I haven’t had this much fun since I found out about Dorothy Parker’s salt & pepper shaker collection. (That isn’t code, the woman actually focused on collecting salt & pepper shakers when times got rough) I’m not mocking, I just think it is interesting to find out a little bit about the women who shaped our world, whether we recognize them or not. Plus, I see them as such giants in my mind, I like to find out they are just human. I loved “The Bell Jar” so much I wanted to learn a little more about Sylvia Plath. (After all, is anyone else mentioned more on “Gilmore Girls” than Sylvia?)

1. She published her first poem when she was 8.
2. Due to the controversial relationship with her husband, her married last name “Hughes” was chiseled off her gravestone, until the grave was rendered more “tamper proof”

Wow, I really should have more than two points. I do, but I’m still reeling from reading all of this. I need to watch “Slyvia” with Gwenthy Paltrow.  See? That’s how much in awe I am, I’m writing my mental notes down.

Yes many might question her political beliefs. However, Dorothy Parker paved the way for Gilmore Girls because she didn’t apologize for who she was. She didn’t try to write like everyone else. She had her opinions & she used them. She didn’t stick to the traditional values of love.  She didn’t try to fit into the box of what society said a woman was or should be. She lived her life with no apologies, & was one of the most interesting people I have ever read about. Thanks to wikipedia for these interesting Dorothy Parker facts.

 Her Uncle Died on the Titanic
“From 1957 to 1962 she wrote book reviews for Esquire, though these pieces were increasingly erratic due to her continued abuse of alcohol. During these years she concentrated on her interest in collecting salt and pepper shakers.”
“Her ashes remained unclaimed in various places, including a file cabinet for 21 years.”
“The NAACP eventually claimed them and built a memorial garden for them in their Baltimore headquarters. The plaque reads,
Here lie the ashes of Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967) humorist, writer, critic. Defender of human and civil rights. For her epitaph she suggested, ‘Excuse my dust’…”
“In her will, she bequeathed her estate to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. foundation. Following King’s death, her estate was passed on to the NAACP.”
Wrote for ‘The New Yorker’, ‘Vogue’ & ‘Vanity Fair’
“Founding member of the Algonquin Round Table”
Co-wrote Script for “A Star is Born”
She had a small star tattoo on her inner arm