Bettie Mae Page may be one of the most popular poster girls of all time. Her curved bangs and body were infamous, as was her reputation. Journalist Tori Rodriguez did some deeper digging to find out more about the real Bettie. In 2013 the documentary Bettie Page Reveals All stuck to a very strict “no photos” rule because of Page’s worry that people would picture her older, and no longer as the pinup they idolized. In her collection, Rodriguez was able to get access to approximately 29 letters and pictures from 1949 to 2000 that show the secret life of a woman everyone thinks they know. She has compiled them into a collection called Bettie Page: The Lost Years.
Bettie Page: The Lost Years is a difficult read. Rodriguez does an incredible job of gleaning important information on Page’s post pinup life, but the stories are often fraught with troubles of the mind and many issues with money. There’s discussions of her marriages, her worries, and her wishes to be with the family she had such an odd relationship with.
Bettie Page: The Lost Years is to be released November 1, 2018.
