In 1997, I was writing for Outre, a magazine published by the editors
of Filmfax. Outre dealt with various forms of pop culture, and since I
am a guitarist of some repute, I was given mostly musical subjects to
interview. I was able to hang out and/or speak with Dick Dale, (one of
my idols and the guitarist responsible for "Misirlou", the theme from
PULP FICTION), The Ventures, The Chantays ("Pipeline"), Rick Wakeman
from the band Yes, and tons of other cool people. The editors were
eventually inpressed enough by my writing to assign me an interview with
Edie Adams, the gorgeous actress/model from the 50s and 60s, and the
widow of early TV genius Ernie Kovacs.
Usually, interviewees will opt to be interviewed by phone or at a
public place like a restaurant, but Edie invited me to come spend the
day at her beautiful house near Hollywood. Edie is still lovely,
although decidedly more matronly than her heyday, and was a warm, funny,
absolutely genuine hostess. The house itself was filled with memorabilia
from her and Kovacs work. (Edie is responsible for the Kovacs archives,
and continues to make sure that his contributions to early TV are not
forgotten.) As we walked from room to room, Edie kept talking, with an
endless stream of tales about television's early days, about hanging out
with a very young Henry Mancini, about Ernie Kovacs' jaw-dropping fiscal
irresponsibility, and about getting hit on....big time!..... at the
White House by President Kennedy. By the end of the day, I really felt
like I had made a friend.
Evidently, Edie felt the same way. She called me the next week and
invited my wife and I to go to the CD release party of "Kerouac; Kicks,
Joys, & Darkness" at the Viper Room in L.A.. The CD consisted of various
interpretations of Jack Kerouac's poetry set to music. Edie was paired
with a jazz oboist and did an insane , high-energy take on a poem about
people being likened to zoo animals. The Oh-So-Tragically-Hip crowd went
bonkers for Edie, and I felt like the coolest guy in the room when she
came back to our table and gave me a big hug and actually asked ME what
I thought! It was a grand night, and my wife and I were just blown away
by Edie's warmth. She is truly a wonderful human being. When the Outre
article came out, she called to thank me personally. I haven't spoken
with Edie for several years, although we still exchange Christmas cards.
It was an extraordinary gift to get to know Edie.
Greg Douglass
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