Bette Shayne Memorial

Above, the memorial booklet from yesterday.

Yesterday, I attended the memorial for Elizabeth "Bette" Shayne at the Motion Picture Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills. This was the first time I stepped foot there (although I've passed by it many times). It is an interesting place with memorabilia of the motion picture industry displayed throughout the facility.

The memorial was a celebration of Bette's life and was light-hearted and had more of a party atmosphere rather than something funereal. I find this preferable than something mournful.

I have to admit being a bit apprehensive about attending as my own mom's death is still fresh. When Stephanie Shayne Parkin greeted me, I suddenly started developing a "baseball in my throat" and felt on the verge of tears. I thought at the moment, "Maybe it wasn't a good idea for me to come." But that soon passed, thank God!

It is amazing at how we are kindred spirits right now, both of us are in (roughly) the same age group and both lost our moms. Stephanie held up pretty well. In fact, she's downright funny! She got up and mentioned that actor/writer Jim Beaver came all the way from a film shoot in Vancouver, British Columbia(?) to speak at the memorial and said something about doing a "cruise ship" thing about getting a show of hands of "who came the farthest."

One thing that struck me was how much Bob and Bette Shayne's grandson Colin resembles Bob. He almost looks like a young Bob Shayne!

The memorial started with a photo show of Bette's life. Included in the show were a couple of shots from the "Superman Week" celebration from July 2001, one of which was a group shot of Bette and Stephanie with some of us. It was fascinating to see Bob Shayne with his family. As you may know, Bob was "Inspector Henderson" on the Adventures of Superman television show (1951-1957) starring George Reeves.

I noticed a similarity between Bette and my mom. Both were women who always dressed and looked their best, no matter the occasion. That's a big difference I've noticed of women of our mothers' generation compared to the women of succeeding generations. They had a sense pride in their appearance. They took more care of themselves.

After the speeches, a toast to Bette was led by Stepanie's husband Pete.

It was a nice gathering and many said that Bette would have enjoyed it.

After the memorial, I headed off to Malibu to work. The photo below was taken last night from Malibu after the sun set below one of the channel islands. I took it with my cell phone as, for some reason, I keep forgetting to bring my camera with me.

Maybe today I'll remember to bring it.