CHRISTMAS WITH THE FOREST FAIRIES

 "Mama, the dining room is full of snow!"

"And so is the living room!" cried Arabella.

"It's Christmas morning!" said the twins.  "And we're freezing!"

"Good grief!" said their mother, the Queen, surveying the frozen wreckage of her home.  "It must have been my poisonous cousin, Repellante, who did this as a little holiday prank.  She was a nasty little girl too.  Or, perhaps it was Hepzibah! You know how gossip travels in the forest.  Yes, she must have heard that it was you two who led Rapunzel home!  Yet it is I who must suffer!" the Queen said dramatically (as she was wont to do.)  "What your father will say I do not know."  The sisters studied their small feet in the melting snow as they could think of absolutely nothing to say in their own defense.

"It's like living in the castle of the Snow Queen," whispered Arabella.  "Now she's a piece of work!"

"I heard she has stolen a little boy named Kay and put a piece of ice in his heart!" said Annalisa.

"Are you two talking about my horrid cousin, the Snow Queen?"
demanded Mother, whose hearing was acute.  The Forest Queen had been tramping about in the slush looking for rodents so she could undo the snow spell before her husband came downstairs.  He was always so cranky in the morning.  "That poor boy Kay is imprisoned in her castle.  Let us hope he brought a heavy coat and a muffler. That place is like ice!  Well, of course, it is ice."

"Don't you have any nice relatives, Mother?" said Annalisa.

"And that isn't all I've heard.  There's a little girl called Gerda who wants to rescue Kay, but she has no idea how to find the Snow Queen.  The poor child is wandering around in the snow talking to ravens and riding a reindeer.  She must be desperate."

The sisters stared into each other's eyes.  An idea had been born. They knew where the Snow Queen lived!  This time they would not share their plan with their mother.

"Mother, you undo the snow spell and we'll make hot chocolate. And then we'll open our presents!  We will have a merry Christmas after all."  The girls hurried away to the snowy kitchen, their eyes bright with anticipation.  First, they would find Gerda!

GERDA

Look for the Forest Fairies helping Gerda find Kay in the new year.

CHRISTMAS - 2013

The family gathers for my 70th birthday.

2013 was the year I turned 70 (I know I don't look a day over 69) and we celebrated with family and friends.  Jeanne and Sharon gave me a fantastic party and I shall always cherish the memories.

        

Monty, Murphy and Molly

Molly was a feral cat who lived in the woods near our condo.  I began feeding her every day and being a very bright girl,
she soon decided there
were lots of perks to 
domestication and she moved right in, totally ignoring the hissing from Monty. 

Later in the year I took a blogging class and then created
Flying by Moonlight ( found at lindamwillson.blogspot.com) and I have loved every minute of it.  I also joined a wonderful writing group at UNF and have been inspired to write poetry.

                                                      

Flying By Moonlight

I love Christmas--the lovely carols, the decorated trees, the gaily wrapped presents, Christmas dinner with family and the late Christmas Eve service at church with candlelight and an abundance of red flowers.  I wish all of you peace and love at this joyful holiday season.

Happy Holidays!

PEEKING THROUGH DOORS

When Riverview High opened in 1958, no one knew where anything was. A small group of girls in the sixth period drama class were wandering around backstage, deciding which rooms in back of the stage would be the dressing rooms, the makeup room and the all important Green Room.  It immediately became clear that the architect knew nothing about the theatre.  This was an auditorium, not a theatre!  There weren't enough rooms for our needs and we divas were horrified.  Where were we to put on our costumes?  Were we to stand nearly naked in the hallway for all the world to see?  Clearly, we were facing an impossible situation and we began to explore the entire backstage area.  

I found a set of double doors that appeared to be locked.  Undaunted, I peeked between the massive doors and saw the naked buttocks of a teenaged boy standing on a bench about to put on his pants.  His bare bottom was conveniently at eye level.  He had apparently decided to go commando as no underwear was in sight.  I was deeply and profoundly shocked, not shocked enough to move away, but shocked nonetheless. One question loomed large in my girlish mind--would he turn around? Alas, it was not to be.  He leaned over to put his feet into his pants and in doing so, his....uh....cheeks flattened against the door a scant inch from my face.  This was too much for my fluttering heart to bear and I slowly backed away as if the door had suddenly become burning hot.  I tried to imagine a time in the distant future when I might once again be that close to a. . .

"What is wrong with you?" my friend said.  "Your face is all red."  We walked back to the stage and I quickly told the other girls what had happened.  There was an explosion of nervous giggling and I could see that the whole thing was funny, very funny.  We were all laughing.  And it was so embarrassing!  Of course it was.  But there was something else, some forbidden mystery beyond that door.  Some day I would go there. 
But not yet, not yet.

