Life After 50 December 2016

LOS ANGELES METRO DECEMBER 2016

southern california

The Beach Boys’

BRIAN WILSON Rockin’ New Year’s Eve

MEMORIES OF

DICK CLARK

The Gift of

MAGICAL MOMENTS

At Home with The Mamas and The Papas’

MICHELLE

PHILLIPS

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Contents

December 2016

10

18

22

Cover Profile

Departments

10 At Home With Mama Michelle Phillips

6 50-Plus: What You Need to Know

Spend a day with the last surviving member of The Mamas and The Papas.

Features 18 The Gift of Magical Moments and Memories

Make this holiday season special with the gift of live theatre.

22 The Hallowed Hall Of Must-Knowtables – Dick Clark

24

A quick look at things 50-plusers should be aware of.

28 Let’s Get Out

Looking to get out and about? Our December/January calendar has some great suggestions.

34 And Finally…The Bookworm’s Best, A Look Back and Just A Thought Before We Go

Legendary notables that everyone, of every age, should know.

A book suggestion, memory, and a little something to leave you with.

A visit with the legendry genius behind The Beach Boys.

Cover photo by Keith Munyan / www.keithmunyan.com.

24 The Look Of Life After 50 – Brian Wilson

All material published within this issue of Life After 50 and on www.lifeafter50.com is strictly for informational and educational purposes only. No individual, advice, product or service is in any way endorsed by Life After 50 or Southland Publishing, Inc. or provided as a substitute for the reader’s seeking of individualized professional advice or instruction. Readers should seek the advice of qualified professionals on any matter regarding an individual, advice, recommendations, services or products covered within this issue. All information and material is provided to readers with the understanding that it comes from various sources from which there is no warranty or responsibility by Life After 50 or Southland Publishing, Inc. as to its or their legality, completeness or technical accuracy.

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Editor’s Note...

Step Into The Looking Glass – With Gusto!

I

n this issue, you’ll find a stocking full of features on three of music’s most iconic legends: The World’s Oldest Teenager, Dick Clark; the man who provided the heart and soul of The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson; and the last surviving member of The Mamas and The Papas, Michelle Phillips.

As a kid, I was fascinated with what was going on in music and popular culture – the Summer of Love, the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock – all of which I missed out on. My lack of involvement with these era-defining events had nothing to do with my moon being in the wrong house or having a bad aura. The reason I wasn’t a part of that mid-to-late-1960s flower-powered, psychedelic, hazecrazed orgy of free love and peace was because I was not yet in my teens.

Although the tenderness of my years meant that I missed out on those events, I was hip enough to know that sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll were what was happening – they just weren’t happening to me. At least not to any extent other than always having a reason to be out on our back deck in perfect accordance with our pretty neighbor’s sunbathing schedule, popping my daily Chocks vitamin tablets and blowing the majority of my allowance on those relics of history: records and 8-track tapes.

My collection of recordings included “If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears,” the debut album of The Mamas and The Papas that featured a cover photo of the group sitting in a bathroom with Phillips sprawled out over her be-tubbed bandmates.

Over the years, my mentor, Dick Cavett, and I have talked about a phenomenon he has classified as “through-the-looking-glass moments” – actually interacting with a person or physically being in a place that had captivated your imagination as a child.

That looking glass phenomenon grabbed and pulled me though its pane as we prepared to do the photo shoot with Phillips for this issue. As her hair and make-up were being done, I sat chatting with Phillips in her bathroom.

I thought: “There she is, sitting in a bathroom by a tub, just like she was on that album cover I had as a kid.” It was definitely one of those through-thelooking-glass moments that swirled through my head like a surreal wave of magic.

As I was finishing up this final issue of 2016, I thought about that moment with Phillips and how those through-the-looking-glass moments are so much a part of this season for all of us. As we get older, these weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve may not be as magical as they were when we were kids. And yet, we all have moments sparked by something or someone that come with great power – the power to reignite the magic of childhood.

It is my hope that throughout this season and all of 2017, you come upon many looking glasses, and when you do, that you boldly go through every one of them with gusto.

David Laurell, Editor-in-Chief

4 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

Publisher Valarie Anderson

Account Executives: San Diego County/Orange County Phil Mendelson Phil@LifeAfter50.com

Editor-in-Chief David Laurell Associate Editors Steve Stoliar Claire Yezbak Fadden Art Director Michael Kraxenberger Graphic Designer Nour BouChakra Editorial Assistant Max Andrews Controller Kacie Cobian Human Resources Andrea E. Baker Business Manager Linda Lam Billing Supervisor David Garcia VP Of Operations David Comden

To contact our editorial department: (818) 563-1007

Travel/Los Angeles James Thomopoulos James@LifeAfter50.com For advertising/distribution inquiries contact: Valarie Anderson (310) 822-1629 x 121, Valarie@LifeAfter50.com 5301 Beethoven St., Suite 183 LA CA 90066 Valarie Anderson Valarie@LifeAfter50.com 310 822-1629 x 121

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©2016 Southland Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved

50

The Laureate Of Lyrics

PLUS

What You Need To Know

By Claire Yezbak Fadden and Max Andrews

Keepin’ The Dreamin’ Alive

T

his month, as we feature Michelle Phillips on our cover, local PBS stations from coast-to-coast will present the TJL Productions My Music series “California Dreamin’ – The Songs of The Mamas and The Papas.”

Produced as a 50th anniversary celebration of the harmonious foursome’s 1966 debut hit “California Dreamin,’” the program spotlights the group’s television performances, many previously unseen since their original broadcast, along with rare interviews with Phillips, Denny Doherty and John Phillips who recall their meteoric rise to the top with fellow member Mama Cass Elliot. Folk-rock music colleagues Barry McGuire, John Sebastian and producer Lou Adler also offer their recollections. The band’s golden anniversary is also being celebrated with the release of “The Mamas and The Papas Ultimate Anthology,” a new four-CD collection that includes all five of the group’s original studio albums, a collection of remixes, never before released material and interviews.

A DVD of the program along with this one-of-a-kind CD collection is being offered as a PBS exclusive to tie in with the airing of “California Dreamin’ – The Songs of The Mamas and The Papas.” It will not be offered for sale in stores or online and can only be gotten by making a contribution to PBS. Every local PBS stations has a website where pledges can be made and where you can also find the number if you wish to make a pledge by phone.

For more information, check your local PBS station’s website.

Fifty Candles

F

ifty years ago this month, the United States bombed Hanoi for the first time. The National Basketball Association awarded the Seattle Supersonics a franchise for the 1967- 68 season. The Monkees’ tune “I’m A Believer,” became the number one song on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Maulana Karenga established Kwanzaa as a holiday to honor the culture and traditions of people of African origin.

The United States and the U.S.S.R. signed a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space. National Football League Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced that the first “Super Bowl” pitting the National Football League champion against the American Football League champion would take place on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Coliseum, and Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) made his UCLA college basketball debut. Notable personalities born in December 1966 who are celebrating their 50th birthday this month include actors Kiefer Sutherland, Toby Huss and C. Thomas Howell, country singer Tracy Byrd, model Eva LaRue and author Steve Spangler.

6 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

B

ob Dylan, lauded as one of the most significant songwriters of our time, has been responsible for such classics as “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “The Times They Are a-Changin.’”

In his just-released book, “The Lyrics: 19612012” (2016, Simon and Schuster), Dylan offers a comprehensive and definitive collection of his most recent writings as well as his early lyrics and poems. Well known for changing the lyrics to even his best-loved compositions, Dylan has edited dozens of songs for this volume, making it a must-read for everyone from serious Dylan devotees to the casual fan. Dylan, who has released 36 studio albums that have collectively sold more than 120 million copies, was recently named the Nobel Prize winner for literature. He has also been awarded the French Legion of Honor, a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.

It’s The Most Stressful Time Of The Year

I

t’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but for many, the holiday season is the most stressful. From visits with family and out-oftown guests to buying gifts, cooking, decorating and more, the holidays sometimes bring more stress than they do joy. Colin Christopher, a clinical hypnotherapist, offers these tips to reduce stress and make it through the next few weeks: Don’t Procrastinate You can reduce stress with a little bit of planning and getting an early start.

If you wait until the last minute and find yourself pressed for time, you’re going to experience more stress.

Learn To Say “No” It’s okay to say “no” if you don’t want to do something or don’t have the time to do it.

Take A Moment For Yourself With as little as 20 to 30 minutes set aside each day to do something you enjoy, you can refresh, relieve stress and better enjoy the holidays.

Breathe Take a few minutes to slow your breathing down. Breathe in deeply, hold your breath for a few seconds, and then slowly release through your mouth.

Appreciate The Moment Take time to step back and enjoy the time with your family and just be thankful for all you have.

Lower Your Expectations Some people place very high expectations on the holidays, picturing everything playing out in a specific or perfect way and then find themselves disappointed and stressed when things don’t go according to plan. Lower your expectations and just let life happen.

A Little More You Need To Know

Where You Need To Go Celebrate The Cultural Diversity Of The Season

The Most Important Thing To Know This Month

or 57 years, music ensembles, choirs and dance companies from the many Los Angeles county neighborhoods and cultures have joined together to present a free, three-hour holiday show which, this year, will take palace on Saturday, December 24 beginning at 3 p.m.

The Holiday Celebration features the California Feetwarmers, a sevenpiece ragtime, Dixieland blues and early swing band, Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company performing folklórico dance from the region of Tabasco, Mexico. The nine-member Korean dance company, Kim Eung Hwa will perform a traditional fan dance and the Harmonic Bronze Handbell Ensemble, a music ensemble of 11 to 18-year-olds from the Antelope Valley, will ring out classical handbell music celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. Other performances will include Kayamanan Ng Lahi with festive dances from the provincial lowland/coastal region of the Philippines, the Palmdale High School Choral Union, the Sunday Night Singers, and the Southern California Brass Consortium, a 26-member brass ensemble from California State University of Long Beach.

This celebration of cultural diversity will be held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. Parking is free in the Music Center parking garage. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. and there will be entertainment on the plaza for those waiting in line beginning at 12:30 p.m.

If you are in the Los Angeles area you can also enjoy this celebration without leaving your home by watching the spectacular live on KOCE. For those outside of the L.A. area, you can also view the festivities live by clicking on www.pbssocal.org on December 24 starting at 3 p.m. or view a replay at 9 p.m. and again on Christmas Day at noon.

For more information and a complete listing of performers, click on www.holidaycelebration.org.

he holiday season can be a treacherous time when it comes to our health. According to Dr. John Young the author of “Beyond Treatment: Discover how to build a cellular foundation to achieve optimal health” (Health/Beauty Products, 2014), this time of year brings a spike in heart attacks and other cardiac issues. The incidence of pneumonia cases also spikes. And deaths from natural causes are higher than other times of the year.

In fact, more people die of natural causes on Christmas Day than any other day of the year.

While those numbers are well-documented, the causes are not.

Stress and a lack of sleep definitely play a role, particularly if one’s immune system is weakened. And, if you look at how most of us eat through the season, it’s easy to see how the immune system takes a beating and even otherwise healthy people become more susceptible to illness during the holidays.

Here are some of Dr. Young’s tips for staying healthy throughout the holidays and the entire year:

F

New Words You might not find all of these words in a dictionary yet, but they’re a part of the everyday American vocabulary.

Here’s what they mean.

Clawback: An investment term to describe when an employer or benefactor takes back money that has already been disbursed, sometimes with an added penalty.

Dab: A celebratory dance move where the performer simultaneously drops their head while raising an arm and bending their elbow in a gesture that resembles sneezing.

Tips for staying healthy during this busy season

T

Get Your Vitamin D

Vitamin D is actually a hormone, not a vitamin, and one of our best sources for it is sunshine. Unfortunately, many people avoid sun exposure. Vitamin D is crucial to many physiological systems, including our immune defenses. It helps fight bacterial and viral infections, including the flu. It supports our cardiovascular system and optimal vitamin D levels can reduce hypertension, heart attacks and stroke. If you don’t get a daily dose of sunshine take vitamin D supplements.

Eat Your Protein

You should be eating one gram for every 2.2 pounds of your body weight on a daily basis. In the United States, we think a healthy diet means eating a lot of fruits and vegetables – which is true. But that doesn’t mean we can forget protein. Our immune system is made up of proteins – our bones are 40 percent protein. Thus, we need protein to stay healthy.

Get A Good Night’s Sleep, Exercise, And Manage Your Stress

Rest, exercise and finding effective, healthy ways to cope with stress are simple ways to pamper your cells. One of the many cellular benefits of exercise is that it increases the oxygen in our bloodstream. Every cell in our body requires oxygen, so consider exercise as another means of feeding your cells. It’s also important to manage stress during the holidays. With unchecked stress, our body releases large amounts of cortisol which, among other things, suppresses the immune system. Take time out to meditate, listen to music, or take a walk in the woods. It feels good – and it’s good for you.

G: WARNIN a d ys

The HoliBe Can us To Hazardoealth Your H

Uptalk: Speaking in a way that your declarative sentences are expressed with rising inflection at the end, as though you were asking a question.

December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 7

Find Out If Your Body Is Toxic

By Dr. Claude Matar Give us a call at (626) 844-4686 to get your toxicity levels tested free of charge.

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A toxic body can create havoc with your life. You may feel that you are ill. You may even frequently get ill. You may have low energy levels, so you feel tired often. You may suffer from swelling, varicose veins, and most noticeably, you may be overweight.

You also may have aches and pains, headaches--even migraines, and many other symptoms. But often these all can be traced back to toxicity of the body. This means that your body may be overloaded with toxins and cannot easily remove them, and that is what is making you ill.

When your system is toxic, many things start to go wrong with the body–and just correcting a symptom will not handle it. You need to correct the underlying cause, which is the general toxicity of the body.

Where do the toxins come from? Well, if you live in LA, look around. The air you breathe can be toxic from smog and carbon monoxide from traffic. The water you bathe in is full of chemicals—chlorine and fluoride to begin with, plus many others. If you ever eat out your food likely will contain MSG—a central nervous system toxin (very harmful). Likewise, if you buy packaged foods, many of them contain MSG. Read the labels, sometimes it’s listed, sometimes it’s not (they often hide it under things like “natural flavors,” “artificial flavors,” or “broth.” The only way to be sure there is none in your foods is to call the manufacturer and ask.

Packaged meats are sprayed with antibiotics and other chemicals to impede the growth of microorganisms on the meat.

These are all toxic to you as well.

Then there is sugar. This is a harmful substance to the body (no matter how good it may taste). And in any of its various forms, it does you no good. Again, read the ingredient labels of the food you buy. What’s in your bread? Or breakfast cereal? How about your spaghetti sauce? Or soups? Or salad dressings? Or salsa?

The point here is that toxins can enter your body from a lot of different sources. So if you ache, are overweight, or have any of the symptoms listed in the first paragraph, it may just be a toxic body that is causing it.

So how does one get the toxins out and lose the excess weight?

Come in to the Pasadena Weight Loss Center. We have tests that determine the level of toxicity of your body, and we have a detox treatment that removes them. The result of the detox program is a body that loses weight much easier, is no longer plagued by aches, pains and low energy, and that looks and feels younger. Add in our nutrition plan and you will not again get toxic, you will lose the excess weight and keep it off for the rest of your (now much longer) life! Come in for our Holiday special at 75% off for the detox package. Get yours now!

Visit http://www.pasadena-weight-loss-center.com/save75-weight-loss-detox-package/ to schedule your first detox treatment. Or give us a call at 626-844-4686 and mention Life After 50 to get 4 weeks on our amazing detox program for 50% off!

December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 9

Cover Profile

At Home With Mama

Michelle Phillips O

ver glasses of red wine, the last surviving member of The Mamas and The Papas reflects on her past and revels in her current life – which she plans on enjoying till she’s 106

Story by David Laurell Photos by Keith Munyan www.keithmunyan.com

B

y the mid-1960s, women had made a significant mark on popular music, predominantly in the genres of jazz, blues, country and folk. Prior to that time, female names – those associated with the chiffon-and-bouffant-adorned ingénues and girl group members – were regularly showing up on the pop charts, but as for the crossover world of pop-rock and straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll, that was strictly a maledominated domain.

That changed by the latter part of the decade as Janis Joplin and Grace Slick stormed the boys’ room of rock and made hearing females on Top 40 AM pop stations as well as the progressive rock stations of FM as de rigueur as that of the guys.

Among the woman who swept in the door with the aforementioned was Ellen Naomi Cohen, the granddaughter of Russian Jews who had immigrated to the U.S., and Holly Michelle Gilliam, a California-born girl who, after her mother died when she was five, spent the majority of her adolescence with her widowed father in Mexico City, Mexico.

While the names Ellen Naomi Cohen and Holly Michelle Gilliam mean nothing to anyone other than the most erudite of rock scholars, they quickly become those of the household-known variety when they are, respectfully, identified by the monikers they adopted for themselves: Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips – as in “Mama Cass” and “Mama Michelle” of The Mamas and The Papas.

The Mamas of the group, which also included Papas John Phillips of The New Journeymen and Denny Doherty of The Mugwumps, only recorded and performed together for a short time: from 1965 to 1968. And yet, while their run was brief, the quartet captivated the music world and added some of the most significant songs ever recorded to the rock, pop and folk canon.

The Mamas and The Papas were unique, different from the other bands of their era, not just by virtue of their sound, but also by the compelling personalities of their members, who came across as being far more affable and approachable than other rock stars.

Joplin would have pillaged your parents’ liquor cabinet for the bottles of Jack Daniel’s and downed a full fifth before breaking open the second one and offering you a slug. Slick would have pushed past your father, headed out to your pool, removed her top and, when chastised by your horrified mother, would have set a record for using the “F” word in two sentences while telling her to chill out and offering her a hit of acid.

Cass and Michelle were different. They were far more relatable, because they came across as people everyone really knew. Almost every guy who grew up in the late 1960s and early ‘70s seemed to knew a “Cass,” a bossy and witty, quick-with-a-quip friend of their sister’s that the entire family liked, and a “Michelle,” a quiet, sultry, moody, mysterious and sexy hippie chick – a quintessential California girl – who could stir the fantasies of prepubescents, hormone-raging teens and their fathers alike with just a flip of her hair.

Today, with a half century’s worth of sand having passed through the hourglass since The Mamas and The Papas gave the world such legendary hits as “California Dreamin,’” “Monday, Monday,” “I Saw Her Again,” “Words of Love” and “Dedicated to the One I Love,” Michelle stands alone as the group’s only surviving member.

Following her days as a “Mama,” Michelle went on raise her daughter, Chynna, who was fathered by her first husband, John Phillips, and her son, Austin, whom she had with her fourth husband, actor Grainger Hines. She also pursued her first love of acting appearing in numerous feature films and in the role of Anne Matheson Sumner during her six-year run on the CBS drama, “Knots Landing.”

Living in the affluent Cheviot Hills neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles in a home she has inhabited since 1978, Michelle, who will turn 73 this June, recently invited Life After 50 to spend a day with her.

After giving her guests a tour of her beloved backyard tiki bar, she lounged in a red silk Chinese jacket with a glass of red wine and her dogs, Chloe and

Lulu, first on a salmon-colored couch in her living room and then, after changing into a white lace dress, out on her front porch.

In just the way one would hope she would be – girlish, funny, flirty and quick with a laugh – she explained her typical days consist of exactly what she is doing – lounging around the house – only without the silk and lace wardrobe choices she had made for her guests’ benefit.

Michelle Phillips (MP): The dogs get me up at 8 a.m. and I have my housekeeper take them out for a walk while I stay in bed with a cup of coffee reading the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. When I have finished the papers, I slip into the kitchen and get a glass of red wine [laughs and rolls her eyes]. I know, I know…but it works for me. Then, I always try to have a lunch date scheduled with one of my friends. I have the best life one could imagine. It’s a life of fun-filled luxury, doing only what I want to do. I’ll also drive up to Santa Barbara once every two months or so to spend a few days with Chynna and Billy [actor Billy Baldwin who married her daughter in 1995] and my three grandchildren.

