most challenging aspect of writing historical dramas is getting beyond the “I know it already” attitude of the audience. The history taught in high school has been politicized and spun. The news you see on television is the same. What makes you think you know anything?

Ford’s death is a reminder that history is constantly being reframed, then forgotten. So much coverage on Watergate, so little details about the “healing.” Ford did the best he could with what he was given, and squandered less than his predecessors. But all we hear about is the pardon, and how he lost the election to Carter. As if it was his problem that we couldn’t elect him.