Who thought this thread was dead? Naw! It was resting while I went digging through archives.
Attached for your consideration <play fanfare music, pull-eeze!>: a December 12, 1997 piece from a Fredericksburg, Virginia newspaper (The Free Lance-Star) about Richard Foster's unauthorized Bettie bio, written by Michael Zitz. Threaded throughout are remarks that can cause eyes to pop. Consider:
* The misstatement that Uma Thurman imitated Bettie in "Pulp Fiction" (though even Essex/Swanson blew it on that one). Uma had a classic bob, not a Bettie 'do; there's a specific movie and actress Uma's role was tied to -- totally unrelated to Bettie.
* "Madonna is said to be considering buying the rights to Page's story for a movie." Say what?
* Quotes in the article don't match what Foster said in his book. Examples:
(A) There are variations on Foster's interactions with Bettie's brother, Jack. In the bio, Foster said, "He talked with me for a couple of hours, not giving much up, not telling me anything really personal. But he did tell me Bettie was alive and living in California." Am I the only one who thinks that sounds like one phone call that lasted a couple of hours? That's not what Foster said to Zitz. The article says, "Foster talked to Jack Page several times before Jack told him Bettie was still alive and living in California."
(B) In his book, Foster said that he received Bettie's letter about a month after he sent his questions. In the attached article, Foster said Bettie's letter arrived "six or eight weeks later."
(C) In his bio, Foster only says that Bettie's letter arrived in the "summer." Why does this matter? Zitz quoted Foster as claiming he was the first journalist to contact Bettie. This falls into the category of things that make you go "hmmm." Foster has played his cards very close to the vest with specific dates, and as we can see in "B" above, time frames turned into a taffy pull. We know from THE BETTY PAGES #8 (Summer Fun Issue 1992) that "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" contacted Paula Klaw and Greg Theakston for interviews on June 28. To me, that spells out that Bob Schapiro had already contacted Bettie.
And.... Zitz's remark that was an uber attention grabber: "Foster said Bettie declined to comment on the stabbings when he interviewed her for his book." Interviewed her for his book?!? That was news to me! Several years ago, Scoutmaster Steve Brewster posted to the Bettie Scouts that Bettie's biggest grievance was that Foster never contacted her about her psychiatric history.
The attached article is rather long -- spanning two separate pages. So, grab a cuppa Joe, your favorite tea, or a tall non-alcoholic beverage. (Can't afford to cloud your brain cells!) Read it through. Then let us know what you think!