THE FOREST FAIRIES, Part 5

Rapunzel on her journey home

The Forest Fairies arrived early the next morning to rescue Rapunzel.  They stood by while she cut off her braid and nailed it to the windowsill.

"Your hair is still very beautiful," said Arabella softly. 

Rapunzel nodded and wiped away a tear.  The sisters hovered near her while Rapunzel climbed down her braid and then jumped lightly to the ground.

"I'm free," she said.  "I can go home at last and see my parents.  Lead the way, my friends, and I will gladly follow."

The journey home was long and exhausting, but at last the fairies glimpsed Rapunzel's cottage through the trees.

"There is your true home, Rapunzel.  Go, your parents are waiting for you," said Annalisa.

"Thank you, thank you; I will never forget what you have done for my parents and me.  We are friends forever!"

And Rapunzel ran up the path; the door flew open and she ran into her mother's arms while her father embraced them both. The sisters watched the joyful reunion and congratulated themselves that for once their efforts to help had not produced disaster.

"We should be home just in time for dinner," said Annalisa.

"Let us hope that Father is still awake," said Arabella and away they flew to their fairy home.

That evening when the old witch arrived at the dark tower, she saw that Rapunzel's hair had already been thrown down for her.  Eagerly, she climbed the long braid, not realizing that the tower was cold and empty and Rapunzel was long gone.

RIVERVIEW HIGH SCHOOL 1958

In 1958 we sophomores who lived in the south part of Sarasota left Sarasota High forever and entered the County's brand new high school--RIVERVIEW!  We were top dogs for two years and in 1960 we formed the first class to graduate from Riverview High.  A few years ago most of us met again to celebrate our 50th reunion.  Riverview looked very different and so of course did we (except for Rosie who looked pretty much as she did when Elvis Presley kissed her many, many years ago.)  But in 1958 the campus was fresh and new and I was so impressed.  Junior high had been a nightmare for me and I thanked God daily that it was over.  Having started school in New York when I was only five, I was always a year younger than my classmates.  To make matters worse, I was a late bloomer and emotionally immature.  So while other girls were developing breasts and social confidence, I was developing an inferiority complex.  I was short and painfully thin.  My mother wouldn't buy me a bra because she said I didn't need one which I didn't, but I was the only girl in the gym showers who didn't wear one.  I looked like a homely little boy.  Then when I was fourteen, I suddenly grew six inches in an unbelievably short time.  Unfortunately, I gained no weight and still had the flattest chest in America.  So now I resembled a tall homely boy.  I was teased and bullied which was to be expected.  Even worse, I dressed like a child.  My mother still bought my few clothes and they were always pink dresses for six-year-olds.  In brief, I was a mess in junior high.  I had pity friends and I am grateful for them even today.

But Riverview ushered in a new era.  I bought a bra with my babysitting money and stuffed it with tissue.  It was the smallest bra in the world and it supported nothing, but at least now I had bra straps.  I shaved my skinny legs regularly and wore cheap lipstick.  Best of all, I now had many friends.  While I was never, ever to be part of the In Crowd, its members now began to talk to me.  I was their confidante.  The boys never thought of me romantically (much to my sorrow), but they liked me.  Some of them shared their thoughts and feelings with me.  I was funny and the kids laughed, but in a good way.  I still had no figure, but I had joined the club at last.

THE FOREST FAIRIES, Part 4

Rapunzel in her dark tower

Annalisa and Arabella flew by the Dark Tower several times and saw Rapunzel sitting in the window gazing at the night sky.  How she must long to be free!  They must approach her at once and set forth their simple, but spectacular plan.  The fairy sisters flew right up to Rapunzel and asked if they could speak to her inside.  Having never seen fairies before, Rapunzel was taken aback, but she was thrilled to have any sort of company at all.  She bid them come in and and the fairies hovered in the air as was their wont.

Annalisa - "The old woman who visits you is not your real mother, Rapunzel.  No, she is a witch who stole you from your genuine parents when you were but an infant!  There was some silly argument over root vegetables--or something like that."

Arabella - "We have found your parents, dear Rapunzel, and they were overjoyed to hear you were alive and well.  They desperately want you to come home so that you can be a family!"

Rapunzel was stunned to hear this news.  "But how can I escape this prison?  There is no door."

"We have a plan," the sisters cried.  "You have only to braid your hair, cut off the braid and nail it to the window!  Then you can climb down your braid and we will guide you to your parents!"

Rapunzel turned pale.  "Cut off my hair?  But I........"

"It will grow back, you silly girl," said Arabella.  "Of course, it will and even thicker than before."

