Herbert Woodward MartinAppraisingfor: George and Jan My mother was undeniably an amazing beauty herself, given the opportune chance, she might have astounded herself on the celluloid screen with dreams and fantasies built all around her, but she chose otherwise, and in the wake, left me a parcel with photographs and a signed letter to later be discovered when she passed on to the antique appraiser of our lives. She, no doubt, hoped he would have extraordinary news about the considered fortune that could come my way unexpectedly. In the course of his evaluation he tells me I will not become a newly minted millionaire, but he assures me of a million memories. The letter and photos are all signed by the screen legend's mother and that the myth of her dashing blonde hair was all concocted by The Movie Studios to make her presence a vast and memorable one on the silver screen. Her name was Jean Harlow, and at the moment the letter was written, she was also dying from the chemicals the movie scions had fed her to make her and her hair a lasting vision of desire. Her mother had signed the letter and the photographs affectionately Jean Harlow, and although what I possessed was clearly a forgery, I still held in my hands sure memories of a time and presence addressed to my mother who had an astounding beauty all her own. |