I first met Peter in an unbelievably simple way. I had taken my little sister, Darlene, down to the Monkee set. Darlene has always been a great Monkee fan and begged me for months to take her to Screen Gems.
She sometimes worked on the Monkee fan club and then she’d get a chance to sit on the set for a day. So I volunteered one day to go with her. Besides, I thought it would be interesting to see how a show was filmed.
Met on the set Permalink
Well, there were about 15 of us and we sat very quietly on the side and tried not to get in the way of the crew. Cameras were everywhere and the guys seemed extremely busy. As soon as the Monkees would sit down for a second, someone would come up and pat their face with make up, run a comb through their hair or make some minor adjustment on their clothes.
I’m 18 and I was probably the oldest girl there who was just watching. I felt a little conspicuous, especially when Peter looked my way and smiled. He looked a little conspicuous too—he was wearing a night shirt and cap!
Darlene was in seventh heaven because Peter kept looking over our way. A couple of times it even looked like he was about to walk over to us and finally he did.
Peter comes over Permalink
I nearly died, and so did Darlene. Peter walked over to me and said, “Hi, I’m Peter Tork and I’ve been watching you. What’s your name?”
I did my best to answer him, but all that came out was sort of a small squeek. Finally, I stammered out my name and introduced Darlene, who looked like she was about to faint.
Peter was asking me questions like whether I went to school or worked and why I was down at the set. I did my best to answer and I guess I did, but I don’t remember a thing. All that stands out in my mind is how friendly he was.
He asks us out Permalink
Then the truly unbelievable happened. He asked Darlene and I to stay around if we could until he finished shooting, and then he’d take us over to the Copper Skillet for Cokes or coffee.
We needed no encouragment [sic] so about an hour later we were sliding into a booth at the nearby restaurant. Peter ordered chili and I just had a Coke and a slice of hot apple pie. Meanwhile, I was alternating between chewing on my lower lip and tearing my napkin into shreds.
Peter and I started talking about simple things, like the weather and the traffic in Hollywood and pretty soon we found ourselves discussing different religions and philosophers and even furniture. I’d just finished reading “The Way Of Zen” by Alan Watts and Peter explained some parts that hadn’t been quite clear. I was really impressed by his intelligence.
He asks me out! Permalink
Peter walked Darlene and I to our car, and when I got in, Peter opened the door for me and shut it. Leaning down on the window ledge, he really blew my mind. He asked me to go out with him!
I hardly knew what to say but I managed a “Yes, I’d like that very much.” Before I knew it, the next night we were on our way to a folk club that Peter likes. Some of his friends were along too and we had a good time talking about the club and some of the people who played there.
Most of Peter’s friends were involved with entertainment in one way or another so sometimes I felt pretty left out when the conversation turned to Hollywood. But Peter was very helpful and usually cut in to explain a situation or happening and then I’d understand.
Peter’s a talker! Permalink
We dated off and on for about a month. We did fun things like go to movies and run through parks and we did a lot of talking about how we saw ourselves in our own minds. Peter is rather religious in a Zen sort of way and he liked the fact that I think that way also.
I don’t want to say more than I should about Peter as he has so little of his life that is truly personal or really private. But he has areas of his mind marked “Stay Out” and believe me, no one goes beyond that warning sign.
He’s extremely friendly and polite if he wants to be. When he respects someone, he can be almost like a friendly little puppy dog. He gets hurt very easily by people and I once told him he should have a stamp on his forehead which says “Fragile, Do Not Bend.”
Peter the person Permalink
Unfortunately, I once noticed that a couple of famous singers who often visit Peter at his house treat him very unkindly and put him down at every opportunity. That really made me mad!
Peter had been nice enough to invite them by for a party and get-together as some of them were from England, and then they barely spoke. I couldn’t believe it! Peter gets wounded very easily by people who tend to look on him as just a silly, stupid Peter Tork The Monkee and not take him as Peter, a person.
Peter once told me that sometimes he finds it hard to play the type of character he does because “Peter The Monkee,” especially in the first year of the television show, was such a dunce. But he’s changed that lately and actually given Peter a mind that sometimes surprises people.
Nicest person ever Permalink
And now you’re probably asking whatever became of Peter and I as a twosome. Well, we don’t date anymore though I do see him sometimes when I go to a party with someone I met as a result of dating Peter for a month or so.
It hurt very much when we finally decided to quit dating. But it was for the best because both Peter and I are rapidly changing—perhaps Peter is changing faster than I am—and we just went our separate ways. They write about it all the time in songs and that’s just what happened. We each heard a different drum, like in the title of Mike’s song that the Stone Poneys sang.
I think someday Peter will probably settle down with a girl a lot like him and raise a family in a rather conventional way, though it doesn’t look like he’ll do it anytime soon. Underneath, Peter is a person who wants to belong, who wants to have a sense of family and home. He’s still one of the nicest people I know.
[Magazine provided by Michael.]
