Edie Sedgwick

Edie Sedgwick (April 20, 1943-November 16, 1971) would have been 66 on Monday had she survived her dance with a fame of sorts. She was Andy Warhol's muse for a year. Bob Dylan's girl for a time too ("Just Like a Woman" might have been inspired by her)--till she found out he had married another. She was fey(I doubt she knew it--though one source says she knew she was fated for a short life) with great big eyes and plenty of money--at least for a time.

Her parents were advised not to have children because of her father's mental health issues--they had 8. One brother hung himself and another wrecked his motorcyle. Edie seemed to have an eating disorder and trouble with drugs that would in the end kill her at 28. Her last few years were a maze of drug addiction, sex, mental hospitals and maybe a desperate attempt to regain the fame she had lost. Years ago, I read Jean Stein's book Edie: American Girl

Edie was really before my time, so I had never heard of her, but the book was lying around my parents' house. It just seemed so alien to me that a person could come to such a sad and lonely place when she had had so much going for her. So many people of her generation made such bad choices.