Dear Editor: In “Blond roots” (May 2012), John Zipperer only told part of the story. I did a short blip on the blonds in the Marina 10 years ago, when I wrote the column “Night Cabbie.” One of my fares called them “the bleached brunettes.” I have lived in this town for 43 years and in the Marina for at least 20, and the dude was right. The Marina is not Hollywood nor is it Beverly Hills, but is the last Caucasian stronghold left in the City. So yes, the Marina is filled with a young, gentrified and educated group that mostly does not have ex-wives, ex-husbands or daughters yet. Young people with degrees and college debts, but without all that other baggage. And many of them use Clairol products, which temporarily make one blond.
I have a young daughter who went to The Hamlin School and then to French American International High School, and she is a blond with blond roots. She told me once, “Dad, the Marina is filled with a lot of phonies, pretending to be something they are not. And most of the women that live in the Marina do not have blond roots, but more like black or brown roots.” So, the Marina has now become the home of the faux blonds, trying to be part of a dying breed.
– Emil Lawrence, the Marina
