New York
NEW YORK
A
fter graduating from a top college we were prepared for nothing. Our range of vision and our concern with issues of the day were sorely limited. It was the 50’s and we were in our own microscopic
worlds.
We, women schooled in ancient civilization, history of literature, and other esoteric subjects, ended up in secretarial school. Sure, some of our classmates went directly to law or medical school, one became a famous archeologist who found the missing finger of the Victory of Samothrace, Gloria Steinem became synonymous with the Women’s Movement, and one went into films as Tarzan’s Jane. But the majority began careers as secretaries. In my case, I passed a speedwriting test on the subject of the Frank Sinatra Show and got hired into a secretarial pool at CBS-TV production. I worked on “The Verdict is Yours”, “The Gary Moore Show”, “20th Century” and for an independent talent agent whose every other word was F---. I met midgets, giants, call girls, fire victims, amputees, and deformed animals. The TV field was not a natural arena for me. I felt out of place but gradually learned the ropes, and became executive assistant to two producers on an educational show called, I think, Optimum.
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