The following prose-poem takes Dietrich and myself and puts the two into relationship:
___________________
LASTING MEMORY

29 May 1992 was the solemn, historic occasion of the centenary of the ascension of Baha'u'llah. For the lovers of Marlene Dietrich there was also a certain solemnity in the air. She had been buried in Berlin just two weeks before. One of the greatest female stars of all time, Marlene Dietrich had died at the age of 90. She had begun her film career in 1923 at the start of the formal establishment of the Baha'i Administrative Order, at the opening of the first epoch(1921-1944) of its Formative Age and the first year of the formation of National Spiritual Assemblies in the Bahá’í world, the first being in Germany in that same year, 1923.

At the start of the formal teaching Plan, during the year of discussions preceding the inauguration of that Plan and the beginning of the first epoch of 'Abdu'l-Baha's divine plan in April 1937 Dietrich became an American citizen, in March 1937. While working on a film in London later that year, Marlene, a German by birth, was invited by the Nazis to support their work, but she turned them down. She cultivated, all her life--at least until her final 12 years(1980-1992)--an aura of perfection and glamour. She was an icon and possessed an idealized image in, and for, society's imagination. This image was her creation, her persona; but it was not her. -Ron Price with thanks to "Living Famously: Marlene Dietrich," ABC TV, 10:55-11:50 p.m. 24 December 2006.

…or was this image--her?
Was this what kept her
a recluse in Paris in her
apartment years before
her death, wanting this
image, this beauty, to be
the only lasting memory--
a natural result, perhaps,
of her view that:

"When you're dead,
you're dead. That's it."

She missed the Holy Year,
that tribute to a life beyond,
infinitely beyond, compare,
a life Whose prophetic career
was framed by superlatives
and Who drew His last breath
on earth back one hundred
years before inaugurating a
5000 century Bahá’í cycle.

She missed that Year by
a hair's breadth after her
lifetime of 90 years, on
the threshold of that Year
just begun: she died then
at what was a remarkably
dynamic period with its
amplified potential, with
its onrushing, quickening
wind blowing, a mysterious,
rampant force. And for us…
a rendezvous for our soul
with the Source of its light
in His retreat of revivifying
and deathless splendour.2

"'Cause when you're dead
your life has just begun. That's it!"

1 Marlene Dietrich died on 6 May 1992 and the Bahá’í Holy Year began on 29 May 1992.
2The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan message, April 1992.

Ron Price
25 December 2006.

Beautiful. Just Beautiful.

__________________
Cheers,
Shlomo Tommer
Top Synergy Admin
Facebook me!

With appreciations like yours, Shlomo, I could run a long way in life. If you ever want to visit here in Tasmania, the last stop on the way to Antarctica if you take the western-Pacific-rim-route, do drop in.-Ron

__________________
married for 41 years, teacher for 35 years and a Baha'i for 49 years.

Thanks for your heartfelt invitation, Ron.

As on so many other occasions, physical distance shortens the gap between the hearts. I'm asking for a rain check for this year, but who knows about the next

__________________
Cheers,
Shlomo Tommer
Top Synergy Admin
Facebook me!