Thursday, September 27, 2007

When Then Was Now: Meg White Before The White Stripes


I love digging around for Detroit-based clues, and am perpetually on the trail of Jack Kerouac and Edie Kerouac-Parker, Joyce Carol Oates, Joni Mitchell, Jeffrey Eugenides, Mary Gaitskill, and various other artists. Today came White Stripes finds, or rather shots of Meg White before she became famous.

The above shot is of an angel created by Tara Duditch for "Heavenly Creatures," the theme of Meg White's senior class in high school for Spirit Week, which apparently also included homages to Jimi Hendrix, Marilyn Monroe, and John Lennon.


Meg White went formally by Megan White, or even more formally, as Megan Martha White. This is her senior portrait shot for the Grosse Pointe North High School's 1993 yearbook Valhalla. The overall theme for Valhalla in 1992-1993 was "That Was Then / This Is Now." Several seniors are quoted predicting where they'd be in 25 years -- but not Meg.


This is from an informal section written with/by a long term friend under the heading "Thelma and Louise." In it there are quips about various activities, including a trip to Italy, and "chameleon hair." Here she is just being playful. Thelma & Louise the movie came out in 1991.


This is a cropped close-up of Meg/Megan White as part of the Art Guild, 1992-1993. Here she looks like she might be coming from the set of Twin Peaks. Not sure yet if she went on to college, but she reportedly met Jack (aka John Anthony) Gillis while working at Memphis Smoke in Royal Oak (Main Street just below Eleven Mile Road); they got married on September 21, 1996, and she only subsequently began playing the drums. They divorced on March 24, 2000. Jack kept his married name to keep things lively (and mysterious). Indeed, they played themselves off as brother and sister.

I'm giving birthdays a rest today -- Meg White, though, was born on December 10, 1974, in Metro Detroit. Sagittarius, then.

As for the "Meg White sex tape," it's probably real, but shot covertly without her knowledge of it at the time.

Today's Rune: Warrior.

6 comments:

the walking man said...

the white who? From Detroit?

Naw Grosse Pointe is a burb.

Henry Ford was the last famous white guy from Detoit and the history books are still out on whether he was famous or infamous.

Peace

mark

Erik Donald France said...

Check out wikipedia "People from Detroit" (and its environs) -- 200+ pages. Some pretty wild people on that list -- of all stripes.

Erik Donald France said...

p.s. actually it's more like 800 "famous people" associated with Detroit, from Detroit, lived in Detroit and nearby areas.

John Lee Hooker fits the bill -- Motown heavies, etc.

Cup said...

What a cool post! She was really cute, wasn't she?

p.s. I get just as defensive about all the great artists from Georgia. You go, EDF!

the walking man said...

Erik...joke, get it just kidding wherever you had a
peak population of 1.9 million people you're bound to get a few braniac white folks, not many but a few.


Peace my Caucasian Brother in Detroit

lololololol

mark

Charles Gramlich said...

Maybe if the White Stripes played metal, dude. Rock on! ;)