"Now we must fly home to dinner and you must get ready for the old witch's visit.  We will be here in the morning to guide you home.   It will be a long journey, so sleep well!" said Annalisa.

Rapunzel watched the fairies fly away and she knew in her heart that she would not sleep a wink.

NIGHT MUST FALL

                               

At the end of my sophomore year at Sarasota High, my drama teacher, Paul McClure, decided to direct Night Must Fall which had been a huge theatrical success.  The play had atmosphere, mystery and fantastic parts for actors. He knew he was fortunate enough to have exactly the right cast in his group of graduating seniors.  Ellen Geer, who was to have a career spanning fifty years, was given the meatiest role.  The leading 
role, a charming, manipulative young man
who manages to worm his way into the affections of a wealthy old widow, her young, bored companion and Dora, her maid, was played by the school's finest actor, the charismatic Terry Shank.  Dora, the none-too-bright servant girl, is pregnant, the result of a brief liaison with our leading man who has a way with words.  Since I was in awe of the entire cast and had that "deer caught in the headlights" expression, I was perfect for the frightened Dora, who probably knew as much about sex as I did, which is to say, very little.  Rehearsals were grueling and all too brief, but we all knew that something extraordinary was happening, one of those rare times in the theatre when everything comes together in exactly the right way--when something magical is born and every person in the audience feels it.  The young cast bonded in a way I have never experienced since.

We gave two performances at the Palmtree Playhouse. an Equity theatre we were able to rent as their season was over.  We had a large, responsive audience the first night who must have spread the word as the next performance was completely sold out.  During our final scene that last night I realized that there was no sound in the theatre but the actors' voices; the audience was spellbound, completely caught up in what was happening onstage.  I suddenly realized that I didn't want this experience to end.   But of course it did.  The audience streamed backstage but no one quite knew how to express their powerful and unexpected feelings.

There was a party afterwards.  And as I looked around at the faces of these actors who had become my friends, I realized that they were far more important to me than I was to them.  They would all graduate in a few days and I would probably never see them again.  I started to cry and couldn't stop.

And I never did see any of them again.

THE FOREST FAIRIES, Part 3

Arabella and Annalisa

                                                                               

 Queen of the Fairies

Mother," the twin fairies cried, "We have devised a plan to rescue Rapunzel.  We will find a handsome prince and....."

"No more handsome princes!  Remember the problems you had with the prince and Sleeping Beauty.  You could have just left the palace door open, but no, you told the poor man to climb up the vines to her room--"

"It was romantic climbing up the brambles--"

"And they were covered with thorns!  Why do you think they called her Briar Rose?  And his wounds became infected!  I had to give you that magic salve to cure him.  And worst of all, when the prince entered her bedroom, Briar Rose was covered with cobwebs!!  She had been sleeping for one hundred years and everything was covered with them.  He had to peel them from her face before he could see her beauty!  I am surprised the prince didn't just faint dead away what with his wounds and all those cobwebs...."

"Mama, stop!" cried Arabella.  "They fell in love in spite of the cobwebs and they are married now and Briar Rose is having a baby!"

"Oh, no!  Another disastrous christening I suppose.  They better invite all the fairies this time or my cousin Repellante will put a spell on the baby...."

"Mama, please, we promise not to involve a prince this time," said Annalisa.   "We are going to fly into Rapunzel's dark tower and advise her to cut off her thick braid, nail it to the window and climb down to freedom! We have located her parents and they were overjoyed to learn that their dear daughter was coming home to them at last!"

"Well, all right then.  I'm flying home now.  Your father and I like to have a glass of raspberry wine before dinner.  Now, Girls, don't be late!"  And she flew into the sky muttering something about Rapunzel would probably break her ankle during her descent and then......But the sisters heard no more as they flew off in the opposite direction.  They had time to tell dear Rapunzel of their plan as their parents always had several glasses of raspberry wine before dinner.  They hoped Papa would not fall asleep again during the soup course; it always made Mama very cross.

SARASOTA'S MISS MAILAWAY!

Back in the Fifties every small town in America had beauty contests and Sarasota was no exception.  This was the time when the city wanted to attract more people to its beautiful coastline and sugary white sand so each year the Sarasota Herald Tribune would send out its mail-away edition to people all over the USA.  A very thick edition heralded the fabled beauty of the city's location, its exquisite Spanish architecture, the Ringling Art Museum, its Equity theater, the Palmtree Playhouse and The Players, its community theater and most of all its miles of pristine, completely unspoiled beach, its sand so white and pure that it looked as if no one had ever walked on its snowy perfection.  (An unlooked for consequence of hoards of Northerners moving to our untouched shores was that our virgin beaches lost their purity and tacky motels and eventually high rise condos sprang up, completely hiding the beaches.)