Life After 50 (LA50): When you are lounging here with your dogs and your wine, do you ever think back to your time with The Mamas and The Papas and all you accomplished?

MP: No! I think about where I am today, because I’m at the happiest point in my life. I’m an extremely happy person. I have great children and December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 11

grandchildren. I love my quiet life with my dogs, spending time with friends and laughing. I’m healthy and I live a very comfortable life, so I don’t dwell on the past – don’t give it much thought at all. But I am amazed that in the short time we were together – two-and-a-half years – we were able to record what we did – make the albums we did. We did so much in such a short time and somehow never killed one another. I am very proud of it all.

LA50: Do you ever have the desire to record or perform again?

Life

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LA50: If we may do just a bit of reminiscing, can we talk about those people you sang with?

MP: [dramatically] If we must [laughing].

LA50: Tell us about what comes to mind when you think of John?

MP: My head becomes like a bowl of spaghetti whenever I think of him. When I first met him, I was in awe of him. I admired him so much because I had never met anyone so smart and optimistic and vain [laughs]. He knew what he wanted and he knew he would get it. I remember when he was asked to join The Kingston Trio when Dave Guard left. He just flat turned them down, because he was convinced he was going to put together a group that would be bigger than The Kingston Trio. I thought he was crazy that he didn’t take that

The Mamas and The Papas, from left, John, Michelle, Cass and Denny, in 1966

Photo courtesy of TJL Productions

For many patients with Macular Degeneration, the world has literally disappeared before their eyes. They have lost the ability to see and do many of the things they love, like being able to recognize the faces and facial expressions of friends and relatives, watch TV, cook, sightsee and read. Unfortunately, there is no cure for Macular Degeneration. However, if you suffer with the disease, there is hope. Thanks to low vision technology, Dr. Richard Shuldiner and Dr. Harold Ashcraft are helping patients reconnect to the things in life they love to see and do.

“The first step toward determining if a person would

MP: Zero! It has no appeal to me at all. I’m just happy being known today as Chynna Phillips’ mother [laughs]. I have never missed singing, because I always loved acting much more than I did singing. I never planned on becoming a singer. I was a model who wanted to be an actress. But today, I’m not even interested in being out there looking for acting roles. If something really great or interesting came along – and I mean if they just came looking for me and said: “You have to do this role” – I’d at least read the script. But I’m just enjoying my quiet life. I love not working. It’s great fun to do whatever I want to do every day. Besides, I’m not a soloist. I sing with other people and the people that I sang with are gone.

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job. But he wasn’t a Kingston Trio guy. So instead, he joined The Journeyman with me and Denny, and then Cass came along and we hooked up with Barry McGuire and Lou Adler, and everyone knows the story from there – signing contracts and recording and having a number one album. It all seemed to happen so fast. There were so many times I would just sit there and think: “What’s going on?” But that was what life was like with John.

LA50: Do you remember the last time you saw him?

THE PLATTERS LIVE!

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LA50: Tell us about Denny.

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MP: Yes. I had gone to see him in the hospital and I told him he had made me the woman I am. I told him I loved him and I asked if he wanted me to come see him again the next day. He grabbed my face and kissed me on the mouth and said: “Mitch, I would love for you to come and see me tomorrow.” That was the last thing he ever said to me. By the next morning, he was dead.

Headline: 60 Plus Club

Publication: Life After 50

LA50: And Cass?

Release: PDFx1a emailed to production@lifeafter50.com Date: November 16, 2016 2:28 PM

MP: He was hot [laughs]. He was beautiful. He was a beautiful person with a beautiful voice and he would make me tingle. He was a great guy. Very funny, extremely sexy, and I loved having him in my life.

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MP: She was the most independent woman I have ever known. She would always tell me not to let John boss me around. I was very dependent on John and quite subservient to him. I did whatever he told me to do. And Cass would always say: “Don’t let him do that to you – get away with bossing you around.” I was very close to her and I loved her, although we also had a few harrowing times. She was the funniest person I’ve ever known. She found humor in everything, but she could also be very cutting, too. If she was in a bad mood, you didn’t want to be anywhere near her [laughs].

CASH GIVEAWAYS

LA50: Tell us about the last time you spent with her.

DINING

MP: It was in the backyard of her home on Woodrow Wilson Drive. We were sitting out by the pool with our children – her daughter, Owen, and my daughter, Chynna, who were playing in the pool. Cass and I were sprawled out on these chaise lounges just watching the kids and, out of nowhere I turned to her and said: “Why don’t you tell me who Owen’s father is?” She said: “No.” And I said: “Oh come on, Cass, what’s the big deal? It’s just me and I won’t tell anyone,” But she was adamant. During her life she never revealed who Owen’s father was and she wouldn’t tell me. So we just sat there in silence watching the kids splash around and finally she said: “I tell you what. I’ll tell you who it is, as soon as I get back from London.”

LA50: And she never came back.

MP: She never came back.

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December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 13

LA50: Where were you when you heard she had died?

LA50: And what are your memories of Jimi Hendrix?

MP: I was in the commissary on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. I was having lunch with David Giler [screenwriter and film producer]. While we were eating, a friend of ours, Larry Gordon, who produced the first film in which I had a starring role [“Dillinger” (American International Pictures/MGM, 1973)] came up to our table. He asked me if I had heard the news. I said: “No,” and he said: “Brace yourself, I have some bad news. Cass has died in London.” I remember going numb. I got up and walked outside of the commissary to this little area where there were some trees and I just sat there till David came out and got me.

It was unreal, and yet, it wasn’t a total surprise. Cass was, of course, always very overweight and going on these crash diets, which took a toll on her health – her heart. And I had heard stories that she had been fiddling around with hard drugs. I had heard that, but I will tell you, she never was involved with drugs when she was around me, and she was around me a lot. David Crosby was the one who claimed she had been using drugs and I always resented that – that he said that about her after she was dead.

MP: I was stunned when I saw him perform. Cass just accepted him right away and loved him, but I didn’t. I thought Jimi was doing a disservice to music, throwing his guitar on the floor and rubbing it in a sexual way like he was masturbating it, and lighting it on fire. I found it to be disturbing and I thought it took away from the music. But as time went by, I began to understand what Jimi and others were doing, that it wasn’t only just about the music any longer.

It was the beginning of rock ‘n roll theatre that opened the door for a lot of musicians in the ‘70s. But that wasn’t my thing. My thing was pretty harmonies and lyrics coming together to make beautiful songs. What Jimi was doing was something new and different.

LA50: Let’s talk about some other singers you crossed paths with in 1967, at the Monterey Pop Festival. There is a film clip of you and Cass sitting in the audience watching Janis Joplin on stage and you both look to be in awe at what you are seeing and hearing.

MP: I was scared to death of her! [laughs]. When I saw her on stage, I had no idea what she was all about, and certainly couldn’t imagine that she could be as sweet and vulnerable as she was. I had never seen a white woman who could sing like she did. I didn’t know how to relate to her – never did. I don’t think she could ever really relate to me either. I never got to know her very well, but I think life and becoming a big star was all just too much for her to handle.

14 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

LA50: Who are you listening to today?

MP: No one [laughs]. I do listen to classical music around the house and Hawaiian music when I’m out at my tiki bar. I also listen to a little country music. There are talented people out there today, but there is something missing in today’s music for me. I’m just not interested in keeping up with it. Look, I think someone like Mariah Carey has an incredible voice and range – she’s very talented. But I don’t give a rat’s ass about her songs, because they just don’t touch me. It’s the same with Barbra Streisand – great pipes, but not my thing.

I love songs that have real heart and soul.

LA50: You expect us to believe you are not a fan of one particular girl band made up of Brian Wilson’s daughters, Carnie and Wendy, and this other singer – Chynna Phillips?

MP: (laughing) Yes, okay, I do love Wilson Phillips. You know, I begged Chynna not to get into the music business. It’s a corrupt business that offers no

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protection for artists. But it’s what she wanted to do and they did a great job. I’m very proud of them. I’ll never forget being at a sporting goods store on Sepulveda Boulevard. I was on line waiting to check out and “Hold On” started playing. I immediately turned into this out-of-control mother every kid hopes they’ll never have. I started blurting out: “That’s my daughter singing!” Everyone was looking at me like I was crazy. But Chynna and Carnie and Wendy are an amazing group and I’m so proud of them.

LA50: When you were talking earlier about what your days consist of, you didn’t mention any sort of exercise regimen.

What do you do to stay in shape?

MP: Nothing! Exercise? NO! [laughs]. I also don’t give much thought to what I eat. I eat what I like: a lot of cheeses. I like really good cheeses and pasta and vegetables, and, of course, my red wine. But I don’t really eat a lot. I had surgery for ulcers and haven’t eaten as much since, because they removed a portion of my stomach. But I do take care of my skin.

I wash my face well and use moisturizers. I moisturize like people say prayers – religiously.

No matter how drunk I may be when I get home at night, I’m religious when it comes to skin care [laughs].

LA50: With Christmas just around the corner, do you have any special Christmas memory?

MP: I don’t remember Christmas with my mother. She died when I was five. But my father was big on Christmas and on giving me educational toys like globes and microscopes.

My father was not a religious person at all, but he always felt all the holidays should be celebrated. He was big on that. As a child, I lived in Mexico and I remember parades in the streets. They make a big deal of Christmas in Mexico, you know – a lot of pageantry.

LA50: Any special gift you received that was the most memorable?

MP: Yes. It’s a book that Chynna had made for me. It has pictures of me and about 50 of my closest friends – pictures of us together and then they all wrote a little letter to me. It took Chynna six months to put it all together. It’s a beautiful leather-bound book and it makes me cry every time I look at it.

LA50: As a mother and a grandmother who is very involved with your children and grandchildren, do you ever think of how different you may have been if you’d had a mother?

MP: Not having a mother made me very independent, and my father always encouraged me to be independent – to be a free thinker and to be open to life’s experiences. He was a very unconventional father. I knew all about drugs and sex before all my friends. He also told me to always live by the ocean, which I have. So I had to play it by ear in raising my children, because I didn’t know how to be a conventional parent. I gave Chynna a very wide berth when she was growing up, but I was lucky, she was always a very composed person from the time she was very young.

16 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

LA50: One of the things we are always curious about with people we feature in Life After 50 is how they approach getting older. As the years have gone by have you adopted any philosophy on aging?

MP: Well, I’m not giving that much thought, because I still have a long life to live. I was in downtown Los Angeles recently – in Chinatown – and went to this old palm reader. He looked at my palm and told me I would live to be 106. So I’m taking him at face value and figure I have a long way to go. Any philosophy? I don’t know: Get a lot of sleep and, moisturize, and share your life with a dog or a cat if you can. It is so fulfilling to share your life with an animal. They are wonderful companions and I love them. Beyond that, I would just say go out to lunch every day with people you love and have a glass of red wine every morning – the minute you wake up [laughs]. Hey, whatever works for you, and that’s what works for me.

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The

Giftof

Magical Moments and

Memories Story by Max Andrews and David Laurell Photos courtesy of Davidson and Choy Public Relations

make this holiday season a “grimm” one that you and your family will always remember by experiencing the live lythgoe Family american panto productions of the grimm Brothers’ fairy tales “Cinderella,” “Snow White” and “Sleeping Beauty”

18 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

T

he holiday gifts we receive as children, whether they be a much-desired toy or an item of necessity, are soon forgotten. What lasts are the holiday memories of doing things, going places and spending time with those who are near and dear to us.

If, as a child, you had parents or grandparents who took you to anything from the Christmas spectacular with the Rockettes at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to a locally produced theatrical production, it was a gift that saw those magical moments frozen in time – forever preserved as treasured memories.

This year, thanks to the Lythgoe Family, a production company headed up by theatre and television producer Kris Lythgoe, Southern Californians in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego can enjoy a triad of plays based on the classic Grimm fairy tales of “Cinderella,” “Snow White,” and “Sleeping Beauty” that offer something for people of all ages.

The shows are presented in the “American Panto” format, which was created

by Lythgoe as an homage to the musical-comedy stage productions of Britain that include pop songs, slapstick comedy, dancing, gender-crossing actors, topical humor, pop-culture references and double-entendres, all wrapped up in a well-known fairy or folk tale.

Along with enjoying what will become a memorable evening of fun at The Pasadena Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse and San Diego Repertory Theatre, these shows will also give audiences the opportunity to see the live performances of a trio of very special people: the legendary television and film vixen Morgan Fairchild as Cinderella’s wicked stepmother; television, theatre and film star Joely Fisher as the evil fairy Carabosse who places a spell on the beautiful Princess Aurora causing her to sleep for 100 years; and, as the evil queen in “Snow White,” jazz singer, actress and former Miss Black America Yvette Cason, who played the mother of Deena Jones, portrayed by Beyoncé Knowles, in the 2006 feature film “Dreamgirls.”

a Cinderella CHriStmaS Starring morgan FairCHild now playing at the pasadena playhouse through January 8 Photo by Keith Munyan

Life After 50 (LA50): So, you’ll be working during the holiday season this year.

Morgan Fairchild (MF): Yes, and I’m excited about it. I have never seen a show done in the American Panto format – not even in the traditional English style – so it’s all new to me and I’m looking forward to it. It looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun.

LA50: It’s so over-the-top.

MF: Well, I’ve certainly done my share of over-thetop things in my career, but nothing like this. The Lythgoes have such a fabulous reputation and I‘m thrilled to be a part of it.

The wicked stepmother is such a wonderful part that we all grew up with knowing from the Disney version of “Cinderella,” and it’s always fun to play someone evil who gets their comeuppance in the end. Everything is done in a very broad, over-the-top way, so I’ll be going big-time, full-on glamour and evil [laughs.] I’ve made a career out of being glamorously evil, but I’m usually a lot more subtle with my evilness. In this case, it’s just all right out there – evil, evil, evil!

LA50: You were featured on the cover of Life After 50 last December and you told us you have a tradition that your sister comes to visit you from Texas for the holidays every year. Will she be coming this year with you doing the show?

MF: I told her I would be working and she said: “That’s okay, I’ll just go with you to the theater and we’ll hang out backstage.”

LA50: With the year rapidly coming to a close, any resolutions for 2017?

MF: Not so much a resolution as I have a wish for the world: that we would all be willing to be kinder to one another and treat each other with more respect. My hope is that we can put civility back into our civilization. “a Cinderella Christmas” will run through January 8 at the pasadena playhouse located at 39 South el molino avenue in pasadena. one hour before every performance, guests will be invited to enjoy holiday activities in “Winter Wonderland” located in the theater’s courtyard. tickets range from $25 to $125 and are available by calling (626) 356-7529 or by clicking on www.pasadenaplayhouse.org.

December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 19

Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter KnigHt Starring Joely FiSHer now playing at the laguna playhouse through december 30 Life After 50 (LA50): What made you decide to accept a role that would mean you would be working all through the holiday season?

Joely Fisher (JF): It came along and, as a family person with five children and grandchildren, I had to think about it, but I ended up embracing it because it’s something every member of the family can be a part of. I think live theatre is so important, especially for kids.

Having grown up in a show business family, my mom took us to live shows from the time my sister and I were very young, some of which she was in, so we had a bit of a warped view of things by watching shows from the wings. But it has been a tradition we have kept going in our family, going to live performances of all kinds. It’s a bonding thing.

Also, what could be a better gift to a parent or grandparent than to see a child’s face in awe as they watch a live performance for the first time? That is like a religious experience. The give-and-take of live theatre, between the audience and the performers, is an incredible experience. It is a gift for both. I’m also so pleased that with this show, the Lythgoe family has tried to make the tickets as affordable as possible.

LA50: While you have done a lot of stage work throughout your career, doing American Panto is a different breed of cat, so to speak. Are you looking forward to that?

JF: I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, not just for the audience, but for me, too.

It’s irreverent and fun and kind of tongue-in-cheek. I have been so lucky to get to play great characters – Sally Bowles in “Cabaret” and Rizzo in “Grease” – such iconic characters, and Carabosse is also a fantastic and iconic character.

This is going to be such fun for me, to get to inhabit her delightfully evil and naughty skin. With me, you’re always going to get a little sass with any role I play, and this format gives me the license to really let it go.

LA50: You come from a family of Hollywood royalty as the daughter of Eddie Fisher and Connie Stevens. Can you tell us about any special Christmas from your childhood that stands out in your memory?

JF: I was just talking about this with my mother recently – this fantastic Christmas I had when I was a teenager. During her early career, my mom had gone to Viet Nam and Korea and many other places around the world with Bob Hope to entertain the troops. She made a lot of people’s lives better by doing that. Well, in the late 1980s, Bob Hope asked her to join him in doing this world tour for the men and women of the military during the holidays. She didn’t want to do it, because my sister and I were teenagers and she didn’t want to leave us for the holidays, so Bob asked her if we could sing. She said yes and he said for her to just bring us along and have us be a part of the show. So we all piled into this C-141 cargo plane with Bob and Barbara Eden and Lee Greenwood and Miss Universe and all these musicians and dancers and went off to the Persian Gulf and Diego Garcia and to Manila and to Guam – it was crazy and thrilling. And I remember during that tour, it was Christmas Eve and we were all onboard the USS Midway in the middle of the Persian Gulf. We had all been invited down to this huge room where they kept the anchor and chain.

There were service men and women from all branches of the military and all

20 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

of us performers and they put on this beautiful, spiritual, non-denominational Christmas Eve service. We all sang together and cried and I remember dancing with soldiers – it was a totally surreal and magical thing I will never forget. So that’s my best Christmas memory.

LA50: What are your plans for this Christmas?

JF: Well, we do love us some Christmas celebrating around our house. We have all the decorations that we’ve had forever that we’ll drag out and get up. But this is going to be kind of an odd Christmas for me. We usually spend Christmas Eve at my mother’s house, but it was sold this past year. So this will be the first year without the house, and I’ll be working, doing the show in Laguna. So it will be a year of breaking with our old traditions and making some new ones.

My mom is recovering from a stroke she had last January. She has good days and bad days but overall she is doing great. She’s the typical Brooklyn, Italian, Catholic warrior – a devilish little fighter. So this year will be different, but we’ll still all make a big deal out of New Year’s Eve like we always do because it is also my wedding anniversary – 30 years this year. We always try to outdo ourselves every year, so we’ll do something big again, maybe in Laguna.

LA50: Speaking of New Year’s Eve, are you the type who makes resolutions?

JF: I like to think I am, but this year, again, it’s different. This year, I am just looking to have my family surround me with love and I want them to ask me to do the same for them. I had a very emotional, guttural, almost spiritual reaction to the presidential race and election we just went through. It was a rough time for everyone in our nation. It certainly was for me. So I think we all have to look forward and embrace healing and support for one another. So my job will be to convince the whole family to just huddle together in love and support instead of just having a big old time with the celebrating and noisemakers and Champagne. I remember when we were kids on New Year’s Eve, my father would have us write down something we had accomplished in the past year that we were proud of and something we hoped to accomplish in the New Year and then share it with everyone. That was a nice tradition, so maybe we’ll start that up again this year. It seems like a good year to do it – to move forward with some new traditions.

“Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight” will run through december 30 at the laguna playhouse located at 606 laguna Canyon road in laguna Beach. tickets range from $30 to $70 and are available by calling (949) 497-2787 or by clicking on www.lagunaplayhouse.com.

a SnoW WHite CHriStmaS Starring yvette CaSon now playing at the San diego repertory theatre through december 24 Life After 50 (LA50): What could be more fun for the holidays than to play someone as naughty as the wicked queen?

Yvette Cason (YC): I know!

To be so evil and have so much fun. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.

LA50: Do you think you will be borrowing some of the characterization of the queen from the one we all know in the Disney film?

YC: I think that will be a part of it, although I’ll be bringing a few little surprises of my own to her. But the

great thing about doing this role in this production is that you get to break the wall and are able to interact with the audience, especially with kids.

It’s a really fun role, because just like all the villainesses – Cruella de Vil and Cinderella’s stepmother – people love to hate them. Kids love these types of characters. I’ve never done Panto, so I’m looking forward to doing something new and different and interacting with the audience as this character.

