...Miss America, 1945 edition. Adieu to Bess Myerson, who went from America's sweetheart to an obscurity so complete that her death wasn't announced for the better part of a month.
Nearly thirty years after all it all blew, it's odd to think what a big deal "Bess Mess" was back in '87, and interesting, given the thoroughness with which she disappeared, what a big part of New York life Myerson was for the 40 years before her bad judgment and poor taste in men caught up with her. Her downfall turned into a perfect pre-Internet scandal, replete with tabloid revelations, eccentric fringe characters, and - at least on the part of her longtime fans, Mother Muscato not least among them - enormous disappointment that the life and career of America's only Jewish Miss had gone so far awry.
As for me, Bess Mess turned into a great Hallowe'en costume combo (my pal the Art Historian did Bess, I was Leona, and we were the Scandal Girls of '87 to great acclaim at a fab party on the Lower East Side). All these years later, what I'm wondering now is how long it will be before we hear something from Sukhreet Gabel...
Instantly, as I read the words, "Bess Mess," I thought of Sukhreet Gabel.
ReplyDeleteCan Hedda Nussbaum be far behind? Those names so powerfully evoke NYC in the mid 1980's. You just sent me back 30 years. Where is Liza? Where is Andy? There were just here... somewhere....