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The Marilyn Monroe Community
When I first
joined the internet community for Marilyn Monroe fans I didn’t even
realise I’d joined a community! I just thought I’d signed up to get
information about Marilyn and to learn more about her – well, I did
get information and I did learn more about her but I also –
unknowingly – joined a family!
Like any large
family, there is a great deal of love, there’s fun, differences of
opinion and even sometimes major disagreements! However, one thing we
are all in agreement about – Marilyn holds a place in our hearts and
will always remain there, in a way, whether we like it or not!
We are spread
across the world, but we ‘see’ each other most every day, some of us
make close personal friendships that become deep and meaningful
experiences in our lives, some of us enjoy visiting – popping in and
out at our leisure, when it suits us – like having a coffee and a chat
with good friends – either way – you will always but always have
something in common with everyone and that common link is Marilyn –
she’s always there, in photos, discussions and music and we never tire
of learning about her, thinking about and talking about her.
I was
ridiculously nervous the first time I joined one of the groups NJ2MM,
but in no time at all I felt at home, everyone was friendly and
encouraged me into the group with welcoming emails and an interest in
what I had to say. When I became a member of Immortal Marilyn that’s
when I realised I’d joined a family!
Over the past
year there has been many changes within the community, some have been
positive, some not so positive – the biggest thing that has changed
for the worst is that on October 5th 2007 the Immortal
Marilyn Yahoo group closed as a result of its own success. I have
known people in ‘real life’ that think people that belong to online
groups have too much time on their hands and not enough to do –
however, nothing can be further from the truth. The people that run
groups such as NJ2MM and Immortal Marilyn, have extremely busy lives
with high powered jobs, families and friends, just like everyone else
– people living hectic lives. Immortal Marilyn had a membership of
over 2,500 on closing. To keep such a group vibrant and alive meant a
great deal of behind the scenes work – moderating emails to make sure
they were suitable for all ages, organising competitions, supplying
prizes, writing articles, organising events, sending out birthday
cards and prizes to the membership, raising money for Marilyn flowers
and charities – the list is endless and the work was at times
overwhelming!
Whilst Immortal
Marilyn had a staff compliment of around 12 people at any one time,
all these individuals without exception had demanding lives away from
the internet – for example, one member of staff would be at work all
day in a high pressured job, come home in the evening and upload
photos to files so that the members could access all the Marilyn
photos that had been sent in by members that day – and there could be
hundreds! The more the membership grew because of the success of the
group, the more work was involved. All staff members contributed on a
voluntary basis and would often supply items for raffles and
competitions out of their own pockets and the same goes for birthday
cards etc – so when it came to over 2,500 thousand members – it’s no
wonder that demand outstripped supply!
6 months after
the closure of Immortal Marilyn, I still have people tell me that they
miss it, that they miss the whole family atmosphere, the regular
Marilyn news and friendships, that they feel lost without IM and I
understand this completely – there are other wonderful groups out
there that are doing a grand job but IM had become a Marilyn
institution – a place of great love and warmth – and much of that is
down to Mary Sims who was the beat at the centre of Immortal Marilyn’s
heart.
I do hope that
one day IM will rise again; there isn’t a single day that goes by that
I don’t miss logging onto my IM emails and I know for sure I’m not
alone!
That doesn’t
mean that the current groups are not delivering – like I said, the
community is a like a family, when a family member goes away you never
stop missing them – even though you have other family members close
by! Fortunately, the community is still thriving, and for information,
photos and friendship I would recommend from first hand experience –
the very first group I ever joined – Norma Jeane 2 Marilyn Monroe!
Also, Myspace
has a wealth of Marilyn fans starting new pages every day, collecting
and sharing photos.
There are some
great websites out there too – In fact, Immortal Marilyn, led by Mary
Sims, still provide a place for Marilyn fan’s to access information
about Marilyn, news, articles and up and coming events. Melinda Mason
also offers fans a wealth of information on her website – I am a
regular visitor there and my favourite thing is her monthly podcast –
you don’t need an iPod to listen – you can listen from your PC – if
you’re not familiar with Melinda’s podcast I really can’t recommend it
enough!
Please check
this space regularly as I will be adding links to sites that I’ve
found particularly helpful.
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The Renaissance Evening
in Celebration of
Marilyn Monroe
IM staff members - at the
back Shaney Evans, front left me! centre, President of
Immortal Marilyn Mary Sims, right Becka Staley.
Becka and Shaney still
contribute to the
Immortal Marilyn
website! |
Some Marilyn events I've had the pleasure of attending!
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Big Screen showing of
the Seven Year Itch at London's National Film Institute 2005 |
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Book Launch of
'Marilyn in Art' by
Roger. G Taylor
London 2006 |
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Marilyn's 80th birthday
celebrations at an Immortal Marilyn gathering in London with a
display of art by the incredibly talented
Tarantola |
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Book Launch of
'Marilyn Monroe -
Private and Undisclosed'
by Michelle Morgan
London Sept 13th 2007 |
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Travilla Exhibition
Bath July 28th 2008 |
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