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| Mark Sommerfeld for The New York Times |
As a child,
I’d watch Three’s Company regularly.
Growing up in the 70s and 80s,
I appreciated the sitcom as revolutionary.
From legal work to florist to culinary
adventurer, I came to believe I could
live wherever and be whatever I desired.
Later, the show’s offscreen testimony
taught me more than I ever imagined.
When Suzanne Somers fought for equal pay
and instead received notice of her final day,
I understood that while there might be open
rooms in set apartments, equity
was still off the market.
While Cindy and Terri moved into the room
recently vacated, they never replaced
the space newly renovated.
Somers embraced her role as a changemaker
at a time when the television was a media
supremacy. With authentic resiliency,
she took on turkeys, Ropers, bowling,
and Wandas in a step-by-step fashion.
She’d spin wands of words, as Chrissy,
Jack, and Janet created fodder for ideas
not yet comfortable. In the process,
she created new spaces for hospitality
on issues previously closeted.
Somers was a master at keeping things light
while taking on the toughest of fights. She spun
a diet of equal pay and blonde delight. Creator
of the ThighMaster and a business blaster,
Somers was a fighter of original making.
Nobody’s fool,
she wielded the script as a tool. Somers
never stopped fighting for what she believed,
from gender parity to healthy living.
Her memory will forever be a prime-time
recollection of a life worth regularly revisiting.
With deep admiration—
Thank you, Suzanne Somers
May you rest in f(light).