But in the Fifties we did not foresee the loss of natural beauty that lay ahead.  The Herald Tribune held a yearly contest to choose Miss Mailaway, a local beauty who would grace the cover of its special edition.  Now the contest did not pretend it was interested in a girl's talents, speaking ability or social causes--it was a beauty contest plain and simple.  Young women in their late teens walked around the pool at the Lido Casino in one-piece bathing suits and spike heels.  After each smiling parade around the pool, some unfortunate girls would be eliminated.  Now there were rules, but they were unspoken.  For instance, there were no Black girls in the contest, nor were there Asian or Hispanic girls and certainly no young women of Middle Eastern descent.  Exotic or unusual beauty was ignored. Contestants were to be conventionally pretty, full-figured (this was the time of Marilyn Monroe, not Twiggy) and very, very tan.  (I tried to get a tan, but I only got skin cancer.)  While there were no women of color in the contest, most of the girls looked like Halle Berry--golden brown skin with Caucasian features.  Now Miss Mailaway was a big deal and practically the whole town attended.  Large pictures of the contestants in bathing suits were featured in the paper nearly every day.  Needless to say, my friends and I all loved the contest.  I was forever barred because I was painfully skinny and shockingly pale.  And of course I still had no breasts.  But the fact that I didn't qualify did nothing to dampen my ardor. (I also attended the Miss Sarasota, Miss Florida and Junior Miss contests.)

The contest that was the most fun for my friends and me was the year that we knew most of the contestants.  As all the girls paraded around the pool for the first time, we knew immediately who would be eliminated early on--the plain, awkward girls, the too short girls, the ones with skinny legs or the wrong hair or an ugly bathing suit and most of all, the girls who lacked that vital attribute, a really good tan.  The judges were four callow youths who formed a bad barbershop quartet, but who knew the rules and eliminated those girls who didn't fit in including our friend Ginger, a girl of dark, dangerous beauty who probably scared the pants off our quartet.  The evening progressed with few surprises and it became clear who the two top contenders were to be--Sandra and Lucy--two girls we all went to school with.  They were only two years older than I was, but infinitely more worldly (of course, the only females less worldly than I were cloistered nuns.)  Sandra was a redhead and Lucy a brunette, but they both wore white suits on their spectacular, well-tanned figures.  At last all the girls were eliminated but Sandra, Lucy and a blonde in a black bathing suit no one paid any attention to.  The final three circled the pool one last time, smiling and drinking in the approval, the catcalls, the wolf whistles and the wild applause.

The second runnerup was announced to the surprise of none--the blonde.

The first runnerup was announced--Lucy, the voluptuous brunette.  But, alas, Lucy obviously thought she had won because she squealed and stepped forward, smiling broadly and waiting for her bouquet or crown or whatever they planned to give her.  But poor Lucy had not won; Sandra was Miss Mailaway.  To her credit, Lucy stepped back, looking confused and Sandra, also looking a bit confused, stepped forward.  I had thought Sandra should win, but I felt sorry for Lucy who later entered the Miss Sarasota contest and came in third.  Years later I ran into Sandra who was running the Green Stamp redemption store right next to Publix. While still beautiful, she looked too thin and a bit drawn.  I asked her if she had been Miss Mailaway several years ago.

"It wasn't several years ago.  It was many, many years ago," she said, not smiling.  She took my books of Green Stamps and slapped them on the counter.

FIRST DANCE

                                                                              

    FIRST DANCE







Because my three brothers were younger than I, I always felt protective of them.  We fought like cats and dogs, but no one would be allowed to hurt my little brothers.  Ever. This was an impossible task, but I didn't know that then. The time came when my oldest brother, Rick, went to his first junior high dance.  Rick and his friend looked so handsome in their new clothes, so young, so innocent.  When the boys were to leave with my dad to pick up the girls, I insisted on going and sat in the front seat.  (I'm sure Rick was thrilled.) We drove to a nearby neighborhood and picked up two very sweet looking girls all decked out in party dresses.  All four sat jammed together in the back seat.  There was no laughter or flirtation; this was serious business.  At that time Rick was painfully shy, but he was so good looking that girls overlooked his shyness.  Conversation was tentative as no one quite knew what to say.  We arrived at the school and the four first daters filed out of our ancient car.  Slow dance music was floating out from the gym and lots of excited kids were milling about.  Rick turned and waved just before entering the dance, a big smile on his face. He looked so impossibly young.

