Monday, October 26, 2015

Two Dudes Review: This is not what might be easily presumed to be a girly-girl reading about "make-up

Phil Ankofski says:

  • Woody’s Culver City, the Toes Beach, Sharrie Williams and our own Bob.

    I would like to start this gorgeous day in Dublin , Ohio by revisiting some times gone bye during the mid 1960’s.
    It was our own Bob of Los Ranchos who introduced us to the name of Sharrie Williams. I do not remember the context in which Bob referred to her, but his comments piqued my interest and I have since discovered much more about this beautiful and talented lady.
    Towards the end of summer in 1964, I myself along with several other new crew members at Woody’s Culver City were learning to serve root beers, salads and how to work the cash register. Sharrie Williams, who was a junior at Culver City HS was suffering heart break because she was disqualified from the Miss Culver City Pageant.(1964)
    The Beach Boys, Rolling Stones and James Brown were appearing in Santa Monica for the TAMI concert.



    Sharrie was now driving her 57 Chevy, so she now had an independent access to her favorite places ; The Culver Theater, the Studio Drive In, Woody’s SmorgasBurger and the Toes Beach. Toes Beach is in Playa del Rey at the very northern end of D & W beach. ( where the La Marina Inn was and the lagoon still is. )


    Sharrie had another year of high school with graduation in June, 1965. So what all this means is ; Sharrie and I were interacting for some time while she was a patron at Woody’s , plus her time at Toes. I had been renting a room in a private home on Fowling ST. which overlooked
    the lagoon and Toes beach. I used to walk there in 10 minutes.

    Now ( 2015 ) , I get to wonder ……. was that really Sharrie who I remember ?

    Sharrie Williams is the Grand Niece of Tom Lyle Williams who was the founder of the Maybelline Co.
    In 2010, Sharrie authored her book ; ” The Maybelline Story “.
    I just purchased my copy from Amazon and have found this story to be FABULOUSLY WRITTEN AND SO ENTERTAINING AND INFORMATIVE.
    ~ Well done Sharrie Williams ! ~
    Yes, I am recommending this book to everyone. You local guys get extra fun because much of the story was written about your own backyard. Last week I enjoyed watching the PBS TV story of Walt Disney.  While reading about Tom Lyle Williams , I can see so many similarities
    between him and Mr. Disney. It is like their DNA is identical.
    I need to give Bob of Los Ranchos a ” shout out ” for putting me on to Sharrie Williams. Thank you Bob.
    Sharrie Williams has several web sites of her own, plus she contributes to others as well. She also has a Facebook site which is a real blast to peruse.

    If anyone was to write a book about Woody’s Smorgas Burger, Sharrie would be the ultimate co author to have as a partner.

    Phil Ankofski
  • Phil Ankofski says:
    Again , I am encouraging everyone here to get a copy of ” The Maybelline Story “. While you are awaiting the delivery of your book, you can check out the Facebook site I was referring to above. A little help for you ………..
    facebook.com/maybellinebook
    Phil Ankofski
  • Bob of the Village of Los Ranchos (NM) says:
    Whoa! Quite an exalted book review Phillip! (Probably what I might have done for Atlas Shrugged, back in the day!) Maybe drop such a review on Amazon http://tinyurl.com/pjcatjn

    I think the context of the original reference about Sharrie was when I ran across, by happenstance, her reference to enjoying CC’s Woody’s! I think you then “admitted” you thought you tried to get her phone number per being the self admitted lecher you were as evidenced by giving her a Sign-up card for a comped Birthday Woody, but alas she filled it out and returned it to another Dude!!!!
    In any event, very nice review!



Bob of the Village of Los Ranchos (NM) says:
  • If truth be told, I’ve become embarrassingly lazy when it comes to reading books! Being surprised by Phil’s exuberance however, I picked up a copy of The Maybelline Story.

     So as the topic does not get lost lest my reading slows down, I’d like to note that after only the first 86 pages last night, you will find this is not what might be easily presumed to be a girly-girl reading about “make-up”. In addition, and despite stereotypes that may come to mind for some, given Sharrie’s ‘cuteness’, this is well written prose that most Guys will enjoy.

    Pardon: I was far from being an English Lit major so am not precise with “terms” in trying to describe it. Sharrie has gathered known and factual family history and ‘filled in’ plausible narrative to make it other than dry facts to create what I’m thinking is known as in the genre of being a historical novel. E.g. taking known facts and fleshing-in what most likely was said by the actual characters. Surely, I stand to be corrected.

    What caught my eye so far and caused me to write this, is the inspirational example that many of today’s ‘downtrodden’ teens might take a page from “Tom Lyle” in getting their act together rather than falling prey to the victimizers who ascribe and forecast one’s never- changing/hopeless condition in life to the harsh world we live in through no fault of our own. While I don’t yet know “how” The Story turns out, it’s been great so far and I Second Phil’s enthusiasm.
  • Bob of LR ,
    It is great to learn that you ordered Sharrie’s book and are enjoying it. I am also glad to see you did a much more detailed review than I did. It is significant that you made note that ” The Maybelline Story ” is not a girly- girl read. I would be thrilled to learn that Ron Howard or Tom Hanks
    picked up the rights for a TV mini series. ( Sharrie would be too ! )
    I’m thinking of a Woody’s type Steak a Bob for dinner. ( using PRIME beef )


     Bob of Los Ranchos says
  • (Psst: finished The Maybelline Story. Indeed, the intrigue continued beyond page 86. Hmm…what would Sharrie’s Great-Uncle and his cabinet bring to our country’s leadership position? )
Beyond page 86: What a roller coaster of lives and living, often turning unexpected corners causing several chuckles along the way. Loved the "self-effacing(?)" line: "....That same year, my grandmother taught me to fall in love with my own reflection. I was five..."  Alas, t'was not a "Hollywood" ending. Great that you gathered yourself all up, as I would imagine it took a lot of "inner stuff" to put The Story together.

No comments:

Post a Comment