Life with Janno: Mom & Pop Culture

Mom has always loved movies, movie stars & pop culture. She was a pretty hip grandma. It was always fun to watch Jeopardy with her. Not only could she name any king of England or France but also answer pop culture questions regarding Gwen Stefani or Coldplay. As long as I can remember, she always made it a point to go & see all the Academy Award Movie Nominees. Artsy, violent or cartoonish...she didn't care, she wanted to see them. In later years in Florida, Wednesday was movie day and during Oscar season she previewed the nominees.

I grew up in the 70's which was a real TV generation. Mainly sitcoms & dramas like All in the Family, Star Trek & Hawaii 5-0 (the original). Til her final weeks she enjoyed TV. Her favorites were Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune, which has become a family favorite with Jackson & a way to pay tribute to her every weekday night. She really enjoyed The Big Bang Theory, Two & a Half Men & Modern Family...As well as watching Rachel Maddow & Meet the Press so she could "prepare" for a the meeting of the minds on her front porch in Florida where she was know as Madame President.

As a young 11year old girl in 1946, she started writing to the movie studios (see list below) to request photos of the popular stars of the day. She had tremendous results. All the photos sent to her have signatures. It is hard to say if the stars or their assistants actually signed the photos but the ones shown here are actually dedicated to her, Janet. These were an absolute treasure to her. Here is a sample of her album. (and one of the many samples of her meticulous book/list keeping) . .

"To Janet, Best always, Marilyn"

If you look carefully at the real photo you can see the writing in a poorly working pen. Mostly you can see the indent in the paper from the pen which makes you know a real person (Marilyn?) actually wrote it & it was not just part of the printing process.