I was to remember that night several years later when I was a junior in college.  I brought a friend home with me for Spring Break, a pretty red-haired freshman of 18 with a spectacular figure.  Karen* was far more sophisticated than I (her mother let her watch foreign films) and actually knew all about sex.  She and her boyfriend had been doing the dark deed for almost two years.  I was extraordinarily impressed by this because up until that time I had not realized that nice girls could have sex.  In fact, my worldly friend was able to clear up some rather startling misconceptions I had about that most fascinating of subjects.

One day at the beach Karen said casually, "Your brother Rick is very good looking."  A pregnant pause.  "I wonder if I could seduce him."   "WHAT?" I said, choking on my cherry Coke.  "I'd like to be his first," she said with a little smile.  I was shocked beyond measure.  "But he's just a little kid!" I protested.  (Rick was 6' 3" and muscular.)  "Well, he's not so little anymore," Karen said dryly.  "He's sixteen, isn't he?"

I suddenly remembered Rick's face at his first dance.  Innocence personified.  This girl would seduce him, make him fall in love with her and then go back to college and promptly forget him.  His heart would be broken!  "No, absolutely not," I said firmly.  "I forbid you to do it."  Karen looked at me, then at the waves crashing on the beach and then back at me.  "All right," she said in a low voice.  "I won't."

Years later I told Rick about this experience.  As it happens, he remembered Karen well.  "She was a very......healthy looking girl," he said, chuckling. "Looked good in a bathing suit."

Older and wiser now I said, "You think I should have minded my own business, don't you?"

Rick smiled.  "Oh, I think I could have handled it myself."


*Not her real name

THE FOREST FAIRIES, Part 2

Annalisa & Arabella

  

The Queen of the Fairies

The twin sisters decided to ask their mother, the Queen of the Fairies, about Rapunzel.  As Queen, their mother knew everything which was sometimes extremely annoying.

"Mama, tell us about Rapunzel in the dark tower.  We know that old witch, Hepzibah, can't be her true mother," they said in chorus.

"Of course, Hepzibah is not Rapunzel's mother.  She stole her from her cradle when she was newly born and it was all over some rhubarb ....or radicchio; I can't remember.  Her parents were heartbroken and begged Hepzibah to return their baby, but she pretended not to know what they were talking about.  Hepzibah took Rapunzel to the dark tower--she could still fly then--and hid the child inside. There was no door and only one window near the top of the tower.  When Hepzibah grew too old to fly, Rapunzel had to let down her long hair so the witch could climb up.  Oh, it is a dreadful story and all over some rutebagas."

"Mama, Annalisa and I are determined to rescue poor Rapunzel and return her to her parents."

"Well, I hope you don't invent another rattlebrain plan.  Think it through this time.  Remember poor Cinderella and those ridiculous glass slippers.  Her feet were covered with blisters!  And at midnight she was left on the street with her rags, a pumpkin and some mice.  Cinderella had to run all the way home on her blistered feet, carrying those mice whom she said were her friends.  I think the poor girl may be mental."

Stung, Arabella cried out, "Well, she is marrying Prince Charming next week!  And he is very handsome.  And, of course, charming!

"But not very bright, I fear," said the Queen Mother and flew off.

Her daughters stamped their feet in a fit of pique, but since they were floating in the air, it had no effect whatsoever.

THE SPECTACULAR SAILOR CIRCUS

  The Sarasota     

Sailor Circus

When I was growing up in Sarasota in the Fifties, the highlight of every school year was the spectacular Sailor Circus held in the football stadium at Sarasota High.  In my memories the nights are always cool; the moon is always golden in the starlit sky and it never, ever rains.  In those halcyon days the famous circus families lived in Sarasota--the Wallendas, the Canastrellis, the Zachinnis and many more.  At one time we lived down the street from the Wallendas and were used to seeing the family practicing on the high wire in their backyard.  For many years these circus professionals trained teenagers (their own children among them) to perform in the Sailor Circus.  I know I shall bring the wrath of present-day Sarasota down on my head when I say that during the fabled Fifties the Sailor Circus reached heights it was never to reach again.  Under the watchful eye of circus luminaries at the top of their game, even kids who did not grow up in the circus learned to do things they had thought were impossible.  For a child like myself who lacked strength, coordination, balance and grace, the Sailor Circus performers became like the gods of Olympus.  They were superhuman.  They were magic!