LA50: For families seeing this show, it will give them the gift of not just an entertaining few hours, but a lifetime of memories. Can you share with us any special Christmas memory that is one of your favorites?

YC: Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. I go all-out in decorating. This year, I may be scaling it down just a bit, because I’ll be working. But my best Christmas memories are when my son was born 16 years ago and all those Christmases when he was so into it all – setting up the tree, writing letters to Santa, setting out the cookies – those years when we experience it all through the eyes of a child and the magic is so alive.

LA50: You will be making some of that Christmas magic come alive for so many kids this year. Can you address the importance of families making holiday memories by taking their kids to live theatre performances?

YC: As someone who is passionate about the arts in all forms, I think it is one of the most important things we can do for kids. I think it’s a crime that some theatrical productions have gotten so expensive that it’s hard for some families to take their kids to see shows on a regular basis. But there are always local neighborhood and school productions and civic events, dance recitals and museums where families can go to get a better understanding and appreciation for any of the arts. It is vitally important today being the arts have been dropped from the curriculum in so many schools, which is a true crime. Also, with all that is happening in our country and our world right now, going to a show like this provides us all with some escapism and gives us a chance to laugh. We can’t stop all the bad things that are happening in the world, but we can find a place where, for a few hours, we can be in a happy place.

LA50: And you get to give that gift of happiness to so many people this season.

YC: I love that. As an actress, you sometimes just get caught up in finding work and when I got this part, I just thought of it as a job. But as time went by, I started to think of how I will be using my gift to give a gift to those who come to see our show, and how the audience’s response will be my Christmas gift from them.

LA50: As 2016 slips into history, will you be entering 2017 with any resolutions?

YC: I don’t like the whole resolution concept. I think making resolutions just sets us up to fail. But what I do is set realistic goals. Maybe it’s just a word thing, but I think setting goals is a more positive way of looking at things. I had both some short-term and long-term goals for 2016, and I have realized many of them. One was to do an album of Christmas songs, which I did. It’s my first album of Christmas music and it’s called “The Spirit of Christmas.”

I’m very excited and proud about that and I’ll have copies of it available for people who come to see the show. “a Snow White Christmas” will run through december 24 at lyceum Stage at the San diego repertory theatre located at 79 Horton plaza in San diego. tickets range from $41 to $81 and are available by calling (619) 570-1100 or by clicking on www.sandiego December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 21

T H H  M-K

By Steve Stoliar Illustration by Mark Hammermeister

D

C

When most baby boomers hear the name “Dick Clark,” they usually think of two things: his long-running “American Bandstand” dance show – where he was often referred to as “The World’s Oldest Teenager” – and the annual “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” from Times Square. But there was a lot more to this prolific and enormously successful television personality and producer than just “It’s got a good beat and you can dance to it” and “five, four, three, two one…Happy New Year!”

R

ichard Augustus Wagstaff Clark Jr. was born on November 30, 1929, in Mount Vernon, New York, the son of Richard Augustus Wagstaff Clark Sr., who – not so coincidentally – was a sales manager for radio stations, and Julia Fuller Clark. Clark’s only sibling was an older brother, Bradley.

Inspired by his father’s involvement in radio, Clark knew he wanted to be on the radio ever since he was 10-years-old. In 1945, at the age of 15, he began his “career” working in the mailroom at WRUN, a radio station in Rome, New York, which was owned by his uncle and managed by his father. That same year, Bradley Clark was killed in the Battle of the Bulge – a devastating emotional blow to the family.

Almost immediately after starting at WRUN, Clark was called upon to fill in for the station’s weatherman, who was on vacation, and, within a few months, he was announcing station breaks.

In 1947, Clark began attending Syracuse University, while also working at WOLF, a country music station. In 1951, after graduating with a degree in advertising and a minor in radio, he returned to WRUN, working briefly under the name “Dick Clay.”

Later that same year, Clark went to work at the WKTV television station in Utica, New York, where he hosted his first television show, “Cactus Dick and

the Santa Fe Riders,” which, appropriately, featured country music. Later, he would replace the station’s newscaster, Robert Earle, after the latter moved on to host the prestigious “G.E. College Bowl.”

In 1952, Clark married Barbara Mallery. They had one son, Richard A. Clark.

Also in 1952, Clark moved to a suburb of Philadelphia to work as a disc jockey on WFIL, now calling himself “Dick Clark.” That same year, WFIL’s television station began broadcasting a music show called “Bob Horn’s Bandstand.” Clark hosted a similar show on their radio station and would sometimes pinch-hit for Horn when he went on vacation. In 1956, Horn was arrested for drunk driving and fired from the show, whereupon Clark was made permanent host.

ABC picked up “Bandstand” and renamed it “American Bandstand,” which debuted nationally on August 5, 1957. The show was an instant hit, due in large part to Clark’s charm and the ease with which he talked to the teenage dancers and the up-and-coming rock ‘n’ rollers who regularly passed through. Among the many musical artists who made their first national television appearance on “American Bandstand” were Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Smokey Robinson, Ike and Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder and Simon and Garfunkel, to name a very few.

Clark is credited with breaking the show’s all-white color barrier by insisting that such stars as Chuck Berry and Sam Cooke be allowed to perform on the show.

This feature is intended for you to clip and give to your children or grandchildren because…they must-know!

22 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

The following year, ABC debuted a Saturday night variety show called “The Dick Clark Show,” which ran for over two years. As with “American Bandstand,” the show featured Clark interviewing current musical stars, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone and Connie Francis, who sang their latest hits; unlike “Bandstand,” the show also featured such non-musical stars as Bob Hope, Tony Randall, Chuck Connors, and a young game-show host named Johnny Carson.

At the end of each episode of “The Dick Clark Show,” Clark would “count down” the week’s top 10 most-popular songs – a feature that would be imitated by many different musical shows, as well as David Letterman’s famous “Top Ten Lists.”

While “The Dick Clark Show” only lasted from 1958 to 1960, “American Bandstand” continued to flourish. By 1959, the show had an estimated viewership of 50 million people. Clark resisted taking credit for the show’s popularity, explaining simply: “I played records, the kids danced, and America watched.”

One of the most popular features of the show was “Rate-A-Record,” where Clark would play two records for two teenage audience members, who would then rate those records on a scale – curiously – that ranged from 35 to 98. Thus was born the assessment: “It’s got a good beat and you can dance to it.”

In 1961, Clark’s marriage to Barbara ended in divorce and, the following year, he married Loretta Martin, with whom he had two children, Duane and Cindy.

In 1964, Clark moved the show and his production company from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, partly because of the then-current craze for “surf music,” as exemplified by the colossal popularity of The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean. The show continued to thrive, showcasing surf music, soul, the British Invasion, disco, new wave and, finally, rap. Over the years, “American Bandstand” changed networks and airtimes, but it lasted from 1957 until 1989 – a staggering 32-year run – featuring over 10,000 live performances, making it the longest-running variety show in television history. Along the way, due to his eternally boyish appearance, Clark earned the nickname, “The World’s Oldest Teenager.”

In 1971, Dick divorced Loretta and, in 1977, he married Kari Wigton, who would remain his wife for the remainder of his life.

Clark didn’t limit himself to hosting teen music shows. In 1963, he branched out into game shows, hosting the short-lived “The Object Is” and “Missing Links.”

In March of 1973, he became the first host of CBS’ word-association game, “The $10,000 Pyramid.” The following year, the show shifted to ABC, before going back to CBS in 1982. During the run of the show, Clark won three Emmy Awards for Best Game Show Host, while the show itself won nine Emmys for Best Game Show. Dick’s turn at hosting the show ended in 1988, by which time the title had inflated to “The $100,000 Pyramid.” Later game shows hosted by Clark, from 1990 to 2000, include “The Challengers,” “Scattergories,” “It Takes Two” and “Winning Lines.”

Clark was also a prolific producer of dozens of musical, comedy and awards shows, including the Golden Globes, American Music Awards, Daytime Emmy Awards, Country Music Awards and Miss Universe Pageant, as well as specials starring such popular entertainers as Natalie Cole, Alabama and Weird Al Yankovic.

In 1984, Clark began producing and co-hosting “TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes” along with Ed McMahon.

The popular show ran until 1988 and continued with occasional television specials into the early 2000s.

In 1972, Clark produced his first “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” for NBC, hosted by Three Dog Night. It was intended to rival Guy Lombardo’s perennial New Year’s Eve specials on ABC. It succeeded, and in a big way. In 1974, the show moved to ABC, with Clark taking over the hosting duties and continuing in that capacity until 2004, when a severe stroke prevented him from appearing on that year’s broadcast. The following year, he shared hosting duties with Ryan Seacrest, but it was clear that the effects of the stroke were causing Clark physical challenges.

On April 18, 2012, Clark died of a heart attack while undergoing prostate surgery at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California. Two days later, per his family’s wishes, he was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

Upon learning of Dick Clark’s death, President Barack Obama said: “With ‘American Bandstand,’ he introduced decades’ worth of viewers to the music of our times. He reshaped the television landscape forever as a creative and innovative producer. And, of course, for 40 years, we welcomed him into our homes to ring in the New Year.”

LEARN MORE • “American Bandstand: Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Empire” by John Jackson (Oxford University Press, 1999) • “Dick Clark’s American Bandstand” by Dick Clark and Fred Bronson (HarperCollins, 1997) • “Rock, Roll & Remember” by Dick Clark and Richard Robinson (Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976) • “Looking Great, Staying Young” by Dick Clark (Bobbs-Merrill, 1981)

Mark Hammermeister is an award-winning artist. His work is available for purchase at www.markdraws.com December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 23

Brian Wilson

Having survived drug abuse and mental health issues, the genius behind The Beach Boys and some of the 20th century’s greatest music says he is feeling great and proud of what he has accomplished.

O

By David Laurell • Illustration by Mark Hammermeister

f the bazillions of people who have inhabited this planet since the dawn of time, an extremely small and select group have come bearing and sharing unique gifts – extraordinary talents – which (pick one, two, or all) God, the cosmos, or a random blend of DNA have blessed them with.

The gifts bestowed upon these unique individuals – whether they be made manifest by virtue of their spirit, mind or body – have changed and, for the most part, bettered this world in ways that previous generations could never have imagined.

One of the most difficult things to grasp about the men and women who possess such rare gifts, and upon whom we bestow the label “genius” is that they can, for the most part, be so much like we mere mortals. They can not only blend into the plebeian world, but also suffer the same (and offtimes worse) physical and mental maladies that have proven to have no respect for a person’s station in life or their endowment of talent.

If there is one living person that exemplifies the complexities of those rarefied, gifted individuals, it is Brian Wilson, the composer, arranger, songwriter, musician and singer who served as the soul of The Beach Boys and the creative genius behind some of the greatest musical art ever created.

Dutifully entrenched in the pantheon of other

24 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

20th century songwriting gods including Messrs. Dylan, Lennon, McCartney, Robinson, Simon, Wonder, Bowie and Taupin, Wilson’s canon of work literally formed a new genre: “surf music” – California anthems and odes to idyllic summertime fun and the freedom of youth.

In a dichotomy as complex as the man himself, in addition to “California Girls,” and “Surfin’ U.S.A,” he also gave the world dark and introspective masterpieces such as “In My Room,” “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times,” “Don’t Worry Baby” and “God Only Knows,” as well as his groundbreaking symphonic magnum opus album, “Pet Sounds,” which was released 50 years ago this year.

IN AND OUT OF HIS ROOM

A Kennedy Center Honors recipient who is an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the U.K. Music Hall of Fame, and, as a member of The Beach Boys, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Wilson has also been bestowed with the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

And yet, while the rewards of his talents are materially evident by virtue of luxury cars and an address in one of the world’s most prestigious neighborhoods, for Wilson, those tangible symbols of wealth and success seem less rock star extravagance and more a simple mode of transportation and place of shelter.

From the keyboard of a grand piano in a second-story room that is only slightly smaller than the entire Hawthorne, California house he grew up in, Wilson dwells in a world where he can tell his secrets, where, without worries and fears, he can dream, scheme, pray, cry, sigh and laugh without being afraid. And while he still maintains a grueling touring schedule with his “Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary World Tour,” in which he presents a live performance of “Pet Sounds” in its entirety, Wilson, who will turn 75 this June, otherwise lives a life of quiet simplicity.

THE SIMPLE LIFE OF AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN

While Wilson’s gait may show slight signs of unsteadiness, he maintains a brisk pace as he makes his way from his car to the small unpretentious Beverly Hills delicatessen in which he takes of lunch at a polished pine-wood top table.

After eating, he again keeps up a steady hustle as he traverses the paths of a nearby park before returning home.

Among the park dwellers who are deeply engaged in the screens of their phones, stretching their limbs before a jog, basking in the sun, or engaged in a Tai Chi pose, he blends in unnoticed as just another Angelino.

Asked if his father, who died in 1973, was proud of what he had ultimately accomplished by “getting in there and kicking ass,” Wilson sits quiet for a moment. “I don’t know if he was proud of me,” he says without emotion. “He never said it if he was.”

While Wilson has been extremely open about a variety of subjects in his new book, in conversation he tends to become a bit inattentive if things drift too far from his comfort zone. Even when he is questioned on his musical inspirations and methodologies, his answers are concise and unadorned with much, if any, explanation.

Life After 50 (LA50): When you look back at the voluminous body of work you have created, is there anything specific that stands out of which you are most proud?

Brian Wilson (BW): “Good Vibrations” and “California Girls” are two of my greatest achievements. I’m very proud of those songs.

LA50: So many of your songs mean so much to so many people, songs like “In My Room.”

Do you remember coming up with the idea for that song?

BW: I wrote it with Gary Usher. We did it as a collaboration and it was one of those songs that as soon as we wrote it, I loved it. It was a great song, man! It’s a song that talks to everyone, you know.

LA50: Talk about your process when it comes to creating a song. What sparks the idea for a song for you?

BW: I just sit down at the piano and play chords and then I find a melody and write the lyrics and it becomes a song.

BW: Phil Spector, Chuck Berry and The Beatles.

LA50: Have you maintained any sort of a relationship with Spector over the years?

BW: No. I haven’t seen or talked to him since 1984.

LA50: It is impossible to take on the task of writing an autobiography and not learn something about yourself. What did you learn about Brian Wilson by writing your new book?

BW: That I had a lot of courage to stop doing drugs and stop drinking alcohol. I stopped and I feel a lot better.

LA50: You have come through a lot of tough times in your life – from battling depression and other mental illness issues to your struggles with drugs and alcohol, so for those who love you, it is wonderful to hear you say that you feel better.

BW: Yeah, I feel great. I feel creative and I laugh.

I like to spend time with my family and play the piano. I want people to realize that drugs are dangerous and they should never take them. I talk a lot about my bad experiences in the book, that drugs like LSD are bad and I regret taking them and that I had mental health struggles as a result of taking bad drugs. But now I feel great.

LA50: And you are still out there touring. You did close to 100 performances this year and already have a heavy schedule lined up for 2017. Do you enjoy being out on the road?

Photos courtesy of Lissa Warren, Da Capo

LA50: If it were that simple everyone would do it [laughing]. But what is it that jazzes you about constructing a song – is it the music, the lyrics, the marriage of the two?

BW: Yeah. The marriage of the two. The lyrics and the music coming together is special, and so is the vocal. But it starts with chords. I’ll sit at the piano and play different chords and put things together and then something will inspire a melody that then inspires a vocal.

Press

Once back home in the sprawling mansion he shares with his wife, Melinda, their five adopted children and dogs (the exact number of which, along with their names, he is fuzzy on), Wilson spends his days at the piano, watching television or listening to music.

“I like the music from the ‘60s and ‘70s,” he says “It’s music with heart and soul. I also spend my days making phone calls to talk to some friends, and I watch ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ That’s about it.”

While that may not sound like the life one would expect of one of pop music’s most revered and legendary geniuses, it is one in which Wilson is content and happy. And if one were to find an incongruity in the simplicity of the life he leads, it is even more incomprehensible to find that the man who has engineered words and phrases to form some of the most beloved and culturally captivating songs of all time is, in person, a man of very few words.

Having suffered from drug addiction, a schizoaffective disorder, and various other mental illness issues for decades, the results of which saw him become a recluse whose weight ballooned to over 300 pounds during the 1970s, Wilson rarely responds to questions with more than a sentence or two. While his singing voice remains strong, bolstered by the familiarity of the lyrics he sings, his speaking voice has a tendency to quiver as he ponders his responses, at times coming to a complete halt in mid-sentence.

He has just recently released his second autobiography, “I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir” (Da Capo Press, 2016), a book he claims is far more honest and revealing about his battle with drugs and mental illness than he was in his first book, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice: My Own Story” (HarperCollins, 1991).

“This book tells the truth with no bullshit,” he says. “I think it came together very well. It’s very factual and tells the true story of my life. I’m more honest about things like the drugs I took.

I want people to know I had the courage to get through it all, and that while I had bad times – bad trips – I also had the ability to create music and great songs.”

Along with the candid insight he shares on his use of hallucinogenic drugs, he is extremely frank about the good times as well as the bad he shared with his brothers, Dennis and Carl Wilson; his cousin, Mike Love; childhood friends, Al Jardine and Gary Usher; and others associated with The Beach Boys. The book also reveals Wilson’s feelings about the tangled and abusive relationship he had with the domineering psychologist and psychotherapist Dr. Eugene Landy, best known for his unconventional and unethical treatment of Wilson in the 1980s, and also offers far more insight than ever before about the strained relationship he had with his abusive and yet musically supportive father.

“I was afraid of him,” says Wilson when asked about his father. “He was like a slave driver, like a coach, you know. He used to yell: ‘Get in there and kick ass with the music’ [laughs]. That’s how he would talk to me. But he was supportive of me – very much.”

LA50: So you write lyrics to music as opposed to music to lyrics.

BW: I usually do write words to music, but not all the time. When I wrote “God Only Knows,” I had no notion of what it would sound like.

I gave the lyrics to my brother, Carl, and asked him to just sing it from just looking at the lyrics. He sang it great and that’s how the melody came about.

LA50: You spend a lot of time at your piano today. Are you still writing songs?

BW: I haven’t written a song in four years.

But I will again.

LA50: So many great songwriters, Bernie Taupin, perhaps, most notably, have been inspired by you. Who was it that inspired you the most?

The Wilsons – Brian and Melinda

December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 25

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Late-Life Depression

Brian Wilson, center front, with The Beach Boys in 1975 BW: Very much so. I love performing. Otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do with my time. I enjoy getting out on the road and doing concerts.

LA50: When you are out there performing and meeting fans, do you comprehend just how much you and your music have meant to people over the past 50 years – how much love and reverence people have for you?

BW: Oh yeah. I’m very proud of myself, what I’ve been able to accomplish along with The Beach Boys. I’m very proud of our music and I’m happy that people love it.

LA50: As each year comes to an end, we all seem to become a bit more reflective of what we are most grateful for. What is at the top of your list?

BW: My family and my music. I’m grateful I can write songs and I thank God for my talent. And I’m thankful that I can keep moving. I walk every day. I try to eat protein every day. I also eat oatmeal, which is one of my favorites. I’m always thankful for having another day of life.

LA50: So many people, both fans and those who are serious students of music alike, consider you to be a genius. Are you?

BW: No. I’m just proud of the music I made and I’m happy that people love my songs.

LATE-LIFE DEPRESSION

For those who are suffering from feelings of depression, sadness, hopelessness, memory loss, concentration difficulties, lack of energy, or loss of interest and pleasure in activities, UCLA is conducting a 12-month research study comparing levomilnacipran (FETZIMA) to placebo for treatment of geriatric depression. If you are 60 years of age or older, you may qualify. A complete psychiatric evaluation, physical exam, and one MRI scan are provided as a part of the study. All participants will be given either levomilnacipran (FETZIMA) or a placebo (an inactive substance). You will be compenare suffering from feelings of depression, sadness, hopelessness, sated up to $200 and parking will be reimbursed. oncentration difficulties, lack of energy, or loss of interest and ities; UCLA is conducting a 12-month research study comparing For more information, call UCLA at: (310) 794-9523 or (310) 794-4619.

