Ruby's Rap

by Ruby Comer

Nancy Sinatra

Oh Lordie, Miss Rubie hasn’t been on a bicycle in years, yet here I am cruisin’ the streets of Rancho Mirage, a delightful desert town in the Palm Springs area. As I pedal down Frank Sinatra Drive, I suddenly eye another biker coming toward me—and this chick is wearing boots and a mini-skirt! No! Could it actually be Nancy Sinatra? Too weird! Nancy Sinatra on Frank Sinatra Drive?! Hot diggity dog!

This original go-go girl has had twenty-two songs on the charts, but you haven’t lived till you’ve heard Nancy’s rendition of the song that rocketed her to stardom, “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.” And then there’s that sweet duet with her father, “Somethin’ Stupid,” which was recorded last year by Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman. Nancy’s latest CD is called, naturally, California Girl (and she’s currently working on another one). It’s kicky and hot, and so is she! I can't believe that this sexy gal is now sixty-two, with two grown daughters. Nancy could easily pose for Playboy magazine again—she did a spread eight years ago (I wonder if Hef would be interested in Miss Rubie, hmmm….). She even did a flick with Elvis in the sixties called Speedway.

We flip down our kickstands and take a seat on the curb for a short gab.

Ruby Comer: It is such a treat to meet you, Nancy. I was one of the scads of teeny-boppers who looked on you as a role model since you were one of the early liberated women.
Nancy Sinatra: That’s nice to know. That’s sweet, Ruby.

I know through the years you have always been there to lend a helping hand. You entertained troupes in Vietnam, and you’ve performed at many AIDS events. Have you lost anyone to this plague?
Sheldon Andelson, [a political gay activist and one of the founders of amfAR] who was a cousin by marriage. I’ve lost dancers that I used to work with. In the beginning, AIDS was such a hideous death, and the stigma that was attached….Some homophobes were so goddamn arrogant.

You’ve also lost your father, your husband, how do you deal with death?
You don’t. It overtakes you, and when it does you feel like you’re underwater. And you remain underwater until you’re ready come up. It all depends upon your survival ability. There were times when I became upset with myself because I didn’t think that I was feeling enough sadness. I was feeling more anger than sadness. Just recently I’ve come to understand I possess a strong survivor mechanism that kicks in.

In 1985, when your husband of fifteen years, Hugh Lambert died, you had two small kids.
I had to be strong for them. [Two skateboarders go by.] So my grieving was done screaming in the shower. When a partner dies, your whole life is down the toilet. You just don’t know what to do.

It must have been quite a struggle. What is your take on the afterlife?
It changes on me all the time! [She says, fretting as we both laugh.] My dad used to say we recycle ourselves. There was a time when I believed that, and I kind of do now. But I also think that we have to do this here till we get it right and learn our life lessons.

Sometimes I really question whether there is a God.
Yeah, ya get so damn angry when someone suffers that it’s hard to believe there is a God. It really tests your faith. I recently read Stephen Hawking’s book , A Brief History of Time, because I wondered what a scientist would have to say. What I got out of it was, Here’s s a table, and so there’s the table-maker. Here’s a watch, so there’s the watch-maker. Here’s the Universe, there’s a Universe-maker. A brilliant mind like Hawking’s has come to this conclusion, and that’s good enough for me.

Sometimes I often wonder if my brother, Chip, who died of AIDS is still around me.
I talk to my dad and husband all the time. They’re more easily accessible than God.

Your two daughters are both married now but when they came of age in the mid-eighties when AIDS was a death sentence. How did you approach prevention with them?
We did talk about it. [She pauses to reflect.] There was a lot of fear and safety because of the death of their father. They learned more about the facts of HIV and AIDS in school than I could have ever taught them.

What would you say to these kids today about AIDS?
I’m shocked at what kids are doing today. With all the sex warnings it seems they just don’t listen. Maybe they feel because everything is so crappy anyway that they won’t survive, so why shouldn’t they live it up? I don’t know. I would be on them every second. I used to tell my kids about cigarettes, “If I see you smoking I’m going to drown you and get it over with. Because I will not watch you kill yourself like that.” Their father died of cancer due to smoking.

Nancy, what is the most important lesson your dad taught you about life?
[With no hesitation] Honesty—which he was to a fault. So many things I learned. Generosity. Compassion.

I’m a bit embarrassed but I have to ask you, can you sing a few bars of “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” before we began to pedal again?
[She swings right into it.] These boots are made for walkin’, And that’s just what they’ll do. One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you. Are you ready, Boots? Start walkin’….

Put on your boots and take a wild walk with Nancy at www.NancySinatra.com.

Ruby Comer is an independent journalist from the Midwest who is happy to call Hollywood her home away from home. Reach her by e-mail at MsRubyComer@aol.com.

May 2003