Karen Essex: Remembering Bettie Page

Bettie Page, the 1950s pin-up queen and pop culture icon who died on Thursday, will be remembered for her indomitable influence on style, fashion, and sexual expression. But as Bettie's biographer -- and the only one with whom she ever cooperated -- I can tell you that the underground bondage queen also had the unlikely effect of thematically shaping a series of biographical and highly feminist novels about powerful women in history. In 1991, intrigued by the resurgence of Bettie's image in venues as diverse as rockabilly clubs, nostalgia rags, and S&M; fashion gone mainstream, I wrote a cover story for the L.A. Weekly , "In Search of Bettie Page." For nine months, I had tracked down anyone who had ever known her or photographed her. But Bettie herself, the object of much speculation, remained elusive. Most people thought she was dead. Then, as fate would have it, someone gave Bettie, who was living in anonymity and seclusion, a copy of the article. Imagine the shock -- a ... (link)