Marilyn--50 Years Later

08/06/12 - posted by Frank Dunnigan

Marilyn Monroe—dead 50 years this past weekend—was a news story that our family watched unfolding from a portable black-and-white TV while eating dinner in the kitchen that summer night after returning home from our vacation at Marin Town & Country Club.

Coming off the national public exuberation of the Seattle World’s Fair and its images of a wonderful future known as “Century 21”, Marilyn’s death was the first sign for me that the world was less than perfect. Back then, we had little or no inkling of upcoming events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassinations of the 1960s, the American agonies of Vietnam, Watergate, and more that led up to the cataclysmic occurrences of 9/11. Until that August day in 1962, life for most of us baby-boomers was following a smooth and pleasant path.

Today, we give just a quiet little nod and a moment of remembrance to America’s golden girl, who would now be approaching age 90.