Apr 17, 2018
Marilyn
came to the Mojave in 1948 at the age of 14. Her younger sister had
some health issues that doctors thought would be helped by the
clean, dry desert air - Marilyn thought her parents had brought her
to the end of the world. Settling at Smith's Ranch trailer park,
Marilyn's father was the Caller for the weekly square dances at
Smith's Gymnasium.
After
completing school, Marilyn married, raised three children and went
into the workforce, informing her husband, "I want my own social
security." Marilyn exemplifies the 'you just get it done' desert
spirit. From construction tools to jeweler tools, food service and
sporting goods, adobe rehabbing and oil painting, Marilyn has had a
very full and varied life here in the desert. She left once for a
short period of time - and came right back to this place she calls
home.
In this
interview she also reveals why she feels women grew
the Morongo Basin and why "women rule".