(FETZIMA) to placebo for treatment of geriatric depression. If rs of age or older, you may qualify. A complete psychiatric ical exam, and one MRI scan are provided as a part of the study.

26 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016 will be given either levomilnacipran (FETZIMA) or a placebo (an ce). You will be compensated up to $200 and parking will be

For more information on Brian Wilson, his new book “I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir” and dates for his “Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary World Tour,”which will include Southern California performances in San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara in late May, click on www.brianwilson.com.

Don’t Miss Our Next Issue

January 2 December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 27

Let’s Get OUt A Preview of Upcoming Events for December/January By Claire Yezbak Fadden

ENTERTAINMENT DECEMBER THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15 THE LATINA CHRISTMAS SPECIAL You thought your holidays with the family were dramatic. Try these three hilarious, touching and surprisingly personal Christmas stories of holidays past told by Latina comedians, Sandra Valls, Diana Yanez and Maria Russell.

These three great friends have a holiday season get-together that includes plenty of tequila and stories of childhood “Christmas Dramas.” As they share their sassy tales of the season as first-generation Americans, they’ll deck the halls with guacamole. LATC, 514 S Spring St., Los Angeles. Dates vary through Dec. 18. $24-$32. (866) 811-4111.

THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE A darkly comic tale of Maureen Folan, a plain and lonely woman in her early 40s, and Mag, her manipulative, aging mother, whose interference in Maureen’s first and potentially last loving relationship sets in motion a train of events that are as tragically funny as they are horrific. Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Through Dec. 18. Prices vary.

(213) 628-2772. centertheatregroup.org.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN This musical parodies the horror film genre. The story follows bright young Dr. Frankenstein as he attempts to complete his grandfather’s masterwork and bring a corpse to life. Includes memorable tunes like “The Transylvania Mania,” “He Vas My Boyfriend” and “Puttin’ On The Ritz.” Westchester Playhouse, 8301 Hindry Ave., Los Angeles.

Also Dec. 17. Prices vary. kenwoodplayers.org.

“The Little Drummer Boy”, with the sounds of the legendary rock singer/songwriter in a tribute parody that is both touching and hilarious. Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Dr., Burbank. Prices vary. Dates vary through Jan. 15. (818) 955-8101. falcontheatre.com.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17 ENCHANTED: FOREST OF LIGHT Descanso’s hallmark oak trees and botanic collections are the stars of the show in this large-scale interactive light experience.

Stroll along a one-mile walk to view 10 displays, including some that allow visitors to manipulate the lights and sounds. Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Dr., La Cañada Flintridge. Dates vary through Jan. 8. $24plus. (818) 949-4200. descansogardens.org.

LITTLE DRUMMER BOWIE The Troubies reimagine a holiday show favorite, mashing up the journey of Ziggy,

LA/Ventura

December/January performs festive musical cheer including “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Little Drummer Boy” and “Do You Hear What I Hear.” Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, Scherr Forum, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. $22-plus. (805) 526-7464. losroblesmasterchorale.com.

WESTERN MUSIC ASSOCIATION SHOWCASE Musicians and cowboy poets perform stories and songs of the romantic days of the Old West, contemporary music of the American West and songs of the open range and the American cowboy. The Autry National Center, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park, Los Angeles. $6-$10.

(323) 667-2000. theautry.org.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19

JOYFUL NOISE! Los Robles Master Chorale caps the yuletide season with this family-friendly program led showcasing holiday gems and favorite Christmas carols. The 105-voice chorus

SANTA NIGHTS Visit Santa’s workshop in the red barn.

Also photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Camarillo Ranch House, 201 Camarillo Ranch Rd., Camarillo. Free. (805) 389-8182. camarilloranch.org.

L.A. ZOO LIGHTS While zoo animals themselves are asleep, L.A. Zoo Lights depicts them in displays made of millions of lights that beckon you to stroll through a section of the zoo and be surrounded by dazzling sights and colors.

The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Griffith Park, 5333 Zoo Dr., Los Angeles. Dates vary through Jan. 8. Prices vary. (323) 6446042. lazoo.org.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20

DONNY AND MARIE HOLIDAY SHOW This family friendly show is filled with dancing, humor, holiday tunes, as well as the singers’ hit songs, including “Puppy Love,” “Paper Roses,” and “Morning Side of the Mountain.”

Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos. Prices vary. (562) 467-8818. cerritoscenter.com.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16 BLOOD This political thriller with music shares the tale of the 1980 Japanese tainted blood scandal which 2,000 people died of AIDS after the U.S. knowingly sold contaminated blood to Japan.

The Garage Company at The Complex, 6476 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. Weekends through Dec. 18, $25-$30. (323) 960-7745. plays411.com/blood.

28 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Bursting with family-friendly holiday merriment, this beloved holiday tradition returns for another round of boundless good cheer. Celebrate the season with Dickens’ timeless tale of forgiveness, change, and the life-changing power of kindness to our fellow man. A Noise Within, 3352 E Foothill Blvd. Pasadena. Through Dec. 23. Prices vary. (626) 356-3100. anoisewithin.org.

A CINDERELLA CHRISTMAS. Starring Lauren Taylor as Cinderella, the show is based on Grimm fairytales and others, each story modernized with topical scripts for parents and well-known pop songs for kids.

The musical includes hits like “Just Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Buble’s and Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.” The Pasadena Playhouse, 39 South El Molino Ave., Pasadena.

ICE AT SANTA MONICA This 8,000-square foot ice skating rink in downtown Santa Monica hosts a variety of events. 1324 5th St., Santa Monica. Through Jan. 16. $15 skate rental. (805) 701-7248. iceatsantamonica.com.

CALeNDAR

December/January LA/Ventura

JANUARY SUNDAY, JANUARY 1 FREE FIRST SUNDAY Free admission to the Museum of Ventura County including its galleries and any special events. Museum of Ventura County, 100 East Main St., Ventura. First Sunday of each month.

(805) 653-0323. venturamuseum.org.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4 GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS Sanctuary of Glendale City Church, 610 E. California Ave., Glendale, Glendale. Free.

(818) 242-2113. glendalenoonconcerts. blogspot.com.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5 FAME This cult classic is based on the 1980 movie and tells the story of a group of high schoolers trying to make it into the prestigious New York High School of Performing Arts. The musical includes the celebrated anthem titled, “Fame.” Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks.

Through Jan. 8. Prices vary. (800)745-3000. broadwayinthousandoaks.com.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 8

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12

TORUK: THE FIRST FLIGHT

Through a riveting fusion of cutting-edge visuals, puppetry and stagecraft buoyed by a soaring cinematic score, the Cirque du Soleil performers apply its unique signature style to James Cameron’s imaginary world and connect two kindred artistic visions that capture the imagination. The Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. Through Jan. 15. Prices vary. cirquedusoleil.com/toruk.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21

home a snowstorm of epic proportions threatens Christmas. Can Rudolph save the day? Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. Prices vary. (800)745-3000. broadwayinthousandoaks.com.

GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS Sanctuary of Glendale City Church, 610 E. California Ave., Glendale, Glendale. Free.

(818) 242-2113. glendalenoonconcerts. blogspot.com.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24 LOS ANGLES COUNTY HOLIDAY CELEBRATION Choirs, music ensembles and dance companies from the many neighborhoods and cultures of Los Angeles celebrate the season during this three-hour extravaganza, a decades-old tradition. Also broadcast live on local public television. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, Free. (213) 972-3099. holidaycelebration.org.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26

RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER: THE MUSICAL Young Rudolph who, because of his bright, shining nose, is ousted from the reindeer games in Christmas-town. He flees town, meets new friends. When he returns

HOLIDAY ICE RINK IN PERSHING SQUARE Get your glide on at this holiday season at L.A.’s biggest outdoor community skating rink.

Enjoy festive, free events including a holiday

concert series, the Snoopy Showcase, deejay nights, a Winter Holiday Festival, championship skating exhibitions and broomball games. Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive, Los Angeles. Through Jan. 18. $9/one-hour skate session. $4 skate rental. (213) 624-4289. pershingsquareicerink.com.

REINDEER ROMP See real reindeer in Los Angeles, and enjoy a flurry of seasonal festivities and yuletide flourishes, plus occasional visits

by Santa Claus. All activities, except Santa photos, free with paid admission. The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Griffith Park, 5333 Zoo Dr., Los Angeles. Dates vary through Jan. 8. Prices vary. (323) 6446042. lazoo.org.

SECOND SUNDAY CONCERT Pasadena Central Library, 285 E Walnut, Pasadena. Free. (626) 398-0658.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 10 VENTURA BLUEGRASS JAMS Milano’s Italian Restaurant, Patio, Ventura Harbor Village, 1559 Spinnaker Dr., Ventura.

(805) 658-0388. milanositalianrestaurant.com.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12 TOMMY CASTRO The Canyon, 28912 Roadside Dr., Agoura Hills. $20-$28. (818) 879-5016. canyonclub.net.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 13

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27 VENTURA BLUEGRASS JAMS Milano’s Italian Restaurant, Patio, Ventura Harbor Village, 1559 Spinnaker Dr., Ventura. (805) 658-0388. milanositalianrestaurant.com.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29

VANESSA WILLIAMS Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos. $55-$95. (562) 467-8818. cerritoscenter.com.

CASEY ABRAMS The Canyon, 28912 Roadside Dr., Agoura Hills. $20-$58. (818) 879-5016. canyonclub.net.

THE BEST OF DOO-WOP, VOL. III Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos. $35-$75. (562) 467-8818. cerritoscenter.com.

December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 29

CALeNDAR

December/January LA/Ventura

EXHIBITIONS THE BOX PROJECT: UNCOMMON THREADS This exhibition features pieces by three dozen acclaimed international artists including Richard Tuttle, Cynthia Schira, Helena Hernmarck, James Bassler, Gyöngy Laky, Gerhardt Knodel, Sherri Smith, N. Dash, Nancy Koenigsberg and John Garrett. It showcases the artists’ ingenious use of fiber, while exploring the collector-artist relationship.

Fowler Museum, 308 Charles E. Young Dr. N., Los Angeles. Wed.-Sun.- through Jan. 15.

(310) 825-4361. fowler.ucla.edu.

LEGENDS OF MOTOWN: CELEBRATING THE MIRACLES This exhibit uncovers the remarkable career of The Miracles, Motown’s first successful recording act, through artifacts from the personal collection of Claudette Robinson, the first female artist to ink a record deal with Motown, making her the “First Lady of Motown.” This display offers an intimate look into the group’s early career and their later rise as Smokey Robinson and The Miracles.

The Grammy Museum at L.A. Live, Third Floor Mike Curb Gallery, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles. Through Summer 2017. $12-$13.

(213) 765-6803. grammymuseum.org.

GEOGRAPHIES OF WONDER Evolution of the National Park Idea, 1933– 2016. This exhibition depicts the unceasing public enthusiasm for national park spaces, as well as the steady pace of change in the concept of a national park that grew to include national lakeshores and seashores, wild and scenic rivers, battlefields, industrial sites, parkways and trails. This display illuminates the great paradox established by the National Park Service’s founding legislation: how to make the lands under its management available for public enjoyment, while at the same time ensuring the preservation of those lands for the use of future generations.

Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, West Hall, San Marino. Prices vary. Through Feb. 13. (626) 405-2100. huntington.org.

A SKY IN THE PALM OF A HAND This exhibition pairs Lloyd Hamrol’s sitespecific, industrial felt sculptures and Joan Perlman’s abstract paintings and prints, creating an immersive, multimedia environment that provides a platform to consider the related ideas and sharp distinctions between two artists’ investigations of materials, processes, impermanence, and landscape. Though Hamrol and Perlman have an ongoing, collegial dialogue, the two Los Angeles-based artists have never exhibited together. Pasadena Museum of Art, Back Gallery, 490 East Union Street, Pasadena. Through Feb. 19. $5-$7. Wed.Sun. (626) 568-3665. pmcaonline.org.

SHARING CULTURE, CREATING COMMUNITY This exhibition explores the history of the Descanso Japanese Garden and celebrates how Japanese-style gardens energize diverse communities to create, interact and reflect.

Descanso Gardens, Sturt Haaga Gallery, 1418 Descanso Dr., La Cañada Flintridge.

Through Jan. 29. $6-$9. (818) 949-4200. descansogardens.org.

HORSES AND DRAGONS While Pegasus is a mythical creature, did you know that winged horses really do exist in the ocean? Or, that male seadragons carry eggs until they hatch, and that seahorses can change color? Explore the mysterious realm of dragons and horses that dwell under the sea through these new exhibits, featuring about a

dozen species of seahorses and seadragons and their relatives. See and learn more about the unusual animals in the Syngnathid group, which includes the sea moth (also known as Pegasus), seahorses, seadragons, pipefish and razorfish through exhibit displays. The Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach. Through March 31. (562) 5903100. aquariumofpacific.org.

TATAU: MARKS OF POLYNESIA This exhibition explores the beauty of Samoan tattoos as well as the key role they play in the preservation and propagation of Samoan culture. Japanese American National Museum, 100 North Central Ave., Los Angeles. Through Jan. 8. $5-$9. (213) 625-0414. janm.org.

REVOLUTIONARY VISION Explore the intertwined legacies of f/64, California’s premier photo-modernist group, and Richard Misrach, one of the state’s most well-known contemporary photographers.

Includes works by Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Richard Misrach, Edward Weston, and others who present changing visions of the Western landscape. The Autry National Center, Norman F. Sprague, Jr. Gallery, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park, Los Angeles. Through Jan. 8. $6-$10.

(323) 667-2000. theautry.org.

POP FOR THE PEOPLE Roy Lichtenstein in L.A. This exhibition features prints from Lichtenstein’s Bull Profile and Surrealist series, as well as the iconic

Sunrise and Shipboard Girl. Additional works on display range from political subject matter to paper plates, clothing and shopping bags.

Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. Through March 12. Prices vary. (310) 440-4500. skirball.org.

SHINING LIKE A NATIONAL GUITAR The 1920s were an exciting time for breakthroughs in entertainment technology, with the prominence of radio and talking movies. However, electric amplification of musical instruments was still rare and unreliable. Guitarists struggled to play a melody over the sound of other instruments.

This was the challenge that George Beauchamp, a vaudeville Hawaiian guitarist, presented to John Dopyera, a musical instrument designer and repairman in Los Angeles. Following a few failed attempts, Dopyera developed a unique acoustic resonator instrument using a spun aluminum cone instead of a wooden top to amplify the vibrating strings, resulting in a louder, sweeter sounding instrument. The Grammy Museum at L.A. Live, Fourth Floor, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles. Through Spring 2017. $12-$13.

(213) 765-6803. grammymuseum.org.

Get the Word Out. E-mail your announcements to Claire Fadden, cfadden@lifeafter50.com 60 days prior (or even earlier) to your event. Include a brief description, location, date, time, cost, phone and website. Submission does not guarantee publication.

CREATURE From slick avatars and popular icons to images rooted in mythology and animal instincts, the installation of more than 50 works features creations by some 25 artists.

This exhibition offers an array of lenses through which to view the human experience, some scientifically based and others drawing inspiration from cultural representations of how living things change over time. The Broad, First Floor Gallery, 221 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Through March 19. Dark Mondays. Free. thebroad.org.

NKAME

This exhibition is dedicated to the work of the late Cuban visual artist Belkis Ayón. This landmark retrospective features 43 works by the celebrated artist whose powerful visual iconography was inspired by the founding myth of the Afro-Cuban brotherhood Abakuá.

During her short but fertile career, Ayón produced an extraordinary body of work central to the history of contemporary printmaking in Cuba. Fowler Museum, 308 Charles E. Young Dr. N., Los Angeles. Wed.-Sun.- through Feb. 12. (310) 825-4361. fowler.ucla.edu.

30 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

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DICKENS UNSCRIPTED DECEMBER 19, 2016

A holiday comedy inspired by the works of Charles Dickens.

Comic portraits, cruel melodrama and humane charity of heartbreaking tenderness explode onto the teeming streets of Victorian London, all of it improvised. A fun and festive evening.

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And Finally...

The Bookworm’s Best A Life After 50 book review

by Terri “The Bookworm” Schlichenmeyer

Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me From Myself

By Julie Barton

T

he doctor said you need a prescription. She said you’ll feel better after you rest, scribbled a bunch of symbols on a paper, and told you to follow directions: four medicines, four times a day for four days. It should work. You’ll heal. But in the new book “Dog Medicine” by Julie Barton, the author offers up another cure for what ails ya: four furry feet.

Barton remembers the exact day. She barely made it home from work on April 16, 1996. Other commuters near her Manhattan apartment rushed to their destinations, their noise just “one enormous echo,” but all Barton heard was her own mind in complete breakdown mode telling her that it was “wrong” that she was even alive.

She had left Ohio about a year before, dreaming of a future with her college boyfriend and hoping to put a childhood filled with sibling abuse behind her. That first New York year was shaky, though, and shortly after beginning what she thought would be her new life, she discovered her boyfriend was cheating on her and everything started to fall apart.

On that mid-April day, in a suicidal panic, Barton called her mother, who rushed to Manhattan and brought her daughter back to Ohio to heal. It was there that an unexpected life became a part of hers.

As far as she could tell, the puppy had been born right around the same time she’d had her major mental breakdown. When she first saw the tiny golden retriever, Barton felt an instant connection to the pup and her focus on suicide shifted immediately to his care.

She named him Bunker Hill and they were inseparable. In providing his care and training, Barton felt “enormous responsibility” and worked tirelessly to make Bunker a good citizen. In return, he calmed her, unconditionally loved her, distracted her from her depression, and gave her confidence to leave Ohio for Seattle, where Barton began a happier life.

“It was dog medicine,” she writes. “I’d found it, and swallowed it whole.”

As time went by, Bunker would come to need medicine himself, and all you have to do is the math to know how the book ends. But there’s so much more to “Dog Medicine” than the simple life of a dog and its relationship with his human companion.

Barton does an especially good job describing the indescribable: vivid details of the symptoms that plagued her, which are horrifying. Just reading about the weight of depression she experienced makes the reader feel they have been backed into a dark abyss.

That darkness, however, totally dissipates with a whiff of puppy breath, although Barton is careful to point out that her illness will never be fully eradicated.

This story-shift, though the darkness that is never far away, is filled with delightful and touching anecdotes from a head-over-heels “dog mom” and her tale of reciprocal puppy love.

Dog people will enjoy this book (but be sure to have tissues on hand), as will those who understand what it’s like to live with depression and mental illness.

It’s a compelling and entertaining story that shows the amazing and healing bond that can form between a human and an animal. First released last year, “Dog Medicine” is now out in paperback, and proves to be just the right dose of medicine for a feel-good read.

“Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me From Myself” by Julie Barton, 2015, Penguin, $17.00, 238 pages.

The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer who lives on a hill with two dogs and more than 12,000 books. You can read more of her book reviews at www.lifeafter50.com. Just click on “Entertainment” and then “Book Reviews.”

A Look Back

Just A Thought Before We Go

T

his month marks the passage of 50 years since the holiday television special “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” based on the book by Dr. Seuss and narrated by Boris Karloff, was shown for the first time on CBS, beginning what would become an annual tradition. But “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” as a television special almost never happened. Dr. Seuss (the alter-ego of Theodor Seuss Geisel) initially rejected the offer of his friend, animator Chuck Jones, to adapt the book to an animated cartoon and only agreed after his wife, Helen, persuaded him to reconsider. Not only did his reconsideration pay off in creating a beloved holiday tradition, it also spiked the sales of his books and saw the Grinch go on to become a cultural phenomenon, leading to two other television specials, a feature film, a Broadway musical, and the moniker “Grinch” surpassing that of “Scrooge” to identify someone who is a holiday-hating dark soul. To coincide with the Grinch’s 50th anniversary, Random House has released “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

A 50th Anniversary Retrospective,” which includes the complete, original text and illustrations by Dr. Seuss, along with 32 pages of commentary, footnotes and archival images written and compiled by renowned Seuss scholar, Charles D. Cohen.