One moonlit night stands out among all the others.  I remember the girls on the Spanish Web--all grace and beauty, their long legs wound around the thick rope, bending their bodies in impossible curves and smiling, always smiling at us all.  A young man seemed to dance and leap on the high wire, fearless as he flipped over on the thin cord.  We too were fearless because we knew in our hearts that he could not fall.  And at last came my favorites, the glittering stars of the evening,  the artists on the flying trapeze.  High above us the five performers appeared relaxed, taking their daring feats for granted, but my heart was beating so fast that I felt almost dizzy.  They flew through the air, turning somersaults as their sequined costumes caught the lights; their timing was perfect as they flipped and caught the opposite trapeze.  As the performance grew more intricate, I knew that everything depended on faultless timing and the special skills of the catcher.  The young man hung by his knees, his wrists taped, his muscular arms outstretched to catch the performer hurtling toward him.  I was breathless.  The act was racing toward its spectacular finish; one extraordinary pass after another until the last girl grasped the trapeze and swung out, turning over and over in the air until at the last possible moment the catcher grabbed on and held fast.

I am an old woman now and the flyers, if they are still with us, are even older than I.  But in my mind's eye, I see them still, their strong, graceful bodies forever flying toward one another against the midnight blue of the sky.

THE FOREST FAIRIES, Part I

Annalisa and Arabella, the Forest Fairies*

Annalisa, I am worried about that young girl who lives alone in the dark tower.  You know, the one with the very long blonde hair.

Arabella, I know who you mean.  I think her name is Rapunzel.  I see her looking out the window when I fly by at night.  She must be very lonely.

And no one ever comes to visit her except that mean old witch, Hepzibah! And you know that nasty witch is too old to be her real mother, Sister.  She is so ancient she can't even fly!

I know.  That's why she makes poor Rapunzel put her long blonde braid out the window so she can climb up.  You know that must really hurt having your hair pulled like that.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair."

You know what I would do, Annalisa; I would say NO! That dear girl must have a headache for days. It would give me the vapors having my hair yanked about like that.  We must help!

Yes,we must rescue Rapunzel from the dark tower. She can look for her real mother!

The fairy sisters were enraptured by their own

                   goodness!

*American Girl dolls

MY FIRST BIG CRUSH

FIRST BIG CRUSH, ELLEN GEER AND ME

When I was fourteen, I played my third role at The Players in a very Fifties' play, A Roomful of Roses.  (I'm the teenager on the sofa.)  This experience was a totally happy one for me and I made friends I was to keep for many, many years.  The leading role was played by Ellen Geer, whose father Will was to become a household name several years later playing Grandpa on The Waltons.  (Your feet are cold!)  Ellen was a beautiful blonde who was already an accomplished actress at sixteen.  I was to watch her career unfold in films and on television and she is still acting today.  But when I met Ellen her long career was in the future and she was that talented girl I went to high school with.  Why she spent her senior year in Sarasota, I was never to know, but she made an indelible impression on all who met her.  The handsome young man in the far left of the picture played my older brother, but my feelings for him were far from sisterly.  I adored him and he  thought I was a nice kid.  Bill was charming, witty and good-looking, but he only had eyes for Ellen. I understood this, but this knowledge did not dampen my ardor.  I followed him around in a daze of unrequited teenage passion, staring at him with my big brown puppy eyes and hoping he would throw me a bone, which he occasionally did.  After all, he was used to this kind of thing.  He was so sophisticated!  So worldly (more than I knew.)  So very, very funny!  Every high school boy paled in comparison to this Greek god, not that any of them had noticed me.  Every night on stage Bill and I got laughs.  We were encircled in a warm bubble of audience approval which was quite intoxicating.  

"Weren't those kids who played the brother and sister cute?  And funny too!"
"Yes, they were darling!  But what about that girl who played the lead--she was fantastic."

Suddenly, it was closing night.  The fun was over.  The bubble had burst.  My heart was broken.  Bill was leaving for New York to become an actor!  Ellen was oddly unmoved by this tragedy.  

"Will you miss him?" I asked.  Ellen looked at me intently, but I couldn't read her expression.

"Oh, he'll be back soon; he's not that talented," she said.  I was stunned; this had not occurred to me.  "Look, I know you like him, but don't......Bill's not really....."  She looked into my face where no light was dawning.   "Don't get your heart broken."  And she walked quickly down the hall.

THE CHRISTMAS I'VE NEVER FORGOTTEN

                                                               MERRY  CHRISTMAS!

