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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1995)
* • 28 ▼ march 3. 1099 ▼ just out Travel the world, but call us first... N ot E verything Is R osy Maybe some family stories are best left in the family A H aven B y T h e S ea Six spacious oceanfnmt units on a bluff above the beach, with easy beach access. The hot tub in the yard overlooks the surf and miles of sandy beach. Join us fur a beautiful and restful stay. G ift certificates available 232-5944 1 -800-232-5944 Your hosts, M arilee Haase & Sandy Pfaff 1939 SE Haw thorne Blvd, Portland Lincoln City (503) 994-5007 • 1-800-866-9925 Acupuncture «Chiropractic «Massage Counseling «Naturopathic Medicine ( 503 ) 230-0812 CIRCLE HEALTHCARE CLINIC Brooke Winter, L.Ac. I Jan Corwin, D C Kip M . Hard, D C S Valerie M . Lyon, MS, LM T Suzanne Scopes, N D Elizabeth Carlson, DC, LM T Simone Koos-Gibbs, BS, LM T 316 NE 28th Street • Portland, Oregon 97232 oMotót $saeson cPoktí!and,s uMbeJinattoe cQeaCtoit I have chosen to take a more human approach as a Realtor. I build my business on a referral basis and firmly believe that the satisfaction of my client is far more important than my own financial gain. I communicate clearly and openly, and I'm always honest with my clients. I’ll gladly climb a nearby tree to check on a roof or get a bit dirty investigating a crawlspace or an attic. I work mainly in Portland's popular inner Southeast and Northeast neighborhoods and specialize in older homes with character. Whether you're thinking of buying or selling, please do give me a call Nora Isacson The Prudential Rod Girtman REALTORS, Inc. 215 SE 102nd Avenue, Suite 300 IS YOUR PET PART OF THE FAMILY? Tender, loving care for the furry and feathered m em bers o f your family! C om p lete Diagnosis and Treatment • Med leal/Surgical Facilities Compassionate, Trusting care BIRDS, CATS DOGS and other small pets Dr. Patricia E. HuíT, D.V.M. Dr. .Jefiery Judkins, D.V.M. Dr. Stan Wood, D.V.M. 2519 E. BURNSIDE, PORTLAND » CALL 233-5001 by Kristine Chatwood for the 30 seconds remaining before the commer hat can one say about a working cial break.” Only the best got that invitation. They class woman who rises to the top could finally move to Los Angeles. of her chosen profession, According to Geraldine, she and Rosie had achieves fame and fortune, and shared a dream for years, a dream to empower leads a publicly outrageous life? in not Hollywood and, in doing so, to change More to the point, what can one say women that has the way women are represented by the entertain already been splattered across the country via talk ment industry. Now their dream was at hand. shows and the tabloids? Roseanne was offered a television series. She Geraldine Barr, Roseanne’s lesbian sister and became so famous she no longer needed a last the author of My Sister Roseanne, The True Story name. She had money, lots of money. The book tells us Roseanne was believing her own publicity. There are very few of us who haven’t heard Roseanne’s stories of childhood torture and sexual abuse, and her multiple personality disorder. Her marriage to Tom Arnold was a tabloid’s dream. o f Roseanne Barr Arnold, can say plenty. Written The question becomes how much to believe. Her with Ted Schwarz, Geraldine’s book is an autobio family has denied all of Roseanne’s stories. graphical trip through the terrain that formed two sisters and, in Geraldine’s opinion, destroyed one. Much of the story we already know. The Barrs were a poor Jew ish family living in Mormon-domi nated Salt Lake City. Jerry and Helen Barr had four children: Roseanne, Geraldine, Ben and Stephanie. Geraldine’s book is the story of Roseanne and Geraldine. It is the story of two sisters— one, Roseanne, a married hippie mother with three children; the other, Geraldine, a student at the University of Utah studying busi ness, accounting and marketing. In the late ’70s, Geraldine dis covered feminism and moved to Denver, Colo. By the early ’80s Rosie had moved there as well, and at that point they became insepa rable. Their base of operations became the Woman to Woman Bookstore. Here they met the people— the feminists— who would expose them to new ideas and ways of viewing the world. The character Roseanne would later ride to fame, the Domestic Goddess, was the product of their exposure to women’s spirituality, Jungian psy chology, and mythology. Much of their act came from listening to the things that lesbians had been saying for years about After the marriage to Arnold, Roseanne cut the relationships between people. The Barr sisters Geraldine off without a penny. Geraldine saw what recognized that a straight, married, mother of three she believed was their shared dream kicked aside. She says she wrote this book to present the Barr was the one to get up on stage and do the talking, because she was one of “them.” family’s side of what has become yet another sad And so their plan was bom. They would take but familiar story. Who is right? What really hap the truth about sexism and classism and homophobia pened? How do we ever know? Terrible things to the masses. And they would do it with humor. happen to children every day. They happen at the Roseanne would be the front person, the comic, the hands of adults. Some children, at some time in one on stage. Geraldine would be the business their lives, remember and speak out. It is the rare manager. She would book the gigs, keep the books, parent who then speaks up and says, “Yes, I did and learn to market the act. horrible, unspeakable things to my child.” For years, it worked. They paid their dues, The more common parental response is denial, suffered at divey little clubs, and traveled any the kind of denial that led to the formation of the where and everywhere that would book the act. False Memory Syndrome Foundation. This is an According to Geraldine, they always pledged their organization to which both of Roseanne and undying commitment to bringing the truth about Geraldine’s parents belong. Maybe some thera blue collar people—especially women—to the pists do plant suggestions. Maybe that was Roseanne’s experience. I doubt we will ever know. world through entertainment. They were going “to be the Jewish sisters who took Hollywood by And do we, the public, really need to know? storm.” Maybe there are some family stories that are best left in the family. I think this might just be one. Finally, it happened. All the work, all the late- night planning and dreaming, all the travel and the My Sister Roseanne, The True Story of constant refining of material paid off. Roseanne Roseanne Barr Arnold by Geraldine Barr Barr got hired to appear on The Tonight Show. And with Ted Schwarz. A Birch Lane not only did she perform her routine, she was asked Press Book. 1994; $19.95. to come by Johnny’s desk, to “sit in his presence W 00ks