34 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called ‘Opportunity’ and its first chapter is ‘New Year’s Day.’ ” ― Edith Lovejoy Pierce

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The Beach Boys’

BRIAN WILSON Rockin’ New Year’s Eve

MEMORIES OF

DICK CLARK

The Gift of

MAGICAL MOMENTS

At Home with The Mamas and The Papas’

MICHELLE

PHILLIPS

lifeafter50.com

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Let’s face it… together

Contents

December 2016

10

18

22

Cover Profile

Departments

10 At Home With Mama Michelle Phillips

6 50-Plus: What You Need to Know

Spend a day with the last surviving member of The Mamas and The Papas.

Features 18 The Gift of Magical Moments and Memories

Make this holiday season special with the gift of live theatre.

22 The Hallowed Hall Of Must-Knowtables – Dick Clark

24

A quick look at things 50-plusers should be aware of.

28 Let’s Get Out

Looking to get out and about? Our December/January calendar has some great suggestions.

34 And Finally…The Bookworm’s Best, A Look Back and Just A Thought Before We Go

Legendary notables that everyone, of every age, should know.

A book suggestion, memory, and a little something to leave you with.

A visit with the legendry genius behind The Beach Boys.

Cover photo by Keith Munyan / www.keithmunyan.com.

24 The Look Of Life After 50 – Brian Wilson

All material published within this issue of Life After 50 and on www.lifeafter50.com is strictly for informational and educational purposes only. No individual, advice, product or service is in any way endorsed by Life After 50 or Southland Publishing, Inc. or provided as a substitute for the reader’s seeking of individualized professional advice or instruction. Readers should seek the advice of qualified professionals on any matter regarding an individual, advice, recommendations, services or products covered within this issue. All information and material is provided to readers with the understanding that it comes from various sources from which there is no warranty or responsibility by Life After 50 or Southland Publishing, Inc. as to its or their legality, completeness or technical accuracy.

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Editor’s Note...

Step Into The Looking Glass – With Gusto!

I

n this issue, you’ll find a stocking full of features on three of music’s most iconic legends: The World’s Oldest Teenager, Dick Clark; the man who provided the heart and soul of The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson; and the last surviving member of The Mamas and The Papas, Michelle Phillips.

As a kid, I was fascinated with what was going on in music and popular culture – the Summer of Love, the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock – all of which I missed out on. My lack of involvement with these era-defining events had nothing to do with my moon being in the wrong house or having a bad aura. The reason I wasn’t a part of that mid-to-late-1960s flower-powered, psychedelic, hazecrazed orgy of free love and peace was because I was not yet in my teens.

Although the tenderness of my years meant that I missed out on those events, I was hip enough to know that sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll were what was happening – they just weren’t happening to me. At least not to any extent other than always having a reason to be out on our back deck in perfect accordance with our pretty neighbor’s sunbathing schedule, popping my daily Chocks vitamin tablets and blowing the majority of my allowance on those relics of history: records and 8-track tapes.

My collection of recordings included “If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears,” the debut album of The Mamas and The Papas that featured a cover photo of the group sitting in a bathroom with Phillips sprawled out over her be-tubbed bandmates.

Over the years, my mentor, Dick Cavett, and I have talked about a phenomenon he has classified as “through-the-looking-glass moments” – actually interacting with a person or physically being in a place that had captivated your imagination as a child.

That looking glass phenomenon grabbed and pulled me though its pane as we prepared to do the photo shoot with Phillips for this issue. As her hair and make-up were being done, I sat chatting with Phillips in her bathroom.

I thought: “There she is, sitting in a bathroom by a tub, just like she was on that album cover I had as a kid.” It was definitely one of those through-thelooking-glass moments that swirled through my head like a surreal wave of magic.

As I was finishing up this final issue of 2016, I thought about that moment with Phillips and how those through-the-looking-glass moments are so much a part of this season for all of us. As we get older, these weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve may not be as magical as they were when we were kids. And yet, we all have moments sparked by something or someone that come with great power – the power to reignite the magic of childhood.

It is my hope that throughout this season and all of 2017, you come upon many looking glasses, and when you do, that you boldly go through every one of them with gusto.

David Laurell, Editor-in-Chief

4 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

Publisher Valarie Anderson

Account Executives: San Diego County/Orange County Phil Mendelson Phil@LifeAfter50.com

Editor-in-Chief David Laurell Associate Editors Steve Stoliar Claire Yezbak Fadden Art Director Michael Kraxenberger Graphic Designer Nour BouChakra Editorial Assistant Max Andrews Controller Kacie Cobian Human Resources Andrea E. Baker Business Manager Linda Lam Billing Supervisor David Garcia VP Of Operations David Comden

To contact our editorial department: (818) 563-1007

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50

The Laureate Of Lyrics

PLUS

What You Need To Know

By Claire Yezbak Fadden and Max Andrews

Keepin’ The Dreamin’ Alive

T

his month, as we feature Michelle Phillips on our cover, local PBS stations from coast-to-coast will present the TJL Productions My Music series “California Dreamin’ – The Songs of The Mamas and The Papas.”

Produced as a 50th anniversary celebration of the harmonious foursome’s 1966 debut hit “California Dreamin,’” the program spotlights the group’s television performances, many previously unseen since their original broadcast, along with rare interviews with Phillips, Denny Doherty and John Phillips who recall their meteoric rise to the top with fellow member Mama Cass Elliot. Folk-rock music colleagues Barry McGuire, John Sebastian and producer Lou Adler also offer their recollections. The band’s golden anniversary is also being celebrated with the release of “The Mamas and The Papas Ultimate Anthology,” a new four-CD collection that includes all five of the group’s original studio albums, a collection of remixes, never before released material and interviews.

A DVD of the program along with this one-of-a-kind CD collection is being offered as a PBS exclusive to tie in with the airing of “California Dreamin’ – The Songs of The Mamas and The Papas.” It will not be offered for sale in stores or online and can only be gotten by making a contribution to PBS. Every local PBS stations has a website where pledges can be made and where you can also find the number if you wish to make a pledge by phone.

For more information, check your local PBS station’s website.

Fifty Candles

F

ifty years ago this month, the United States bombed Hanoi for the first time. The National Basketball Association awarded the Seattle Supersonics a franchise for the 1967- 68 season. The Monkees’ tune “I’m A Believer,” became the number one song on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Maulana Karenga established Kwanzaa as a holiday to honor the culture and traditions of people of African origin.

The United States and the U.S.S.R. signed a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space. National Football League Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced that the first “Super Bowl” pitting the National Football League champion against the American Football League champion would take place on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Coliseum, and Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) made his UCLA college basketball debut. Notable personalities born in December 1966 who are celebrating their 50th birthday this month include actors Kiefer Sutherland, Toby Huss and C. Thomas Howell, country singer Tracy Byrd, model Eva LaRue and author Steve Spangler.

6 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

B

ob Dylan, lauded as one of the most significant songwriters of our time, has been responsible for such classics as “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “The Times They Are a-Changin.’”

In his just-released book, “The Lyrics: 19612012” (2016, Simon and Schuster), Dylan offers a comprehensive and definitive collection of his most recent writings as well as his early lyrics and poems. Well known for changing the lyrics to even his best-loved compositions, Dylan has edited dozens of songs for this volume, making it a must-read for everyone from serious Dylan devotees to the casual fan. Dylan, who has released 36 studio albums that have collectively sold more than 120 million copies, was recently named the Nobel Prize winner for literature. He has also been awarded the French Legion of Honor, a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.

It’s The Most Stressful Time Of The Year

I

t’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but for many, the holiday season is the most stressful. From visits with family and out-oftown guests to buying gifts, cooking, decorating and more, the holidays sometimes bring more stress than they do joy. Colin Christopher, a clinical hypnotherapist, offers these tips to reduce stress and make it through the next few weeks: Don’t Procrastinate You can reduce stress with a little bit of planning and getting an early start.

If you wait until the last minute and find yourself pressed for time, you’re going to experience more stress.

Learn To Say “No” It’s okay to say “no” if you don’t want to do something or don’t have the time to do it.

Take A Moment For Yourself With as little as 20 to 30 minutes set aside each day to do something you enjoy, you can refresh, relieve stress and better enjoy the holidays.

Breathe Take a few minutes to slow your breathing down. Breathe in deeply, hold your breath for a few seconds, and then slowly release through your mouth.

Appreciate The Moment Take time to step back and enjoy the time with your family and just be thankful for all you have.

Lower Your Expectations Some people place very high expectations on the holidays, picturing everything playing out in a specific or perfect way and then find themselves disappointed and stressed when things don’t go according to plan. Lower your expectations and just let life happen.

A Little More You Need To Know

Where You Need To Go Celebrate The Cultural Diversity Of The Season

The Most Important Thing To Know This Month

or 57 years, music ensembles, choirs and dance companies from the many Los Angeles county neighborhoods and cultures have joined together to present a free, three-hour holiday show which, this year, will take palace on Saturday, December 24 beginning at 3 p.m.

The Holiday Celebration features the California Feetwarmers, a sevenpiece ragtime, Dixieland blues and early swing band, Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company performing folklórico dance from the region of Tabasco, Mexico. The nine-member Korean dance company, Kim Eung Hwa will perform a traditional fan dance and the Harmonic Bronze Handbell Ensemble, a music ensemble of 11 to 18-year-olds from the Antelope Valley, will ring out classical handbell music celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. Other performances will include Kayamanan Ng Lahi with festive dances from the provincial lowland/coastal region of the Philippines, the Palmdale High School Choral Union, the Sunday Night Singers, and the Southern California Brass Consortium, a 26-member brass ensemble from California State University of Long Beach.

This celebration of cultural diversity will be held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. Parking is free in the Music Center parking garage. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. and there will be entertainment on the plaza for those waiting in line beginning at 12:30 p.m.

If you are in the Los Angeles area you can also enjoy this celebration without leaving your home by watching the spectacular live on KOCE. For those outside of the L.A. area, you can also view the festivities live by clicking on www.pbssocal.org on December 24 starting at 3 p.m. or view a replay at 9 p.m. and again on Christmas Day at noon.

For more information and a complete listing of performers, click on www.holidaycelebration.org.

he holiday season can be a treacherous time when it comes to our health. According to Dr. John Young the author of “Beyond Treatment: Discover how to build a cellular foundation to achieve optimal health” (Health/Beauty Products, 2014), this time of year brings a spike in heart attacks and other cardiac issues. The incidence of pneumonia cases also spikes. And deaths from natural causes are higher than other times of the year.

In fact, more people die of natural causes on Christmas Day than any other day of the year.

While those numbers are well-documented, the causes are not.

Stress and a lack of sleep definitely play a role, particularly if one’s immune system is weakened. And, if you look at how most of us eat through the season, it’s easy to see how the immune system takes a beating and even otherwise healthy people become more susceptible to illness during the holidays.

Here are some of Dr. Young’s tips for staying healthy throughout the holidays and the entire year:

F

New Words You might not find all of these words in a dictionary yet, but they’re a part of the everyday American vocabulary.

Here’s what they mean.

Clawback: An investment term to describe when an employer or benefactor takes back money that has already been disbursed, sometimes with an added penalty.

Dab: A celebratory dance move where the performer simultaneously drops their head while raising an arm and bending their elbow in a gesture that resembles sneezing.

Tips for staying healthy during this busy season

T

Get Your Vitamin D

Vitamin D is actually a hormone, not a vitamin, and one of our best sources for it is sunshine. Unfortunately, many people avoid sun exposure. Vitamin D is crucial to many physiological systems, including our immune defenses. It helps fight bacterial and viral infections, including the flu. It supports our cardiovascular system and optimal vitamin D levels can reduce hypertension, heart attacks and stroke. If you don’t get a daily dose of sunshine take vitamin D supplements.

Eat Your Protein

You should be eating one gram for every 2.2 pounds of your body weight on a daily basis. In the United States, we think a healthy diet means eating a lot of fruits and vegetables – which is true. But that doesn’t mean we can forget protein. Our immune system is made up of proteins – our bones are 40 percent protein. Thus, we need protein to stay healthy.

Get A Good Night’s Sleep, Exercise, And Manage Your Stress

Rest, exercise and finding effective, healthy ways to cope with stress are simple ways to pamper your cells. One of the many cellular benefits of exercise is that it increases the oxygen in our bloodstream. Every cell in our body requires oxygen, so consider exercise as another means of feeding your cells. It’s also important to manage stress during the holidays. With unchecked stress, our body releases large amounts of cortisol which, among other things, suppresses the immune system. Take time out to meditate, listen to music, or take a walk in the woods. It feels good – and it’s good for you.

G: WARNIN a d ys

The HoliBe Can us To Hazardoealth Your H

Uptalk: Speaking in a way that your declarative sentences are expressed with rising inflection at the end, as though you were asking a question.

December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 7

Find Out If Your Body Is Toxic

By Dr. Claude Matar Give us a call at (626) 844-4686 to get your toxicity levels tested free of charge.

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A toxic body can create havoc with your life. You may feel that you are ill. You may even frequently get ill. You may have low energy levels, so you feel tired often. You may suffer from swelling, varicose veins, and most noticeably, you may be overweight.

You also may have aches and pains, headaches--even migraines, and many other symptoms. But often these all can be traced back to toxicity of the body. This means that your body may be overloaded with toxins and cannot easily remove them, and that is what is making you ill.

When your system is toxic, many things start to go wrong with the body–and just correcting a symptom will not handle it. You need to correct the underlying cause, which is the general toxicity of the body.

Where do the toxins come from? Well, if you live in LA, look around. The air you breathe can be toxic from smog and carbon monoxide from traffic. The water you bathe in is full of chemicals—chlorine and fluoride to begin with, plus many others. If you ever eat out your food likely will contain MSG—a central nervous system toxin (very harmful). Likewise, if you buy packaged foods, many of them contain MSG. Read the labels, sometimes it’s listed, sometimes it’s not (they often hide it under things like “natural flavors,” “artificial flavors,” or “broth.” The only way to be sure there is none in your foods is to call the manufacturer and ask.

Packaged meats are sprayed with antibiotics and other chemicals to impede the growth of microorganisms on the meat.

These are all toxic to you as well.

Then there is sugar. This is a harmful substance to the body (no matter how good it may taste). And in any of its various forms, it does you no good. Again, read the ingredient labels of the food you buy. What’s in your bread? Or breakfast cereal? How about your spaghetti sauce? Or soups? Or salad dressings? Or salsa?

The point here is that toxins can enter your body from a lot of different sources. So if you ache, are overweight, or have any of the symptoms listed in the first paragraph, it may just be a toxic body that is causing it.

So how does one get the toxins out and lose the excess weight?

Come in to the Pasadena Weight Loss Center. We have tests that determine the level of toxicity of your body, and we have a detox treatment that removes them. The result of the detox program is a body that loses weight much easier, is no longer plagued by aches, pains and low energy, and that looks and feels younger. Add in our nutrition plan and you will not again get toxic, you will lose the excess weight and keep it off for the rest of your (now much longer) life! Come in for our Holiday special at 75% off for the detox package. Get yours now!

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December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 9

Cover Profile

At Home With Mama

Michelle Phillips O

ver glasses of red wine, the last surviving member of The Mamas and The Papas reflects on her past and revels in her current life – which she plans on enjoying till she’s 106

Story by David Laurell Photos by Keith Munyan www.keithmunyan.com

B

y the mid-1960s, women had made a significant mark on popular music, predominantly in the genres of jazz, blues, country and folk. Prior to that time, female names – those associated with the chiffon-and-bouffant-adorned ingénues and girl group members – were regularly showing up on the pop charts, but as for the crossover world of pop-rock and straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll, that was strictly a maledominated domain.

That changed by the latter part of the decade as Janis Joplin and Grace Slick stormed the boys’ room of rock and made hearing females on Top 40 AM pop stations as well as the progressive rock stations of FM as de rigueur as that of the guys.

Among the woman who swept in the door with the aforementioned was Ellen Naomi Cohen, the granddaughter of Russian Jews who had immigrated to the U.S., and Holly Michelle Gilliam, a California-born girl who, after her mother died when she was five, spent the majority of her adolescence with her widowed father in Mexico City, Mexico.

While the names Ellen Naomi Cohen and Holly Michelle Gilliam mean nothing to anyone other than the most erudite of rock scholars, they quickly become those of the household-known variety when they are, respectfully, identified by the monikers they adopted for themselves: Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips – as in “Mama Cass” and “Mama Michelle” of The Mamas and The Papas.

The Mamas of the group, which also included Papas John Phillips of The New Journeymen and Denny Doherty of The Mugwumps, only recorded and performed together for a short time: from 1965 to 1968. And yet, while their run was brief, the quartet captivated the music world and added some of the most significant songs ever recorded to the rock, pop and folk canon.

The Mamas and The Papas were unique, different from the other bands of their era, not just by virtue of their sound, but also by the compelling personalities of their members, who came across as being far more affable and approachable than other rock stars.

Joplin would have pillaged your parents’ liquor cabinet for the bottles of Jack Daniel’s and downed a full fifth before breaking open the second one and offering you a slug. Slick would have pushed past your father, headed out to your pool, removed her top and, when chastised by your horrified mother, would have set a record for using the “F” word in two sentences while telling her to chill out and offering her a hit of acid.

Cass and Michelle were different. They were far more relatable, because they came across as people everyone really knew. Almost every guy who grew up in the late 1960s and early ‘70s seemed to knew a “Cass,” a bossy and witty, quick-with-a-quip friend of their sister’s that the entire family liked, and a “Michelle,” a quiet, sultry, moody, mysterious and sexy hippie chick – a quintessential California girl – who could stir the fantasies of prepubescents, hormone-raging teens and their fathers alike with just a flip of her hair.

Today, with a half century’s worth of sand having passed through the hourglass since The Mamas and The Papas gave the world such legendary hits as “California Dreamin,’” “Monday, Monday,” “I Saw Her Again,” “Words of Love” and “Dedicated to the One I Love,” Michelle stands alone as the group’s only surviving member.

Following her days as a “Mama,” Michelle went on raise her daughter, Chynna, who was fathered by her first husband, John Phillips, and her son, Austin, whom she had with her fourth husband, actor Grainger Hines. She also pursued her first love of acting appearing in numerous feature films and in the role of Anne Matheson Sumner during her six-year run on the CBS drama, “Knots Landing.”

Living in the affluent Cheviot Hills neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles in a home she has inhabited since 1978, Michelle, who will turn 73 this June, recently invited Life After 50 to spend a day with her.

After giving her guests a tour of her beloved backyard tiki bar, she lounged in a red silk Chinese jacket with a glass of red wine and her dogs, Chloe and

Lulu, first on a salmon-colored couch in her living room and then, after changing into a white lace dress, out on her front porch.

In just the way one would hope she would be – girlish, funny, flirty and quick with a laugh – she explained her typical days consist of exactly what she is doing – lounging around the house – only without the silk and lace wardrobe choices she had made for her guests’ benefit.

Michelle Phillips (MP): The dogs get me up at 8 a.m. and I have my housekeeper take them out for a walk while I stay in bed with a cup of coffee reading the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. When I have finished the papers, I slip into the kitchen and get a glass of red wine [laughs and rolls her eyes]. I know, I know…but it works for me. Then, I always try to have a lunch date scheduled with one of my friends. I have the best life one could imagine. It’s a life of fun-filled luxury, doing only what I want to do. I’ll also drive up to Santa Barbara once every two months or so to spend a few days with Chynna and Billy [actor Billy Baldwin who married her daughter in 1995] and my three grandchildren.

Life After 50 (LA50): When you are lounging here with your dogs and your wine, do you ever think back to your time with The Mamas and The Papas and all you accomplished?

MP: No! I think about where I am today, because I’m at the happiest point in my life. I’m an extremely happy person. I have great children and December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 11

grandchildren. I love my quiet life with my dogs, spending time with friends and laughing. I’m healthy and I live a very comfortable life, so I don’t dwell on the past – don’t give it much thought at all. But I am amazed that in the short time we were together – two-and-a-half years – we were able to record what we did – make the albums we did. We did so much in such a short time and somehow never killed one another. I am very proud of it all.