Christmas meant a great deal to my mother.  Although we never had any money, there was always a real tree loaded with ornaments, lots of tinsel and colored lights (putting on the lights was Dad's job.)  Mom sprayed fake snow on the windows and sent out a huge number of Christmas cards.  All those childhood Christmas memories have blended together over the years.  But one special Christmas morning memory is still vivid in my mind.  My middle brother, Billy, must have been eight or nine that year and he had one dollar to buy Christmas gifts for the whole family.  Naturally, he went to Woolworth, the kind of store that really doesn't exist anymore.  I forget what he gave my other brothers, Ricky and Jimmy, but my mother received a tiny black frying pan.  Since Dad loved boats, Billy had given him a big postcard showing a boat in the Gulf of Mexico.  And he had bought me a small plastic change purse.  Its transparent sides were shot through with tiny gold lines and it was filled with pale yellow tissue paper.  I was stunned.  I knew it had cost 39 cents, a huge part of my little brother's dollar.  "It's absolutely beautiful, Bill." I could hardly speak.  "And I think that's a little yellow scarf inside," he said excitedly. I lightly rubbed my fingers over the tiny purse.  "Yes, Billy, I think it is."

ELVIS COMES TO TOWN!!!

ELVIS PRESLEY AT THE FLORIDA
                      THEATER

A very young Elvis Presley came to the Florida Theater in Sarasota when I was in the eighth grade.  He was just starting his career and had not yet become the greatest star on the planet. Since I was unsophisticated and never trendy, Elvis had barely registered on my consciousness. Not so for my friend Rosie and a few other "with it" young girls--they got tickets immediately. After the concert they walked up to Badgers Drugstore on Five Points, talking excitedly about Elvis all the way.  The girls were enraptured as well they might be.

When they arrived at Badgers, there was Elvis having a Coke.  Barriers had been put up around the soon-to-be superstar.  Rosie's mouth dropped open as she gazed upon her idol in the flesh.  Now Rosie had strawberry blonde hair and the face of an angel and for an eighth grader, she was remarkably well-developed.  None of these facts escaped the young, virile Elvis who flashed Rosie his dazzling smile and beckoned her over.  Even Rosie herself no longer remembers their brief conversation, but she does recall that Elvis kissed her.  Really kissed her.  I would have been shocked at anything less.  I wish it had been me.

THE SIREN CALL OF THE THEATRE, Part II

Nellie Forbush and Ngana de Becque

 Playing that small role in South Pacific was the most fun I had ever had!  Richard, the little boy who played my brother, and I worked with the musical director and the choreographer and a lady who spoke perfect French.  Rehearsals flew by and suddenly it was Dress Rehearsal.  Since I had pale Irish skin, everything that showed was covered in golden brown makeup.  I wore a sarong, but I was no Dorothy Lamour.  The costume lady put it most succinctly.  "You've got nothing to hold it up."  I hung my head in shame.  But the director, who was passing by, said, "She's a little girl.  She's not supposed to have breasts."  Relieved, I raised my head and saw someone I didn't recognize in the mirror--someone exotic and very tan.  Someone with huge made up brown eyes and flowers in her hair. Someone who sang, danced and spoke French.  I was........not me.

Years later The Players revived South Pacific and I was in the opening night audience.  The curtain opened and there onstage were two children singing "Dites-moi" and doing a little dance together.  And I suddenly realized that it had never mattered that we didn't sing or dance very well or speak perfect French.  We were there to set the scene, to make a charming introduction to an enchanted evening of theatre magic that would stay forever fresh.  Unexpected tears came to my eyes.

THE SIREN CALL OF THE THEATER, Part I

The last scene of the film South Pacific

When I was twelve years old, The Players of Sarasota decided to present one of the all-time great musicals, South Pacific.  My mother had a beautiful lyric soprano voice and had played the leads in all her Catholic school musicals.  She assumed she was too old for the lead, Nellie Forbush, but being in the chorus was fine with her.  I had never gone to a community theater tryout before, so I went along.  Mom was nervous, but sang beautifully. I was entranced by all the beautiful voices.  Toward the end of the auditions a lady came up to me and asked if I would like to try out.  I was speechless.  My mother said with a smile, "She doesn't sing."  I had inherited my father's singing voice--none--but suddenly I wanted very much to try out.  I stood up and walked onto the stage.  I smiled at the pianist and announced that I had no music, but I would sing anyway.  I launched into a loud rendition of Dungaree Doll, a pop song of the day.  Since I was not at all musical, I was spared the realization of just how bad I was.  My mother appeared to have gone into shock.  I finished my song to loud applause and actually curtsied.  A few days later my mother received a call from the director.  "Oh, I see," she said.  "All right.  Yes, I will."  "Did you get cast?"  My mother looked at me as if she didn't quite know who I was.  "No," she said.  "You did."

I had been cast as Ngana, the Eurasian daughter of the lead, Emile de Becque.  I had to sing, dance and speak French and I could do none of the three.  I didn't care; I was starstruck.

                                                                  

MY PARENTS APPARENTLY HAD SEX

Really?

They did what?

When I was eleven, my mother announced she was pregnant!

