AC_1965_Web

136 AN T I OC H CO L L E G E C L A S S O F 19 6 5 5 0 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y B O O K A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z R O Y ROY LISSA THEN AND NOW 4 B.A. Douglass College FAMI LY 4 Son, Jon 4 Daughter, Devra ADDRESS 4 210 Clay Ave. Lyndhurst, NJ 07071 CONTACT 201 438-1177 or 201 873-1921 lroy@teamresourcessbwe.com M Y L I F E C O M P A R E D to the other bios of Antiochians, seems SO mun- dane. Much as I would have liked, I have not changed the course of all the insane wars (is that redundant?) nor have I found a cure for cancer. At least my age and experience have taught me that sometimes little per- sonal accomplishments can mean just as much to one person. Professionally, I seem to have run the gamut from newspaper writing and editing as well as doing brochures for non-profits, to sales and marketing for the now defunct product of Playboy Briefs. (I used to say I was in men’s underwear.) I further spent time commuting into NewYork from Fort Lee, N.J., where I worked for Carol Bellamy, then City Council President. Politically, I became a staff member in cam- paign fundraising in Florida for the state attorney general, Bob Shevin. I also served as a talent and liter- ary agent. However, I have painfully earned my living for the past thirty years in industrial real estate... sim- ply perfect for someone who was totally engrossed in the arts and had greasepaint in her veins! At least I employed my acting background daily, pretending that I was simply fascinated by 24-foot ceilings in warehouses and factories, wearing a smile on my face and playing the role of businesswoman while grace- fully avoiding lurching hi-lo ma- chines. Hey, it paid the bills. Theater, my first love, was not totally tossed by the wayside. I ap- peared in sixty or so plays, mostly in community theater. They ranged from Shakespeare and Greek tragedy all the way to musical comedy. My fa- vorite roles probably were Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire” in the mid-sixties, to Billie Holiday in “Born Yesterday.” I further appeared with my then husband in “Guys and Dolls” as Adelaide, while he played Nathan Detroit.The audiences never noticed the “baby bump,” which gave further meaning to the term “production.” I also became the the- ater chairwoman of a prestigious and well-established theater in New Jersey during that time. Let’s go all the way back to the 60’s at Antioch, for me a strong per- sonal and inf luential experience. That’s where my formative years molded and solidified my curiosity, sense of social commitment, and new feelings and observations in a global sense. I vividly remember the sit-in at the movie theater in town, watching the Kennedy-Nixon de- bates, knocking on doors in Dayton stomping for Kennedy, joining the NAACP, folk dancing in Red Square, conversing for hours in the cafete- ria, and learning more than I ever thought possible in just a few se- mesters, intellectually, personally, and emotionally. Ultimately,my parents pulled me out of school.They thought I was be- coming too radical when they visited me during my repertory days at the Antioch Area Theater. Dal (Meredith Dallas, Barrie’s dad),who was one of my professors and also a repertory member, even wrote a beautiful note to them asking them to reconsider, not that it helped.Then it was back to Paradise known as New Jersey for me...and into Douglass College. Not exactly my style,but at least I had the opportunity to do more acting.After a semester at the Sorbonne in Paris, I returned and the following sum- mer, I was fortunate enough to land the part as Tina in “A Bell for Adano,” which opened the Amphitheater in the Park in Metuchen, N.J. Fifty- two years later, it is still a big crowd pleaser, from what I read. During a dress rehearsal, a friend of a cast member dropped by. I met him at a cast party later that week. Four weeks later we were engaged and were married in December of 1963. By the end of the following year, I gave birth to my son, Jon.Three years later came my daughter Devra; how- ever, my role as a wife and mother just wasn’t enough. Frankly, I was