On June 5th, in an email with this colorful quartet of photos, we received this bittersweet invitation:
"The Family, Friends and Staff of Off Broadway Boutique cordially invite you to The Life Celebration of our dear founder Lynn Dell Cohen (1933-2015) this Saturday June 6th from 3pm-8pm here at The Boutique A photography window display of a life well lived plus shared memories of friends & family, refreshments served & music by Dj Tennessee. We hope to see you there."
We made plans to meet Carol Markel there at 4 PM. It was a wonderful opportunity to swap Lynn stories, speak to family members, including her husband of over 60 years, and share memories.
The front window of the store contained a touching memorial, with a collage of photographs of Lynn -- and of her with husband and family. We all agreed that she would have loved the window and the party.
Ari Seth Cohen, who met and became fast friends with Lynn and featured her in his Advanced Style book and documentary, flew in the night before from Japan to attend. Mary Efron, who also appears in the book, and Eric Lee, posed with Ari.
This wedding photograph of Lynn and her husband is particularly striking. (She obviously never took a bad photo!) When we heard that she was just 18 when she married her husband, who was 26, we agreed it was obviously a great match: over six decades later, they were still crazy about each other!
Carola Vecchio and Marsha Carlin stopped by the shop to reminisce about Lynn and to share the moment with others who loved and admired her.
The caption under this photo of Lynn in Advanced Style says: "My philosophy is fashion says 'me too,' while style says 'only me' "
Rita Hammer, whose photo appears 5 pages before Lynn's in the book, also attended the memorial.
This photo, shot through the front window of the boutique, is one of our favorites of Lynn. She had the most magnificent hair that she styled to perfection.
We chose to end this post with a shot of this magazine cover of Lynn in turquoise dress and turban, wearing the most enormous green-framed Karen Walker sunglasses. Only Lynn could out-Iris Iris Apfel with those specs. This is how we choose to remember her: glamorous and larger than life!
Saturday's tribute and get-toether were a wonderful experience for which we are extremely grateful to her family and the staff of Off-Broadway Boutique. It helped bring closure to the passing of a great and obviously well-loved lady who truly had a life well-lived.
It looks like a lovely, and very fitting, memorial party to remember Lynn. Loved seeing her wedding photo - you don't come across many marriages that have lasted 60+ years anymore.
ReplyDeleteHaving experienced a lot of loss in the past two years, I'm saddened and heavy hearted for her family, friends, and the wider community that loved her. That being said, it was clearly the perfect memorial for such a beautiful, unique woman. Thank you for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteA beautifully written post, with wonderful photos, of a gathering that clearly reflected the community that loved Lynn Dell. You're right! Lynn never took a bad photo. She was one of a kind and her influence lives on.
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