A baby boomer thanks a heartthrob
As we boomers have gotten older, so have our teen idols … those who lived long enough, anyway. Freelance writer Barbara Solomon Josselsohn of Scarsdale, New York, has been thinking of one idol in particular, as she has watched his life take turns no one imagined. The author of The Last Dreamer
There’s a place in my heart that aches over the news that one-time teen star David Cassidy has dementia.
Mostly I’m sorry for his sobering diagnosis. Partly I’m nostalgic for the passion I felt when I saw him on The Partridge Family years ago. To some extent I’m disheartened at this reminder that life is cruel and time marches on.
David Cassidy
But also I’m feeling remorseful.
Yes, he was the superstar whose fame knew no bounds, and I was just one of the nameless millions who adored him. Still, I’m convinced that in our celebrity-fan relationship, I was the lucky one, and he drew the short straw.
I was lucky, because I knew the sweet agony of waiting each week for Friday night, and then the thrill of basking in his charisma with each new TV episode. I got to hear his pleasing voice on my cassette recorder, and to close my eyes and imagine his love songs were for me.
David Cassidy in his early days of stardom.
I knew the magic of a twine-bound stack of Tiger Beat magazines newly delivered to my neighborhood “candy store,” filled with images of his dreamy smile and lists of his favorite ice cream flavors, movies, and places to take a date. I could escape the countless miseries of middle school by retreating to my bedroom and making up scenarios in which he and I would meet and fall in love.
And what did he get?
A fleeting stretch of white-hot stardom followed by wholesale repudiation, as fickle teenyboppers like me grew up and moved on to actual boyfriends.
Barbara Josselsohn
Alas, life hasn’t been easy for the teen idols we grew up with. Sure, some emerged from the spotlight unscathed. Bobby Sherman – who played Jeremy Bolt on the TV series Here Come the Brides – became an officer with the LAPD. And some continued with entertainment. Donny Osmond, Mickey Dolenz, and David Cassidy all appeared on Broadway. Osmond later became a game show host and a winner on Dancing with the Stars. Dolenz is planning a return engagement at the popular New York City supper club Below 54.
But stories abound of broken marriages, financial troubles, substance abuse, and run-ins with the law. Cassidy’s life includes them all.
Not too long ago, I saw David Cassidy at an “oldies” concert. It was great fun to listen old songs like “I Think I Love You” and to remember how it felt to hear them long ago. But I left feeling like a kid who had overindulged on candy. Dabbling in the past is pleasurable, but staying too long can make you queasy.
In the recent People Magazine story in which Cassidy revealed his diagnosis, he said he intends to stop touring, so he can focus on himself and enjoy his life. I hope he does just that.
Even though he never knew me, he gave me a lot. He got me through middle school.
Even though I never knew him, I’ll always be grateful.
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