LA50: Do you ever have the desire to record or perform again?

Life

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LA50: If we may do just a bit of reminiscing, can we talk about those people you sang with?

MP: [dramatically] If we must [laughing].

LA50: Tell us about what comes to mind when you think of John?

MP: My head becomes like a bowl of spaghetti whenever I think of him. When I first met him, I was in awe of him. I admired him so much because I had never met anyone so smart and optimistic and vain [laughs]. He knew what he wanted and he knew he would get it. I remember when he was asked to join The Kingston Trio when Dave Guard left. He just flat turned them down, because he was convinced he was going to put together a group that would be bigger than The Kingston Trio. I thought he was crazy that he didn’t take that

The Mamas and The Papas, from left, John, Michelle, Cass and Denny, in 1966

Photo courtesy of TJL Productions

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MP: Zero! It has no appeal to me at all. I’m just happy being known today as Chynna Phillips’ mother [laughs]. I have never missed singing, because I always loved acting much more than I did singing. I never planned on becoming a singer. I was a model who wanted to be an actress. But today, I’m not even interested in being out there looking for acting roles. If something really great or interesting came along – and I mean if they just came looking for me and said: “You have to do this role” – I’d at least read the script. But I’m just enjoying my quiet life. I love not working. It’s great fun to do whatever I want to do every day. Besides, I’m not a soloist. I sing with other people and the people that I sang with are gone.

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job. But he wasn’t a Kingston Trio guy. So instead, he joined The Journeyman with me and Denny, and then Cass came along and we hooked up with Barry McGuire and Lou Adler, and everyone knows the story from there – signing contracts and recording and having a number one album. It all seemed to happen so fast. There were so many times I would just sit there and think: “What’s going on?” But that was what life was like with John.

LA50: Do you remember the last time you saw him?

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MP: Yes. I had gone to see him in the hospital and I told him he had made me the woman I am. I told him I loved him and I asked if he wanted me to come see him again the next day. He grabbed my face and kissed me on the mouth and said: “Mitch, I would love for you to come and see me tomorrow.” That was the last thing he ever said to me. By the next morning, he was dead.

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LA50: And Cass?

Release: PDFx1a emailed to production@lifeafter50.com Date: November 16, 2016 2:28 PM

MP: He was hot [laughs]. He was beautiful. He was a beautiful person with a beautiful voice and he would make me tingle. He was a great guy. Very funny, extremely sexy, and I loved having him in my life.

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MP: She was the most independent woman I have ever known. She would always tell me not to let John boss me around. I was very dependent on John and quite subservient to him. I did whatever he told me to do. And Cass would always say: “Don’t let him do that to you – get away with bossing you around.” I was very close to her and I loved her, although we also had a few harrowing times. She was the funniest person I’ve ever known. She found humor in everything, but she could also be very cutting, too. If she was in a bad mood, you didn’t want to be anywhere near her [laughs].

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LA50: Tell us about the last time you spent with her.

DINING

MP: It was in the backyard of her home on Woodrow Wilson Drive. We were sitting out by the pool with our children – her daughter, Owen, and my daughter, Chynna, who were playing in the pool. Cass and I were sprawled out on these chaise lounges just watching the kids and, out of nowhere I turned to her and said: “Why don’t you tell me who Owen’s father is?” She said: “No.” And I said: “Oh come on, Cass, what’s the big deal? It’s just me and I won’t tell anyone,” But she was adamant. During her life she never revealed who Owen’s father was and she wouldn’t tell me. So we just sat there in silence watching the kids splash around and finally she said: “I tell you what. I’ll tell you who it is, as soon as I get back from London.”

LA50: And she never came back.

MP: She never came back.

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LA50: Where were you when you heard she had died?

LA50: And what are your memories of Jimi Hendrix?

MP: I was in the commissary on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. I was having lunch with David Giler [screenwriter and film producer]. While we were eating, a friend of ours, Larry Gordon, who produced the first film in which I had a starring role [“Dillinger” (American International Pictures/MGM, 1973)] came up to our table. He asked me if I had heard the news. I said: “No,” and he said: “Brace yourself, I have some bad news. Cass has died in London.” I remember going numb. I got up and walked outside of the commissary to this little area where there were some trees and I just sat there till David came out and got me.

It was unreal, and yet, it wasn’t a total surprise. Cass was, of course, always very overweight and going on these crash diets, which took a toll on her health – her heart. And I had heard stories that she had been fiddling around with hard drugs. I had heard that, but I will tell you, she never was involved with drugs when she was around me, and she was around me a lot. David Crosby was the one who claimed she had been using drugs and I always resented that – that he said that about her after she was dead.

MP: I was stunned when I saw him perform. Cass just accepted him right away and loved him, but I didn’t. I thought Jimi was doing a disservice to music, throwing his guitar on the floor and rubbing it in a sexual way like he was masturbating it, and lighting it on fire. I found it to be disturbing and I thought it took away from the music. But as time went by, I began to understand what Jimi and others were doing, that it wasn’t only just about the music any longer.

It was the beginning of rock ‘n roll theatre that opened the door for a lot of musicians in the ‘70s. But that wasn’t my thing. My thing was pretty harmonies and lyrics coming together to make beautiful songs. What Jimi was doing was something new and different.

LA50: Let’s talk about some other singers you crossed paths with in 1967, at the Monterey Pop Festival. There is a film clip of you and Cass sitting in the audience watching Janis Joplin on stage and you both look to be in awe at what you are seeing and hearing.

MP: I was scared to death of her! [laughs]. When I saw her on stage, I had no idea what she was all about, and certainly couldn’t imagine that she could be as sweet and vulnerable as she was. I had never seen a white woman who could sing like she did. I didn’t know how to relate to her – never did. I don’t think she could ever really relate to me either. I never got to know her very well, but I think life and becoming a big star was all just too much for her to handle.

14 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

LA50: Who are you listening to today?

MP: No one [laughs]. I do listen to classical music around the house and Hawaiian music when I’m out at my tiki bar. I also listen to a little country music. There are talented people out there today, but there is something missing in today’s music for me. I’m just not interested in keeping up with it. Look, I think someone like Mariah Carey has an incredible voice and range – she’s very talented. But I don’t give a rat’s ass about her songs, because they just don’t touch me. It’s the same with Barbra Streisand – great pipes, but not my thing.

I love songs that have real heart and soul.

LA50: You expect us to believe you are not a fan of one particular girl band made up of Brian Wilson’s daughters, Carnie and Wendy, and this other singer – Chynna Phillips?

MP: (laughing) Yes, okay, I do love Wilson Phillips. You know, I begged Chynna not to get into the music business. It’s a corrupt business that offers no

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protection for artists. But it’s what she wanted to do and they did a great job. I’m very proud of them. I’ll never forget being at a sporting goods store on Sepulveda Boulevard. I was on line waiting to check out and “Hold On” started playing. I immediately turned into this out-of-control mother every kid hopes they’ll never have. I started blurting out: “That’s my daughter singing!” Everyone was looking at me like I was crazy. But Chynna and Carnie and Wendy are an amazing group and I’m so proud of them.

LA50: When you were talking earlier about what your days consist of, you didn’t mention any sort of exercise regimen.

What do you do to stay in shape?

MP: Nothing! Exercise? NO! [laughs]. I also don’t give much thought to what I eat. I eat what I like: a lot of cheeses. I like really good cheeses and pasta and vegetables, and, of course, my red wine. But I don’t really eat a lot. I had surgery for ulcers and haven’t eaten as much since, because they removed a portion of my stomach. But I do take care of my skin.

I wash my face well and use moisturizers. I moisturize like people say prayers – religiously.

No matter how drunk I may be when I get home at night, I’m religious when it comes to skin care [laughs].

LA50: With Christmas just around the corner, do you have any special Christmas memory?

MP: I don’t remember Christmas with my mother. She died when I was five. But my father was big on Christmas and on giving me educational toys like globes and microscopes.

My father was not a religious person at all, but he always felt all the holidays should be celebrated. He was big on that. As a child, I lived in Mexico and I remember parades in the streets. They make a big deal of Christmas in Mexico, you know – a lot of pageantry.

LA50: Any special gift you received that was the most memorable?

MP: Yes. It’s a book that Chynna had made for me. It has pictures of me and about 50 of my closest friends – pictures of us together and then they all wrote a little letter to me. It took Chynna six months to put it all together. It’s a beautiful leather-bound book and it makes me cry every time I look at it.

LA50: As a mother and a grandmother who is very involved with your children and grandchildren, do you ever think of how different you may have been if you’d had a mother?

MP: Not having a mother made me very independent, and my father always encouraged me to be independent – to be a free thinker and to be open to life’s experiences. He was a very unconventional father. I knew all about drugs and sex before all my friends. He also told me to always live by the ocean, which I have. So I had to play it by ear in raising my children, because I didn’t know how to be a conventional parent. I gave Chynna a very wide berth when she was growing up, but I was lucky, she was always a very composed person from the time she was very young.

16 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

LA50: One of the things we are always curious about with people we feature in Life After 50 is how they approach getting older. As the years have gone by have you adopted any philosophy on aging?

MP: Well, I’m not giving that much thought, because I still have a long life to live. I was in downtown Los Angeles recently – in Chinatown – and went to this old palm reader. He looked at my palm and told me I would live to be 106. So I’m taking him at face value and figure I have a long way to go. Any philosophy? I don’t know: Get a lot of sleep and, moisturize, and share your life with a dog or a cat if you can. It is so fulfilling to share your life with an animal. They are wonderful companions and I love them. Beyond that, I would just say go out to lunch every day with people you love and have a glass of red wine every morning – the minute you wake up [laughs]. Hey, whatever works for you, and that’s what works for me.

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The

Giftof

Magical Moments and

Memories Story by Max Andrews and David Laurell Photos courtesy of Davidson and Choy Public Relations

make this holiday season a “grimm” one that you and your family will always remember by experiencing the live lythgoe Family american panto productions of the grimm Brothers’ fairy tales “Cinderella,” “Snow White” and “Sleeping Beauty”

18 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

T

he holiday gifts we receive as children, whether they be a much-desired toy or an item of necessity, are soon forgotten. What lasts are the holiday memories of doing things, going places and spending time with those who are near and dear to us.

If, as a child, you had parents or grandparents who took you to anything from the Christmas spectacular with the Rockettes at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to a locally produced theatrical production, it was a gift that saw those magical moments frozen in time – forever preserved as treasured memories.

This year, thanks to the Lythgoe Family, a production company headed up by theatre and television producer Kris Lythgoe, Southern Californians in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego can enjoy a triad of plays based on the classic Grimm fairy tales of “Cinderella,” “Snow White,” and “Sleeping Beauty” that offer something for people of all ages.

The shows are presented in the “American Panto” format, which was created

by Lythgoe as an homage to the musical-comedy stage productions of Britain that include pop songs, slapstick comedy, dancing, gender-crossing actors, topical humor, pop-culture references and double-entendres, all wrapped up in a well-known fairy or folk tale.

Along with enjoying what will become a memorable evening of fun at The Pasadena Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse and San Diego Repertory Theatre, these shows will also give audiences the opportunity to see the live performances of a trio of very special people: the legendary television and film vixen Morgan Fairchild as Cinderella’s wicked stepmother; television, theatre and film star Joely Fisher as the evil fairy Carabosse who places a spell on the beautiful Princess Aurora causing her to sleep for 100 years; and, as the evil queen in “Snow White,” jazz singer, actress and former Miss Black America Yvette Cason, who played the mother of Deena Jones, portrayed by Beyoncé Knowles, in the 2006 feature film “Dreamgirls.”

a Cinderella CHriStmaS Starring morgan FairCHild now playing at the pasadena playhouse through January 8 Photo by Keith Munyan

Life After 50 (LA50): So, you’ll be working during the holiday season this year.

Morgan Fairchild (MF): Yes, and I’m excited about it. I have never seen a show done in the American Panto format – not even in the traditional English style – so it’s all new to me and I’m looking forward to it. It looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun.

LA50: It’s so over-the-top.

MF: Well, I’ve certainly done my share of over-thetop things in my career, but nothing like this. The Lythgoes have such a fabulous reputation and I‘m thrilled to be a part of it.

The wicked stepmother is such a wonderful part that we all grew up with knowing from the Disney version of “Cinderella,” and it’s always fun to play someone evil who gets their comeuppance in the end. Everything is done in a very broad, over-the-top way, so I’ll be going big-time, full-on glamour and evil [laughs.] I’ve made a career out of being glamorously evil, but I’m usually a lot more subtle with my evilness. In this case, it’s just all right out there – evil, evil, evil!

LA50: You were featured on the cover of Life After 50 last December and you told us you have a tradition that your sister comes to visit you from Texas for the holidays every year. Will she be coming this year with you doing the show?

MF: I told her I would be working and she said: “That’s okay, I’ll just go with you to the theater and we’ll hang out backstage.”

LA50: With the year rapidly coming to a close, any resolutions for 2017?

MF: Not so much a resolution as I have a wish for the world: that we would all be willing to be kinder to one another and treat each other with more respect. My hope is that we can put civility back into our civilization. “a Cinderella Christmas” will run through January 8 at the pasadena playhouse located at 39 South el molino avenue in pasadena. one hour before every performance, guests will be invited to enjoy holiday activities in “Winter Wonderland” located in the theater’s courtyard. tickets range from $25 to $125 and are available by calling (626) 356-7529 or by clicking on www.pasadenaplayhouse.org.

December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 19

Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter KnigHt Starring Joely FiSHer now playing at the laguna playhouse through december 30 Life After 50 (LA50): What made you decide to accept a role that would mean you would be working all through the holiday season?

Joely Fisher (JF): It came along and, as a family person with five children and grandchildren, I had to think about it, but I ended up embracing it because it’s something every member of the family can be a part of. I think live theatre is so important, especially for kids.

Having grown up in a show business family, my mom took us to live shows from the time my sister and I were very young, some of which she was in, so we had a bit of a warped view of things by watching shows from the wings. But it has been a tradition we have kept going in our family, going to live performances of all kinds. It’s a bonding thing.

Also, what could be a better gift to a parent or grandparent than to see a child’s face in awe as they watch a live performance for the first time? That is like a religious experience. The give-and-take of live theatre, between the audience and the performers, is an incredible experience. It is a gift for both. I’m also so pleased that with this show, the Lythgoe family has tried to make the tickets as affordable as possible.

LA50: While you have done a lot of stage work throughout your career, doing American Panto is a different breed of cat, so to speak. Are you looking forward to that?

JF: I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, not just for the audience, but for me, too.

It’s irreverent and fun and kind of tongue-in-cheek. I have been so lucky to get to play great characters – Sally Bowles in “Cabaret” and Rizzo in “Grease” – such iconic characters, and Carabosse is also a fantastic and iconic character.

This is going to be such fun for me, to get to inhabit her delightfully evil and naughty skin. With me, you’re always going to get a little sass with any role I play, and this format gives me the license to really let it go.

LA50: You come from a family of Hollywood royalty as the daughter of Eddie Fisher and Connie Stevens. Can you tell us about any special Christmas from your childhood that stands out in your memory?

JF: I was just talking about this with my mother recently – this fantastic Christmas I had when I was a teenager. During her early career, my mom had gone to Viet Nam and Korea and many other places around the world with Bob Hope to entertain the troops. She made a lot of people’s lives better by doing that. Well, in the late 1980s, Bob Hope asked her to join him in doing this world tour for the men and women of the military during the holidays. She didn’t want to do it, because my sister and I were teenagers and she didn’t want to leave us for the holidays, so Bob asked her if we could sing. She said yes and he said for her to just bring us along and have us be a part of the show. So we all piled into this C-141 cargo plane with Bob and Barbara Eden and Lee Greenwood and Miss Universe and all these musicians and dancers and went off to the Persian Gulf and Diego Garcia and to Manila and to Guam – it was crazy and thrilling. And I remember during that tour, it was Christmas Eve and we were all onboard the USS Midway in the middle of the Persian Gulf. We had all been invited down to this huge room where they kept the anchor and chain.

There were service men and women from all branches of the military and all

20 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

of us performers and they put on this beautiful, spiritual, non-denominational Christmas Eve service. We all sang together and cried and I remember dancing with soldiers – it was a totally surreal and magical thing I will never forget. So that’s my best Christmas memory.

LA50: What are your plans for this Christmas?

JF: Well, we do love us some Christmas celebrating around our house. We have all the decorations that we’ve had forever that we’ll drag out and get up. But this is going to be kind of an odd Christmas for me. We usually spend Christmas Eve at my mother’s house, but it was sold this past year. So this will be the first year without the house, and I’ll be working, doing the show in Laguna. So it will be a year of breaking with our old traditions and making some new ones.

My mom is recovering from a stroke she had last January. She has good days and bad days but overall she is doing great. She’s the typical Brooklyn, Italian, Catholic warrior – a devilish little fighter. So this year will be different, but we’ll still all make a big deal out of New Year’s Eve like we always do because it is also my wedding anniversary – 30 years this year. We always try to outdo ourselves every year, so we’ll do something big again, maybe in Laguna.

LA50: Speaking of New Year’s Eve, are you the type who makes resolutions?

JF: I like to think I am, but this year, again, it’s different. This year, I am just looking to have my family surround me with love and I want them to ask me to do the same for them. I had a very emotional, guttural, almost spiritual reaction to the presidential race and election we just went through. It was a rough time for everyone in our nation. It certainly was for me. So I think we all have to look forward and embrace healing and support for one another. So my job will be to convince the whole family to just huddle together in love and support instead of just having a big old time with the celebrating and noisemakers and Champagne. I remember when we were kids on New Year’s Eve, my father would have us write down something we had accomplished in the past year that we were proud of and something we hoped to accomplish in the New Year and then share it with everyone. That was a nice tradition, so maybe we’ll start that up again this year. It seems like a good year to do it – to move forward with some new traditions.

“Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight” will run through december 30 at the laguna playhouse located at 606 laguna Canyon road in laguna Beach. tickets range from $30 to $70 and are available by calling (949) 497-2787 or by clicking on www.lagunaplayhouse.com.

a SnoW WHite CHriStmaS Starring yvette CaSon now playing at the San diego repertory theatre through december 24 Life After 50 (LA50): What could be more fun for the holidays than to play someone as naughty as the wicked queen?

Yvette Cason (YC): I know!

To be so evil and have so much fun. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.

LA50: Do you think you will be borrowing some of the characterization of the queen from the one we all know in the Disney film?

YC: I think that will be a part of it, although I’ll be bringing a few little surprises of my own to her. But the

great thing about doing this role in this production is that you get to break the wall and are able to interact with the audience, especially with kids.

It’s a really fun role, because just like all the villainesses – Cruella de Vil and Cinderella’s stepmother – people love to hate them. Kids love these types of characters. I’ve never done Panto, so I’m looking forward to doing something new and different and interacting with the audience as this character.

LA50: For families seeing this show, it will give them the gift of not just an entertaining few hours, but a lifetime of memories. Can you share with us any special Christmas memory that is one of your favorites?

YC: Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. I go all-out in decorating. This year, I may be scaling it down just a bit, because I’ll be working. But my best Christmas memories are when my son was born 16 years ago and all those Christmases when he was so into it all – setting up the tree, writing letters to Santa, setting out the cookies – those years when we experience it all through the eyes of a child and the magic is so alive.

LA50: You will be making some of that Christmas magic come alive for so many kids this year. Can you address the importance of families making holiday memories by taking their kids to live theatre performances?

YC: As someone who is passionate about the arts in all forms, I think it is one of the most important things we can do for kids. I think it’s a crime that some theatrical productions have gotten so expensive that it’s hard for some families to take their kids to see shows on a regular basis. But there are always local neighborhood and school productions and civic events, dance recitals and museums where families can go to get a better understanding and appreciation for any of the arts. It is vitally important today being the arts have been dropped from the curriculum in so many schools, which is a true crime. Also, with all that is happening in our country and our world right now, going to a show like this provides us all with some escapism and gives us a chance to laugh. We can’t stop all the bad things that are happening in the world, but we can find a place where, for a few hours, we can be in a happy place.

