A Look Back to the 60’s That Has Meaning in 2017

A novel has just been released that tells the story of who I am and what UCLA Health and University Foot & Ankle Institute has ultimately destroyed.  I had forgotten my legacy for my son and grandchildren, but this novel, Talking 60’s Drive-In Movies by Tom Lisanti has revived that, taking me back to the most important decade of my life – the 1960’s.  

In 1961 I was Miss Hollywood and Miss California, and I worked as an actress and a model.  So suffice to say, my body, especially my legs, was very important to me and indicative as to who I was and the legacy that I carry to this day.  However, my physical body has now changed.  I have lost 55 pounds since I broke my ankle, and due to sciatic nerve damage, and I am no longer the beauty queen on the runway that I once was.

This novel is so precise that it makes me feel like I am looking through the window of a time warp back to my glory days.  The happiest time for me was from 1966-1969.  At that time, I worked as an actress for Columbia Studios on the Matt Helm series, starring Dean Martin.  I then met and married the love of my life Henry Levin, who directed of 2 of the 3 Helm movies, and in1969, our son Tony was born.

I am taken aback by the details Mr. Lisanti has found and included in this novel.  This was a time when our country had changed drastically; with the music of the Beatles, the Viet Nam War, which had created a draft for young men and then tore this country apart, Woodstock, and the Berkeley revolt.  But this novel takes you into the movie theater… movies which served as an escape for not only the population at large, but students especially.  It became a refuge for a few hours. 

Today, 2017 is nothing like the 60’s, but if you want a peak into yesterday, whether you are my age or a teenager, please read this book.  I am very proud to be included in this novel as Jan Watson.