RIP Annette. Here's an Annette Funicello sonnet I wrote a few years ago (originally appeared in Softblow).
Annette: Bitter
Beach movie marathon on TBS.
The last one--Stuff a Wild Bikini--
Alone, I watch from my chair: a weak-kneed
Miserable time. Now, it's all so tasteless:
"Louie Louie," big-haired pineapple princess
On wicky-wicky wacky Waikiki.
I was all Mickey, Frankie, and Skippy
Beachcombing the MGM sand, graceless
In love with a young ukulele hunk.
I wonder now where it went--the era
Of innocence. Now it's all retro junk
Washed-up, lost. Back then I was never scared
That I would ever want to shed this mind
Though it was all forgetting, passing time.
-Jeffery Berg
So sad! No beach party will ever be the same again.
ReplyDeleteI read your ode to Annette yesterday before leaving work. It stuck with me all evening! What a wonderful tribute! It made me want to tell you Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am blessed to have grown up in the 40' s and 50's The Children of " The Greatest Generation". People knew how to be more respectful to one another. We did not know about doing drugs, or constantly using bad language and respected authority.
ReplyDeleteThe Wonderful thing about our generation was our music. Some of the best music written and recorded was from the mid 50' s to the early 60' s. We went to teen dances on Friday and Saturday night, we had curfews we hated but respected. Profane or suggestive language was hardly ever heard on TV or even the movies. My how " Quaint" we were compared to today. No cell phones, computers, or other electronic gadgets unless you consider a Transistor Radio, and Ball Point pens as " Hot" Items.
Enjoy your young lives...it passed too quickly.