LA50: And you get to give that gift of happiness to so many people this season.

YC: I love that. As an actress, you sometimes just get caught up in finding work and when I got this part, I just thought of it as a job. But as time went by, I started to think of how I will be using my gift to give a gift to those who come to see our show, and how the audience’s response will be my Christmas gift from them.

LA50: As 2016 slips into history, will you be entering 2017 with any resolutions?

YC: I don’t like the whole resolution concept. I think making resolutions just sets us up to fail. But what I do is set realistic goals. Maybe it’s just a word thing, but I think setting goals is a more positive way of looking at things. I had both some short-term and long-term goals for 2016, and I have realized many of them. One was to do an album of Christmas songs, which I did. It’s my first album of Christmas music and it’s called “The Spirit of Christmas.”

I’m very excited and proud about that and I’ll have copies of it available for people who come to see the show. “a Snow White Christmas” will run through december 24 at lyceum Stage at the San diego repertory theatre located at 79 Horton plaza in San diego. tickets range from $41 to $81 and are available by calling (619) 570-1100 or by clicking on www.sandiego December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 21

T H H  M-K

By Steve Stoliar Illustration by Mark Hammermeister

D

C

When most baby boomers hear the name “Dick Clark,” they usually think of two things: his long-running “American Bandstand” dance show – where he was often referred to as “The World’s Oldest Teenager” – and the annual “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” from Times Square. But there was a lot more to this prolific and enormously successful television personality and producer than just “It’s got a good beat and you can dance to it” and “five, four, three, two one…Happy New Year!”

R

ichard Augustus Wagstaff Clark Jr. was born on November 30, 1929, in Mount Vernon, New York, the son of Richard Augustus Wagstaff Clark Sr., who – not so coincidentally – was a sales manager for radio stations, and Julia Fuller Clark. Clark’s only sibling was an older brother, Bradley.

Inspired by his father’s involvement in radio, Clark knew he wanted to be on the radio ever since he was 10-years-old. In 1945, at the age of 15, he began his “career” working in the mailroom at WRUN, a radio station in Rome, New York, which was owned by his uncle and managed by his father. That same year, Bradley Clark was killed in the Battle of the Bulge – a devastating emotional blow to the family.

Almost immediately after starting at WRUN, Clark was called upon to fill in for the station’s weatherman, who was on vacation, and, within a few months, he was announcing station breaks.

In 1947, Clark began attending Syracuse University, while also working at WOLF, a country music station. In 1951, after graduating with a degree in advertising and a minor in radio, he returned to WRUN, working briefly under the name “Dick Clay.”

Later that same year, Clark went to work at the WKTV television station in Utica, New York, where he hosted his first television show, “Cactus Dick and

the Santa Fe Riders,” which, appropriately, featured country music. Later, he would replace the station’s newscaster, Robert Earle, after the latter moved on to host the prestigious “G.E. College Bowl.”

In 1952, Clark married Barbara Mallery. They had one son, Richard A. Clark.

Also in 1952, Clark moved to a suburb of Philadelphia to work as a disc jockey on WFIL, now calling himself “Dick Clark.” That same year, WFIL’s television station began broadcasting a music show called “Bob Horn’s Bandstand.” Clark hosted a similar show on their radio station and would sometimes pinch-hit for Horn when he went on vacation. In 1956, Horn was arrested for drunk driving and fired from the show, whereupon Clark was made permanent host.

ABC picked up “Bandstand” and renamed it “American Bandstand,” which debuted nationally on August 5, 1957. The show was an instant hit, due in large part to Clark’s charm and the ease with which he talked to the teenage dancers and the up-and-coming rock ‘n’ rollers who regularly passed through. Among the many musical artists who made their first national television appearance on “American Bandstand” were Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Smokey Robinson, Ike and Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder and Simon and Garfunkel, to name a very few.

Clark is credited with breaking the show’s all-white color barrier by insisting that such stars as Chuck Berry and Sam Cooke be allowed to perform on the show.

This feature is intended for you to clip and give to your children or grandchildren because…they must-know!

22 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

The following year, ABC debuted a Saturday night variety show called “The Dick Clark Show,” which ran for over two years. As with “American Bandstand,” the show featured Clark interviewing current musical stars, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone and Connie Francis, who sang their latest hits; unlike “Bandstand,” the show also featured such non-musical stars as Bob Hope, Tony Randall, Chuck Connors, and a young game-show host named Johnny Carson.

At the end of each episode of “The Dick Clark Show,” Clark would “count down” the week’s top 10 most-popular songs – a feature that would be imitated by many different musical shows, as well as David Letterman’s famous “Top Ten Lists.”

While “The Dick Clark Show” only lasted from 1958 to 1960, “American Bandstand” continued to flourish. By 1959, the show had an estimated viewership of 50 million people. Clark resisted taking credit for the show’s popularity, explaining simply: “I played records, the kids danced, and America watched.”

One of the most popular features of the show was “Rate-A-Record,” where Clark would play two records for two teenage audience members, who would then rate those records on a scale – curiously – that ranged from 35 to 98. Thus was born the assessment: “It’s got a good beat and you can dance to it.”

In 1961, Clark’s marriage to Barbara ended in divorce and, the following year, he married Loretta Martin, with whom he had two children, Duane and Cindy.

In 1964, Clark moved the show and his production company from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, partly because of the then-current craze for “surf music,” as exemplified by the colossal popularity of The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean. The show continued to thrive, showcasing surf music, soul, the British Invasion, disco, new wave and, finally, rap. Over the years, “American Bandstand” changed networks and airtimes, but it lasted from 1957 until 1989 – a staggering 32-year run – featuring over 10,000 live performances, making it the longest-running variety show in television history. Along the way, due to his eternally boyish appearance, Clark earned the nickname, “The World’s Oldest Teenager.”

In 1971, Dick divorced Loretta and, in 1977, he married Kari Wigton, who would remain his wife for the remainder of his life.

Clark didn’t limit himself to hosting teen music shows. In 1963, he branched out into game shows, hosting the short-lived “The Object Is” and “Missing Links.”

In March of 1973, he became the first host of CBS’ word-association game, “The $10,000 Pyramid.” The following year, the show shifted to ABC, before going back to CBS in 1982. During the run of the show, Clark won three Emmy Awards for Best Game Show Host, while the show itself won nine Emmys for Best Game Show. Dick’s turn at hosting the show ended in 1988, by which time the title had inflated to “The $100,000 Pyramid.” Later game shows hosted by Clark, from 1990 to 2000, include “The Challengers,” “Scattergories,” “It Takes Two” and “Winning Lines.”

Clark was also a prolific producer of dozens of musical, comedy and awards shows, including the Golden Globes, American Music Awards, Daytime Emmy Awards, Country Music Awards and Miss Universe Pageant, as well as specials starring such popular entertainers as Natalie Cole, Alabama and Weird Al Yankovic.

In 1984, Clark began producing and co-hosting “TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes” along with Ed McMahon.

The popular show ran until 1988 and continued with occasional television specials into the early 2000s.

In 1972, Clark produced his first “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” for NBC, hosted by Three Dog Night. It was intended to rival Guy Lombardo’s perennial New Year’s Eve specials on ABC. It succeeded, and in a big way. In 1974, the show moved to ABC, with Clark taking over the hosting duties and continuing in that capacity until 2004, when a severe stroke prevented him from appearing on that year’s broadcast. The following year, he shared hosting duties with Ryan Seacrest, but it was clear that the effects of the stroke were causing Clark physical challenges.

On April 18, 2012, Clark died of a heart attack while undergoing prostate surgery at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California. Two days later, per his family’s wishes, he was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

Upon learning of Dick Clark’s death, President Barack Obama said: “With ‘American Bandstand,’ he introduced decades’ worth of viewers to the music of our times. He reshaped the television landscape forever as a creative and innovative producer. And, of course, for 40 years, we welcomed him into our homes to ring in the New Year.”

LEARN MORE • “American Bandstand: Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Empire” by John Jackson (Oxford University Press, 1999) • “Dick Clark’s American Bandstand” by Dick Clark and Fred Bronson (HarperCollins, 1997) • “Rock, Roll & Remember” by Dick Clark and Richard Robinson (Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976) • “Looking Great, Staying Young” by Dick Clark (Bobbs-Merrill, 1981)

Mark Hammermeister is an award-winning artist. His work is available for purchase at www.markdraws.com December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 23

Brian Wilson

Having survived drug abuse and mental health issues, the genius behind The Beach Boys and some of the 20th century’s greatest music says he is feeling great and proud of what he has accomplished.

O

By David Laurell • Illustration by Mark Hammermeister

f the bazillions of people who have inhabited this planet since the dawn of time, an extremely small and select group have come bearing and sharing unique gifts – extraordinary talents – which (pick one, two, or all) God, the cosmos, or a random blend of DNA have blessed them with.

The gifts bestowed upon these unique individuals – whether they be made manifest by virtue of their spirit, mind or body – have changed and, for the most part, bettered this world in ways that previous generations could never have imagined.

One of the most difficult things to grasp about the men and women who possess such rare gifts, and upon whom we bestow the label “genius” is that they can, for the most part, be so much like we mere mortals. They can not only blend into the plebeian world, but also suffer the same (and offtimes worse) physical and mental maladies that have proven to have no respect for a person’s station in life or their endowment of talent.

If there is one living person that exemplifies the complexities of those rarefied, gifted individuals, it is Brian Wilson, the composer, arranger, songwriter, musician and singer who served as the soul of The Beach Boys and the creative genius behind some of the greatest musical art ever created.

Dutifully entrenched in the pantheon of other

24 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

20th century songwriting gods including Messrs. Dylan, Lennon, McCartney, Robinson, Simon, Wonder, Bowie and Taupin, Wilson’s canon of work literally formed a new genre: “surf music” – California anthems and odes to idyllic summertime fun and the freedom of youth.

In a dichotomy as complex as the man himself, in addition to “California Girls,” and “Surfin’ U.S.A,” he also gave the world dark and introspective masterpieces such as “In My Room,” “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times,” “Don’t Worry Baby” and “God Only Knows,” as well as his groundbreaking symphonic magnum opus album, “Pet Sounds,” which was released 50 years ago this year.

IN AND OUT OF HIS ROOM

A Kennedy Center Honors recipient who is an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the U.K. Music Hall of Fame, and, as a member of The Beach Boys, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Wilson has also been bestowed with the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

And yet, while the rewards of his talents are materially evident by virtue of luxury cars and an address in one of the world’s most prestigious neighborhoods, for Wilson, those tangible symbols of wealth and success seem less rock star extravagance and more a simple mode of transportation and place of shelter.

From the keyboard of a grand piano in a second-story room that is only slightly smaller than the entire Hawthorne, California house he grew up in, Wilson dwells in a world where he can tell his secrets, where, without worries and fears, he can dream, scheme, pray, cry, sigh and laugh without being afraid. And while he still maintains a grueling touring schedule with his “Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary World Tour,” in which he presents a live performance of “Pet Sounds” in its entirety, Wilson, who will turn 75 this June, otherwise lives a life of quiet simplicity.

THE SIMPLE LIFE OF AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN

While Wilson’s gait may show slight signs of unsteadiness, he maintains a brisk pace as he makes his way from his car to the small unpretentious Beverly Hills delicatessen in which he takes of lunch at a polished pine-wood top table.

After eating, he again keeps up a steady hustle as he traverses the paths of a nearby park before returning home.

Among the park dwellers who are deeply engaged in the screens of their phones, stretching their limbs before a jog, basking in the sun, or engaged in a Tai Chi pose, he blends in unnoticed as just another Angelino.

Asked if his father, who died in 1973, was proud of what he had ultimately accomplished by “getting in there and kicking ass,” Wilson sits quiet for a moment. “I don’t know if he was proud of me,” he says without emotion. “He never said it if he was.”

While Wilson has been extremely open about a variety of subjects in his new book, in conversation he tends to become a bit inattentive if things drift too far from his comfort zone. Even when he is questioned on his musical inspirations and methodologies, his answers are concise and unadorned with much, if any, explanation.

Life After 50 (LA50): When you look back at the voluminous body of work you have created, is there anything specific that stands out of which you are most proud?

Brian Wilson (BW): “Good Vibrations” and “California Girls” are two of my greatest achievements. I’m very proud of those songs.

LA50: So many of your songs mean so much to so many people, songs like “In My Room.”

Do you remember coming up with the idea for that song?

BW: I wrote it with Gary Usher. We did it as a collaboration and it was one of those songs that as soon as we wrote it, I loved it. It was a great song, man! It’s a song that talks to everyone, you know.

LA50: Talk about your process when it comes to creating a song. What sparks the idea for a song for you?

BW: I just sit down at the piano and play chords and then I find a melody and write the lyrics and it becomes a song.

BW: Phil Spector, Chuck Berry and The Beatles.

LA50: Have you maintained any sort of a relationship with Spector over the years?

BW: No. I haven’t seen or talked to him since 1984.

LA50: It is impossible to take on the task of writing an autobiography and not learn something about yourself. What did you learn about Brian Wilson by writing your new book?

BW: That I had a lot of courage to stop doing drugs and stop drinking alcohol. I stopped and I feel a lot better.

LA50: You have come through a lot of tough times in your life – from battling depression and other mental illness issues to your struggles with drugs and alcohol, so for those who love you, it is wonderful to hear you say that you feel better.

BW: Yeah, I feel great. I feel creative and I laugh.

I like to spend time with my family and play the piano. I want people to realize that drugs are dangerous and they should never take them. I talk a lot about my bad experiences in the book, that drugs like LSD are bad and I regret taking them and that I had mental health struggles as a result of taking bad drugs. But now I feel great.

LA50: And you are still out there touring. You did close to 100 performances this year and already have a heavy schedule lined up for 2017. Do you enjoy being out on the road?

Photos courtesy of Lissa Warren, Da Capo

LA50: If it were that simple everyone would do it [laughing]. But what is it that jazzes you about constructing a song – is it the music, the lyrics, the marriage of the two?

BW: Yeah. The marriage of the two. The lyrics and the music coming together is special, and so is the vocal. But it starts with chords. I’ll sit at the piano and play different chords and put things together and then something will inspire a melody that then inspires a vocal.

Press

Once back home in the sprawling mansion he shares with his wife, Melinda, their five adopted children and dogs (the exact number of which, along with their names, he is fuzzy on), Wilson spends his days at the piano, watching television or listening to music.

“I like the music from the ‘60s and ‘70s,” he says “It’s music with heart and soul. I also spend my days making phone calls to talk to some friends, and I watch ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ That’s about it.”

While that may not sound like the life one would expect of one of pop music’s most revered and legendary geniuses, it is one in which Wilson is content and happy. And if one were to find an incongruity in the simplicity of the life he leads, it is even more incomprehensible to find that the man who has engineered words and phrases to form some of the most beloved and culturally captivating songs of all time is, in person, a man of very few words.

Having suffered from drug addiction, a schizoaffective disorder, and various other mental illness issues for decades, the results of which saw him become a recluse whose weight ballooned to over 300 pounds during the 1970s, Wilson rarely responds to questions with more than a sentence or two. While his singing voice remains strong, bolstered by the familiarity of the lyrics he sings, his speaking voice has a tendency to quiver as he ponders his responses, at times coming to a complete halt in mid-sentence.

He has just recently released his second autobiography, “I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir” (Da Capo Press, 2016), a book he claims is far more honest and revealing about his battle with drugs and mental illness than he was in his first book, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice: My Own Story” (HarperCollins, 1991).

“This book tells the truth with no bullshit,” he says. “I think it came together very well. It’s very factual and tells the true story of my life. I’m more honest about things like the drugs I took.

I want people to know I had the courage to get through it all, and that while I had bad times – bad trips – I also had the ability to create music and great songs.”

Along with the candid insight he shares on his use of hallucinogenic drugs, he is extremely frank about the good times as well as the bad he shared with his brothers, Dennis and Carl Wilson; his cousin, Mike Love; childhood friends, Al Jardine and Gary Usher; and others associated with The Beach Boys. The book also reveals Wilson’s feelings about the tangled and abusive relationship he had with the domineering psychologist and psychotherapist Dr. Eugene Landy, best known for his unconventional and unethical treatment of Wilson in the 1980s, and also offers far more insight than ever before about the strained relationship he had with his abusive and yet musically supportive father.

“I was afraid of him,” says Wilson when asked about his father. “He was like a slave driver, like a coach, you know. He used to yell: ‘Get in there and kick ass with the music’ [laughs]. That’s how he would talk to me. But he was supportive of me – very much.”

LA50: So you write lyrics to music as opposed to music to lyrics.

BW: I usually do write words to music, but not all the time. When I wrote “God Only Knows,” I had no notion of what it would sound like.

I gave the lyrics to my brother, Carl, and asked him to just sing it from just looking at the lyrics. He sang it great and that’s how the melody came about.

LA50: You spend a lot of time at your piano today. Are you still writing songs?

BW: I haven’t written a song in four years.

But I will again.

LA50: So many great songwriters, Bernie Taupin, perhaps, most notably, have been inspired by you. Who was it that inspired you the most?

The Wilsons – Brian and Melinda

December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 25

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Late-Life Depression

Brian Wilson, center front, with The Beach Boys in 1975 BW: Very much so. I love performing. Otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do with my time. I enjoy getting out on the road and doing concerts.

LA50: When you are out there performing and meeting fans, do you comprehend just how much you and your music have meant to people over the past 50 years – how much love and reverence people have for you?

BW: Oh yeah. I’m very proud of myself, what I’ve been able to accomplish along with The Beach Boys. I’m very proud of our music and I’m happy that people love it.

LA50: As each year comes to an end, we all seem to become a bit more reflective of what we are most grateful for. What is at the top of your list?

BW: My family and my music. I’m grateful I can write songs and I thank God for my talent. And I’m thankful that I can keep moving. I walk every day. I try to eat protein every day. I also eat oatmeal, which is one of my favorites. I’m always thankful for having another day of life.

LA50: So many people, both fans and those who are serious students of music alike, consider you to be a genius. Are you?

BW: No. I’m just proud of the music I made and I’m happy that people love my songs.

LATE-LIFE DEPRESSION

For those who are suffering from feelings of depression, sadness, hopelessness, memory loss, concentration difficulties, lack of energy, or loss of interest and pleasure in activities, UCLA is conducting a 12-month research study comparing levomilnacipran (FETZIMA) to placebo for treatment of geriatric depression. If you are 60 years of age or older, you may qualify. A complete psychiatric evaluation, physical exam, and one MRI scan are provided as a part of the study. All participants will be given either levomilnacipran (FETZIMA) or a placebo (an inactive substance). You will be compenare suffering from feelings of depression, sadness, hopelessness, sated up to $200 and parking will be reimbursed. oncentration difficulties, lack of energy, or loss of interest and ities; UCLA is conducting a 12-month research study comparing For more information, call UCLA at: (310) 794-9523 or (310) 794-4619.

(FETZIMA) to placebo for treatment of geriatric depression. If rs of age or older, you may qualify. A complete psychiatric ical exam, and one MRI scan are provided as a part of the study.

26 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016 will be given either levomilnacipran (FETZIMA) or a placebo (an ce). You will be compensated up to $200 and parking will be

For more information on Brian Wilson, his new book “I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir” and dates for his “Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary World Tour,”which will include Southern California performances in San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara in late May, click on www.brianwilson.com.

Don’t Miss Our Next Issue

January 2 December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 27

Let’s Get OUt

San Diego/Orange County/Inland Empire

A Preview of Upcoming Events for December/January By Claire Yezbak Fadden

eNteRtAINMeNt

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE: THE NUTCRACKER

DECEMBER

LIVE JAZZ ON THE PATIO Joe Bigham and Friends. Bernardo Winery, Tasting Room Patio, 13330 Paseo Del Verano Norte, San Diego. Free. bernardowinery.com.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15 DR. SEUSS’ HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! This whimsical musical, based upon the classic Dr. Seuss book, transforms the Old Globe into the snow-covered Whoville, right down to the last can of Who-hash. The family favorite musical features “This Time of Year,” “Santa for a Day” and “Fah Who Doraze.”