             



How could this have happened? Goodness knows, I had seen Binky get married many times and I had a vague idea that something similar occurred with humans. But when I tried to picture this with people, it seemed silly and rather uncomfortable.  Why in the world would my parents want to do such a thing?  They already had three children!  And my parents seemed quite surprised that another baby was on the way.  Could people do this strange thing without realizing it?  I knew they slept in the same bed so maybe one of them kind of fell into the other while asleep.  This situation was certainly perplexing.

But as the months wore on I tried not to think about the actual making of the baby, but instead focused on how lovely it would be to have a baby in the house.  My mother grew larger.  Much larger.  Baby clothes were bought.  A good friend gave us her crib because she already had five kids and she would never, ever have another.  Ever.  Finally, the ninth month was upon us.  I was in the seventh grade and had just played a Chinese girl named Heart's Delight in a play called Fun and the Feast of the Lanterns.  However, this exciting event receded into the background when the due date approached.  At last, Dad took Mom to the hospital and a darling baby boy was born whom they named James Russell.  When baby Jimmy came home, I instantly adored him. Ricky and Billy were disappointed to see that the baby was too little to play with them and their interest waned considerably. But I remained besotted!

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

Movie Poster

Charlton Heston & James Stewart

Betty Hutton & Cornel Wilde

The Greatest Show on Earth won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1952. And part of it was made in Sarasota the year before.  The  Ringling Brothers Circus wintered in Sarasota and many famous circus families made their homes in our town.

So when Sarasota heard that big stars like Charlton Heston, Jimmy Stewart, Cornel Wilde and Betty Hutton were coming to our town to make a movie about the circus, we were, collectively, over the moon.  I particularly admired Mr. Heston (and I admired him even more years later when I saw him nearly naked in Planet of the Apes.)  I was sure that I was destined to be an actress due to my early success playing a Mother Hen in the first grade.  This triumph coupled with the fact that I had been a beautiful child who had modeled in New York assured me that show business was in my near future.  The mirror told me that my early childhood beauty had faded quite a bit and I had entered an "awkward stage" (from which I was never to emerge), but I felt sure that directors would see beyond my current failings and I could be the next child star. So when I heard that school children and townspeople were needed as extras in the circus scenes, I knew that fate had smiled on me.  As the big day approached I grew more and more excited.  The night before my film debut I went to bed early so that I would be well rested.  And besides I felt very tired.  Very tired indeed.  I remember my father taking my temperature in the middle of the night before I drifted off again into troubled sleep.  When morning came I was told that I had a high fever and was quite ill.  There was no possibility of my going on the school field trip to the movie set.  I was heartbroken and cried all day.

My father stayed home from work with me and my mother took our camera to the movie set.  Since Mom was quite the beauty, she had no trouble snapping photos of Charlton Heston, Jimmy Stewart and Cornel Wilde.  Somehow, Betty Hutton and Gloria Graham were left out of her picture spree.  Eagerly, we waited for the film to be developed (this was in the Olden Days.)  And finally, there they were--the smiling black and white images of Stewart, Heston (fully clothed) and Wilde.  We had the pictures for years until they faded at last into obscurity.

RIDING THE BUS IN THE SOUTH IN 1950

It was an unbearably hot afternoon in Sarasota, Florida in 1950.  Dad had dropped us off downtown.  Since my brothers were only two and three, this involved a stroller and a lot of paraphernalia.  I was barely seven and thought I was grown.  Mom had several bags from different stores and I was pushing Billy in the stroller. Ricky was trailing behind as he was fascinated by small town life; this wasn't New York, that was clear.  Mom spotted the bus and ran to the corner, calling for us to hurry.  This was exciting stuff as we had not ridden the city bus before.  Mom lifted Billy out of the stroller, folded it up and pushed it up onto the bus, then herded us on.  Mom was beautiful, but at the moment she was covered with sweat and her curly red hair had turned to damp frizz.  She looked completely frazzled.  She carried her packages to the back seat of the bus which went all the way across and set them down.  Then she took the stroller and put that behind the seat in front of her.  We kids sat down on the back seat, the boys fussy and whining, me thinking I was going to die from the heat.  At last, Mom sat down in the middle of the long seat and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ma'am, you can't sit there,"  said the bus driver.

"Why not?  I need the space!"  She was in no mood to be trifled with.

"The back of the bus is for the Colored.  You must be from out of town."

All eyes were upon us.  Mom muttered, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph." The bus driver was implacable.  "You have to move, Ma'am."

"That is ridiculous.  I am hot and exhausted and I am not moving.  We should all sit wherever we want to"

Silence fell.  The bus pulled away.  Right on, Mama.