You are invited to my Summer Solstice party on Facebook, June 12, Friday, 5-11pm EST, to celebrate Demoness Dreams and hear from some very cool authors. This amazing pendant from Wired Up will be up for grabs! The stone is Purple Sea Segment Jasper.
I’ve prepared the following Vintage Friday post for you, but I’m also over at Mae Clair’s blog today talking about Wytchfae World Building. Please hop over and say hi!
One thing that fascinates me is a genealogical mother line going back in time. Working on a Demoness Dreams post for a guest appearance on author Mae Clair’s blog today got me thinking about heroine Neva Jaxony and her foster mother, Jewel Orsen. When writing a book, it’s instructive to consider the context of a character’s world. Even though Jewel was not the biological mother of Neva, she longed for that baby girl. I think of Jewel’s own mother giving birth. What was the world like then? Jewel was born in 1963.
The top song of that year featured a girl who worked in a place where she wore “black leotards.” Ring a bell? How about “her feet were bare.”
https://youtu.be/ZqjVAgT74_A
Yep, it’s the ole Sugar Shack by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs!
For added context, acclaimed films of 1963 included Lilies of the Field with Sidney Poitier, The Crawling Hand, and Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
Among the literary successes of 1963 were Pierre Boulle’s Planet of the Apes, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, and the Nero Wolfe novel The Mother Hunt by one of my favorite authors, Rex Stout. Archie ticked me off in The Mother Hunt because he got cozy with a woman who was not Lily Rowan.
On a sad note, a devastating event occurred on November 22, 1963, one that rocked the world—President Kennedy was assassinated.
Back to Sugar Shack. Do you remember that song or any of the movies or books from 1963?
Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Paranormal Fantasy Romance
I watched Lilies of the field but other movies of that year that I enjoyed( though I watched them some years later) are –The Birds ( I always loved horror either books or films),Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and The Leopard.
As about books, I read Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar while a college student. But of that year I would also mention Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean and The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré.
My favorite songs of 1963 are Da Doo Ron Ron and Blowin’ In The Wind.
Thank you for a post that brought pleasant memories back!
I always admire Sidney Poitier–what talent! Ooh, The Birds is one of the all time great movies, truly shocking and frightening. I love horror movies too, Carmen, especially the classics like The Mummy. That Crawling Hand I mentioned was a B movie, but how fun. I adore Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Hmm, I don’t know The Leopard, will have to look into that one., The two books you mentioned are classics also. Oh, Doo Ron Ron is now playing in my brain! We loved Blowin in the Wind too. How nostalgic and soothing to remember all these songs, books, and movies. Thank you for bring them to mind, Carmen.
Flossie, good luck with the Facebook party tonight. That necklace is GORGEOUS! If I get a moment I will pop in and wish you well.
Thanks for being my blog guest today, too. I LOVED your post. What a great idea for a glimpse into the Wytchfae World and also Demoness Dreams.
I’ve heard The Sugar Shack, but I don’t remember the original version. I do, however, remember Blowin’ in the Wind. I love Peter, Paul and Mary and have a lot of their songs, including that one saved on MP3!
Right, I remember Sugar Shack being re-recorded with a different tune. Thanks for trying to for popping in tonight if you get a chance. Thank you so much for hosting the Wytchfae world on your blog today!
I remember mom listening to Sugar Shack great post.
Thanks, Cathy!
I wasn’t born yet I’m afraid
Are you a history buff?