The Old Globe Theatre, Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park, San Diego. $37-plus. Through Dec. 26. (619) 234-5623. theoldglobe.org.

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS More than 400 animated angels, elves and carolers come alive in a cascade of color featuring nearly four million lights decorating the facade of the historic Mission Inn. Horse-drawn carriage rides, ice skating, live entertainment including Dickens’ Carolers, an elaborately decorated Christmas tree, and of course, Santa Claus. Mission Inn, 3649 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside. Through Jan. 7. (800) 843-7755. missioninn.com/festival.

NIGHTLY SNOWFALL Ho. Ho. Ho. Watch it snow in Chula Vista.

The event features caroling groups and nightly snowfall. Village Walk at Eastlake, 878 Eastlake Parkway, Chula Vista.

Through Dec. 24. Free. (800) 214-3020. shopvillagewalk.com.

NEWPORT BEACH CHRISTMAS BOAT PARADE

Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. Through Dec. 24. Dark Mondays. Prices vary. (714) 7085555. scr.org.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19

Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa.

Through Dec. 18. $29-plus. (714) 556-2787. scfta.org.

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE The unforgettable folks of Bedford Falls come to life on stage in this toe-tapping tribute to a beloved American tale. The true spirit of Christmas touches George Bailey and all who witness his amazing encounter with a wayward angel. LifeHouse Theater, 1135 N. Church St., Redlands. Weekends through Dec. 23. $18-plus. (909) 335-3037. lifehousetheater.com.

THE GIRL SINGERS OF THE HIT PARADE HOLIDAY SHOW Enjoy popular holiday songs of the 1950s including “Santa Baby,” “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Silver Bells” and others in the stylings of The Andrews Sisters, Lennon Sisters and McGuire Sisters. Celebrate the music of Hanukah and for those young or young at heart, there’s a “Frozen” medley. North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Suite D, Solana Beach. Dates vary

December/January through Dec. 24. $39-$42. (858) 481-1055. northcoastrep.org.

GARDEN OF LIGHTS After the sun goes down, some 100,000 sparkling lights illuminate the garden transforming it into a dazzling winter wonderland. Join in the fun that includes horse-drawn wagon rides, holiday crafts, marshmallow roasting, visits with Santa and live music. Members $10. San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Dr., Encinitas.

Through Dec. 23, also Dec. 26-30. (760) 4363036. sdbgarden.org.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20 FANTASY ON ICE Make sure to dress warm and bring a pair of mittens or gloves to enjoy this outdoor rink in the heart of San Diego. NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, San Diego.

Through Jan. 2. Prices vary. (619) 222-1970. fantasyonicesd.com.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17 FESTIVAL OF CHRISTMAS The year is 1860, and novelist Jeffrey Scott is suffering from a bad case of writer’s block.

The Angel’s Arms, a picturesque, deserted inn, may be just the thing to revive his inspiration.

Lamb’s Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado. Through Dec. 24. $28-$78. (619) 437-6000. lambsplayers.org.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS San Bernardino Symphony. California Theatre of the Performing Arts, 562 West Fourth St., San Bernardino. Prices vary. (909) 381-5388. sanbernardinosymphony.org.

CHRISTMAS AT MUSCO This holiday spectacular features the Cathedral Productions Orchestra accompanying the Southern California Children’s Chorus and adult choir. The performance includes audience sing-along carols and a cameo performance of “O Holy Night”—then, Handel’s immortal “Messiah.”

Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University, One University Drive, Orange.

Prices vary. (844) 626-8726. muscocenter.org.

Watch beautifully decorated yachts, boats, kayaks and canoes sail along the harbor. This year’s theme: “Seas the Holidays.” Newport Harbor. Through Dec. 18. (949) 729-4400. christmasboatparade.com.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16 A CHRISTMAS CAROL This holiday classic adapted from Charles Dickens’ timeless tale of hope and redemption features original new music, creative stagecraft and puppetry and live sound effects. Cygnet Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St., San Diego. Through Dec. 24. Prices vary. (619) 337-1525. cygnettheatre.com.

28 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

SKATING BY THE SEA Outdoor ice skating overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Hotel Del Coronado’s oceanfront Windsor Lawn is transformed into a spectacular ice rink with skating sessions offered daily. Hotel del Coronado, 1500 Orange Ave., Coronado. $25. Through Jan. 2. hoteldel.com.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18

A CHRISTMAS CAROL Nineteenth century London comes to life with all the familiar Charles Dickens characters Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, the Fezziwigs and old Ebenezer Scrooge himself.

South Coast Repertory, Segerstrom Stage, 655

Watch some 80 boats lavishly decorated for the holidays sail from Shelter Island past Harbor Island, the Embarcadero, Seaport Village and Ferry Landing in Coronado. This year’s theme, “It Began with a Roar – San Diego Zoo Celebrates 100 Years.” (619) 224-2240. sdparadeoflights.org.

SAN DIEGO BAY PARADE OF LIGHTS

CALeNDAR

December/January San Diego/Orange County/Inland Empire

JANUARY THURSDAY, JANUARY 5 JAZZ AT THE MERC Old Town Temecula Community Theater, The Merc, 42051 Main St., Temecula. Thursdays.

Prices vary. (866) 653-8696. temeculatheater.org.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6 MY FAIR LADY Based on George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” this musical tells the story of Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle, who takes speech lessons from Professor Henry Higgins so that she may pass as a lady. Welk Resorts Theatre, 8860 Lawrence Welk Dr., Escondido.

Dates vary through April 2. $49-plus. (888) 802-7469. welktheatre.com.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 8 LIVE JAZZ ON THE PATIO Chini and Camberos. Bernardo Winery, Tasting Room Patio, 13330 Paseo Del Verano Norte, San Diego. Free. bernardowinery.com.

COMPOSTING WORKSHOP Learn how to use your yard clippings as a resource, naturally achieve a beautiful, health yard and garden and reduce your use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Living Coast Discovery Center, 100, Gunpowder Point Dr., Chula Vista. Shuttle to entrance from parking lot. $9-$14. Sundays. (619) 409-5900. thelivingcoast.org.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28

MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER CHRISTMAS The magic of the season comes alive with the signature sound of Mannheim Steamroller performing Christmas music accompanied by dazzling multimedia effects. San Diego Civic Theatre, Third Ave. and B St., 1100 Third Ave., downtown San Diego. Prices vary. (619) 570-1100. broadwaysd.com.

to the North Pole. Unaware that he is human, Buddy’s enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, discover his true identity and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. Through Jan. 1. $29-plus. (714) 5562787. scfta.org.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22 COUNTRY LIVE! AT THE MERC Old Town Temecula Community Theater, The Merc, 42051 Main St., Temecula.

Saturdays. Prices vary. (866) 653-8696. temeculatheater.org.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29 ELF THE MUSICAL Enjoy the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back

JAZZ AT THE MERC Old Town Temecula Community Theater, The Merc, 42051 Main St., Temecula.

Thursdays. Prices vary. (866) 653-8696. temeculatheater.org.

CLASSICS AT THE MERC Old Town Temecula Community Theater, The Merc, 42051 Main St., Temecula. Second and fourth Sundays. Prices vary. (866) 653-8696. temeculatheater.org.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 10 RENT In 1996, an original rock musical by a littleknown composer opened on Broadway… and changed the landscape of American theatre. Two decades later, the musical continues to speak loudly and defiantly to audiences across generations and all over the world. San Diego Civic Theatre, Third Ave. and B St., 1100 Third Ave., downtown San Diego. Through Jan. 15. Prices vary. (619) 570-1100. broadwaysd.com.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11

MARJORIE PRIME This story is set in the near future, at a time when artificial intelligence has reached new heights, and lifelike robots provide companionship for the lonely. This thoughtprovoking play about memory will inspire stimulating conversations long after you leave the theater. North Coast Repertory Theater, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Suite D, Solana Beach. Dates vary through Feb. 5. Prices vary. (858) 481-1055. northcoastrep.org.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12 JOHN PIZZARELLI QUARTET Employing greats like Nat “King” Cole and Frank Sinatra as touchstones, Pizzarelli brings a cool jazz flavor to the Great American Songbook. With charm, humor and rollicking swing jazz showmanship, he sets the standard for stylish modern jazz. Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Dr., Irvine. Prices vary. (949) 854-4646. thebarclay.org.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 14 DESPERADO Eagles tribute band performs. The Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. Prices vary. (949) 4968930. thecoachhouse.

COUNTRY LIVE! AT THE MERC Old Town Temecula Community Theater, The Merc, 42051 Main St., Temecula.

Saturdays. Prices vary. (866) 653-8696. temeculatheater.org.

eXHIBItIONs SATURDAY, JANUARY 7 POP ART DESIGN This exhibition features some 50 works of art and 80 design objects from international museums that explore the inspirations and cross-references between art and design that continue to shape our society today.

This exhibit features a large number of works by artists including Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Ed Ruscha, and Richard Hamilton, juxtaposed against works by designers such as Charles Eames, George Nelson, Achille Castiglioni and Ettore Sottsass. Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Dr., Newport Beach. Wed.-Sun. through April 2. $10. (949) 7591-1122. ocma.net.

VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE: IMAGES IN COLONIAL MEXICO This exhibition explores the extraordinary impact of the appearance of the Virgin in 1531, through various themes of religious, political and social importance during Mexico’s colonial period. This display is comprised of several important collections from Mexico, including the Museum of the Basilica of Guadalupe, the most visited religious pilgrimage site in the Americas.

Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. Through Jan. 29. $10-$15. (714) 5673679. bowers.org.

December 2016 LIFEAFTER50.COM 29

December/January

San Diego/Orange County/Inland Empire

MASTODON! PREHISTORIC ELEPHANTS IN THE SOUTHWEST Mastodons, mammoths, and gomphotheres entered North America millions of years ago and roamed the continent until the end of the Ice Age. Now, a full-size mastodon mother and calf are on exhibition offering new information about prehistoric elephants in the region. The mastodons help round out the “Life to Death to Discovery” diorama that culminates in a recreated dig to recover mastodon fossils. San Bernardino County Museum, 2024 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands. Tues.-Sun. through Dec. 31. $10. sbcountymuseum.org.

MISS HILLS OF LAGUNA BEACH The landscape painter Anna Althea Hills (1882–1930) was one of the highly talented artists whose presence in the community helped put Laguna Beach on the map as a premier art colony during the first decades of the 20th century. The exhibition showcases some 40 of Hills’s paintings along with documentary materials relating to her life and work in Laguna Beach. Laguna Art Museum, Upper Galleries, 307 Cliff Dr., Laguna Beach. Through Jan. 15. Closed Wednesdays. Prices vary. (949) 4948971. lagunaartmuseum.org.

THE ERIK GRONBORG EXPERIENCE Presents a full picture of this Danishborn American artist’s creative life over a span of 55 years. This exhibition brings together examples of Gronborg’s entire oeuvre, including sculpture in cast metal,

carved wood, studio furniture, printmaking, and drawing, along with a comprehensive survey of his ceramics Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park, 1439 El Prado, San Diego. Through March 12. Prices vary. (619) 239-0003. mingei.org.

THE LORE BEHIND THE ROAR 100 Years of the San Diego Zoo. Celebrating the centennial of the world-famous San Diego Zoo, this extraordinary family-friendly exhibition tells the story of its humble 1915 beginnings to its evolution as a major tourist attraction and cultural touchstone.

Full of interactive features, visitors can ride on a vintage zoo tour bus, hear stories from long-time zoo employees, live the life of a zookeeper, explore the extensive animal and plant collection and learn things they didn’t know about the world’s most popular zoo. San Diego History Center, Casa De Balboa, Balboa Park, 1649 El Prado, San Diego. Through Jan. 31. $6-$8. (619) 2326203. sandiegohistory.org.

CALeNDAR MYSTERIES AT THE MUSEUM This exhibit features unfamiliar objects from the museum’s anthropology and archaeology, geology, history, and biology collections and challenges visitors to figure out their functions using the scientific method. Some were totally familiar items a century ago; others appear to be commonplace but may not be exactly what they seem. Museum visitors are invited to observe, question, hypothesize, test, decide and share their results by posting notes in the exhibit itself and by using social media.

Victor Valley Museum, 11873 Apple Valley Road, Apple Valley. Wed.-Sun. through Dec. 31. $5. sbcountymuseum.org.

Get the Word Out. E-mail your announcements to Claire Fadden, cfadden@ lifeafter50.com 60 days prior (or even earlier) to your event. Include a brief description, location, date, time, cost, phone and website. Submission does not guarantee publication.

MASTERPIECES OF CALIFORNIA ART This exhibition features two works by the most prominent painter of Northern California, Arthur F. Mathews (1860-1945).

The Irvine Museum, 18881 Von Karman Ave., Irvine. Tues-Sat. through Jan. 19. Free.

(949) 476-2565. irvinemuseum.org.

EXTRAORDINARY IDEAS FROM ORDINARY PEOPLE A History of Citizen Science. This new permanent exhibit highlights naturalists and the impact their work and observations has had on science. Rare books, art, photographs, and historical documents from the museum’s 56,000-volume collection will be displayed alongside plant and animal specimens and brought to life through touchable objects and multimedia experiences that allow deeper access to the works on display. San Diego Natural History Museum, 1788 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego. $15-$27. Through Jan 3. (619) 2323821. sdnhm.org.

DREAMS OF THE WEST This exhibition looks to the complex relationships between landscape and the body in the art of the American West and Mexico. With landscape as an active figure, the works on view communicate distinct stories about the desert, spirituality, Hollywood and cinema, and touch upon our own dreams about Western icons. Palm Springs Art Museum, Denney Western American Art Wing, 72-567 Highway 111, Palm Desert. Tues.-Sun. through Sept. 2017 Free. (760) 346-5600. psmuseum.org.

30 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

STITCHES IN TIME

This exhibit features quilts and coverlets selected from the museum’s history collections including a selection of pieced quilts and woven coverlets dating from the 1840s to the 1930s. Walk through this display to get peek into the history of the time that these objects were made and a glimpse into the family history of the people who made them. Different stories have been woven into the fabric of these quilts and coverlets, and it is our pleasure to share them with you. San Bernardino County Museum, 2024 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands. Tues.-Sun. through Jan. 31. $10. sbcountymuseum.org.

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Great Holiday Songs of the 50s and More The Girl Singers bring to life popular holiday songs of the 50’s including “Santa Baby,” “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” as well as favorites to sing along to like “Winter Wonderland,” “Silver Bells” and more. Also celebrating music of Hanukkah and for the younger a “Frozen” Medley. A wonderful holiday musical for the entire family!

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THE EIGHT: REINDEER MONOLOGUES

By Jeff Goode DECEMBER 16–17, Showtime 10pm Are you looking for something different for Christmas this year? Well, this is the script for you: eight reindeer dishing about the real Santa. Yes, the reindeer finally speak up and, believe us, they do not hold back! Rated R Staged Reading Impro Theatre's

DICKENS UNSCRIPTED DECEMBER 19, 2016

A holiday comedy inspired by the works of Charles Dickens.

Comic portraits, cruel melodrama and humane charity of heartbreaking tenderness explode onto the teeming streets of Victorian London, all of it improvised. A fun and festive evening.

Group Sales: (858) 481-2155, ext. 202 987 Lomas Santa Fe Dr, Solana Beach

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CELEBRATING THE 54TH ANNUAL

HOLIDAY BOAT PARADE SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2016 FIREWORKS (5:55 PM) BOAT PARADE (6-8 PM) THEME AN ANIMATED HOLIDAY EVENT PARKING is available for $8 in County lots #77 and #4, located at 13560 and 13500 Mindanao Way

For information or to download an entry form call 310.670.7130 or visit mdrboatparade.org

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32 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

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And Finally...

The Bookworm’s Best A Life After 50 book review

by Terri “The Bookworm” Schlichenmeyer

Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me From Myself

By Julie Barton

T

he doctor said you need a prescription. She said you’ll feel better after you rest, scribbled a bunch of symbols on a paper, and told you to follow directions: four medicines, four times a day for four days. It should work. You’ll heal. But in the new book “Dog Medicine” by Julie Barton, the author offers up another cure for what ails ya: four furry feet.

Barton remembers the exact day. She barely made it home from work on April 16, 1996. Other commuters near her Manhattan apartment rushed to their destinations, their noise just “one enormous echo,” but all Barton heard was her own mind in complete breakdown mode telling her that it was “wrong” that she was even alive.

She had left Ohio about a year before, dreaming of a future with her college boyfriend and hoping to put a childhood filled with sibling abuse behind her. That first New York year was shaky, though, and shortly after beginning what she thought would be her new life, she discovered her boyfriend was cheating on her and everything started to fall apart.

On that mid-April day, in a suicidal panic, Barton called her mother, who rushed to Manhattan and brought her daughter back to Ohio to heal. It was there that an unexpected life became a part of hers.

As far as she could tell, the puppy had been born right around the same time she’d had her major mental breakdown. When she first saw the tiny golden retriever, Barton felt an instant connection to the pup and her focus on suicide shifted immediately to his care.

She named him Bunker Hill and they were inseparable. In providing his care and training, Barton felt “enormous responsibility” and worked tirelessly to make Bunker a good citizen. In return, he calmed her, unconditionally loved her, distracted her from her depression, and gave her confidence to leave Ohio for Seattle, where Barton began a happier life.

“It was dog medicine,” she writes. “I’d found it, and swallowed it whole.”

As time went by, Bunker would come to need medicine himself, and all you have to do is the math to know how the book ends. But there’s so much more to “Dog Medicine” than the simple life of a dog and its relationship with his human companion.

Barton does an especially good job describing the indescribable: vivid details of the symptoms that plagued her, which are horrifying. Just reading about the weight of depression she experienced makes the reader feel they have been backed into a dark abyss.

That darkness, however, totally dissipates with a whiff of puppy breath, although Barton is careful to point out that her illness will never be fully eradicated.

This story-shift, though the darkness that is never far away, is filled with delightful and touching anecdotes from a head-over-heels “dog mom” and her tale of reciprocal puppy love.

Dog people will enjoy this book (but be sure to have tissues on hand), as will those who understand what it’s like to live with depression and mental illness.

It’s a compelling and entertaining story that shows the amazing and healing bond that can form between a human and an animal. First released last year, “Dog Medicine” is now out in paperback, and proves to be just the right dose of medicine for a feel-good read.

“Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me From Myself” by Julie Barton, 2015, Penguin, $17.00, 238 pages.

The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer who lives on a hill with two dogs and more than 12,000 books. You can read more of her book reviews at www.lifeafter50.com. Just click on “Entertainment” and then “Book Reviews.”

A Look Back

Just A Thought Before We Go

T

his month marks the passage of 50 years since the holiday television special “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” based on the book by Dr. Seuss and narrated by Boris Karloff, was shown for the first time on CBS, beginning what would become an annual tradition. But “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” as a television special almost never happened. Dr. Seuss (the alter-ego of Theodor Seuss Geisel) initially rejected the offer of his friend, animator Chuck Jones, to adapt the book to an animated cartoon and only agreed after his wife, Helen, persuaded him to reconsider. Not only did his reconsideration pay off in creating a beloved holiday tradition, it also spiked the sales of his books and saw the Grinch go on to become a cultural phenomenon, leading to two other television specials, a feature film, a Broadway musical, and the moniker “Grinch” surpassing that of “Scrooge” to identify someone who is a holiday-hating dark soul. To coincide with the Grinch’s 50th anniversary, Random House has released “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

A 50th Anniversary Retrospective,” which includes the complete, original text and illustrations by Dr. Seuss, along with 32 pages of commentary, footnotes and archival images written and compiled by renowned Seuss scholar, Charles D. Cohen.

34 LIFEAFTER50.COM December 2016

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called ‘Opportunity’ and its first chapter is ‘New Year’s Day.’ ” ― Edith Lovejoy Pierce

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