nPostednon November 21, 2013
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WhennI was young, I loved a show on television that nobody talks aboutnthese days. It was called That Girl, and it starred MarlonThomas as a young woman who leaves home and goes to New York City innorder to become an actress. With her dark bangs and great smile,nMarlo Thomas was the Zooey Deschanel of the 1960s. (Is it just ancoincidence that Thomas’s That Girl is a remarkably similarntitle to Deschanel’s New Girl?)
WhennI was young, I loved a show on television that nobody talks aboutnthese days. It was called That Girl, and it starred MarlonThomas as a young woman who leaves home and goes to New York City innorder to become an actress. With her dark bangs and great smile,nMarlo Thomas was the Zooey Deschanel of the 1960s. (Is it just ancoincidence that Thomas’s That Girl is a remarkably similarntitle to Deschanel’s New Girl?)n
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nThenshow did well for five years, but Thomas pulled the plug because shenwanted to go on to other projects. The advertisers and studio execsnurged the creative people to end the series with a wedding betweenn“That Girl” and her long-time boyfriend. But Thomas thought thatnthat was the wrong message to send to the young girls in her audiencen(girls like me!), because weddings and marriage are not the onlynpossible happy ending.
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nFlashnforward a bunch of years—and I became a parent of some girls. Nownit was their turn to be thrilled by Marlo Thomas’s work. Thisntime, it was a collection of songs called “Free to Be…You andnMe.” (There was also a book and TV special by the same name, alsonby Thomas.) The songs were empowering to boys and girls to break outnof gender stereotypes. A whole bunch of very big stars of music andnacting sang and performed on the album, and important writers such asnShel Silverstein wrote the poems and stories and songs. This albumnwas more than a decade old by the time my girls got to hear it, butnthe songs were just as fresh and meaningful to them as they were tonkids in 1972, when the album was released, and as they are today!
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nTo celebrate Marlo Thomas’s birthday, checknout Marlo Thomas’s work on behalf of all girls and boys, and womennand men, everywhere:
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nHere is the opening sequence to the TV special.
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Watchn this cartoon from the special; it’s called “Atalanta.”n
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n Heren is another song, called “William Wants a Doll.”
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nWatchn Michael Jackson and Roberta Flack singing and playing roles as youngn kids here.
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nHeren are the opening credits for That Girl.
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nAndn here is the very first episode of the show That Girl.
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nAlsonon this date:
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GreatnAmerican Smokeout
GreatnAmerican Smokeoutn
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nWorld Hello Day
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nWorld Hello Day
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nArtistnRene Magritte’s birthday
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nArtistnRene Magritte’s birthday
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AlascattalonDay in Alaska
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AlascattalonDay in Alaskan
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nPlannAhead:
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nPlannAhead:
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Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nn Novembern holidays
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nn Novembern birthdays
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- n Historicaln anniversaries in November
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nn Decembern holidays
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nn Decembern birthdays
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- n Historicaln anniversaries in December
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