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Michael Edwards: Michael Aubrey Edwards (born Liverpool, England, 1957), wrote about civil society, philanthropy and social transformation Priscilla's descriptions of the nights she spent with Elvis before their marriage suggest that the star was not overtly sexual towards her. The couple kissed and engaged in petting, but Elvis always stopped the make-out sessions before it led to actual intercourse. I have read two other Elvis biographies, and as dreadful as all of this sounds, the other authors were less gentle. In fact, this is part of Priscilla’s stated reason for deciding to tell her own story. I have enjoyed this book since the first day it was available for sale. As much as I respect what she wrote in the book I have even more respect for...what she left out.
I have to feel for the bind her parents were in. On the one hand, she was just fourteen years old, and Presley was twenty-four, a grown man. On the other hand, if they refused to let her go, she would never have forgiven them; this was an invitation that literally millions of girls yearned for. Seeking a happy medium, her stepdad set boundaries: they were to be chaperoned, never alone together, and he wanted her home at a certain time. He groused about the fact that someone other than Elvis would be transporting her, but the reason was a legitimate one: Elvis could not drive himself anywhere without the car being mobbed. It was genuinely unsafe. A photographer's model before her marriage, my mother was totally devoted to her family. As the oldest, it was my responsibility to help her with the kids. After me, there were Don, four years my junior, and Michelle, my only sister, who was five years younger than Don. Jeff and the twins, Tim and Tom, hadn't yet been born. Elvis liked old movie classics revolving around family or struggles to survive in the world such as Les Misérables, Wuthering Heights, It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Skeffington, Miracle on 34th Street, Letter from an Unknown Woman and his favorite, The Way of All Flesh, the story of a self-sacrificing father. Is no one going to talk about the fact that Elvis was giving Priscilla drugs?! A 14 year old? And basically OD’d her at 16?! K, what????!!!
He had been a part of my life for eighteen years. When we met, I had just turned fourteen. The first six months I spent with him were filled with tenderness and affection. Blinded by love, I saw none of his faults or weaknesses. He was to become the passion of my life. It all came to the point where she was forced to leave him behind. “I didn’t have my teenage years as a normal girl, obviously, so I had to adapt. So I just kind of followed what he did.”
Her entire world revolved around the star. “I just followed what he did,” she claimed. “I mean, you lived his life. You saw the movies he wanted to see, you listened to the music he wanted to listen to, you go to places that he would go… I honestly didn’t have my own life… So I really kind of lost myself.”
It would be 7 years before the pair wed in 1967, finally consummating their love. The built up passion led to their only child, Lisa Marie, born one year later. But their relationship wasn’t the stuff of fairy tales. As Priscilla matured, she began to realize she’d been moulded by Elvis to be his “ideal wife”, denying the true woman within. “He taught me everything, how to dress, how to walk, how to apply makeup and wear my hair, how to behave, how to return love – his way. I was Elvis’ doll, his own living doll, to be fashioned as he pleased.” When it comes to reading a biography… I feel a little unfair when I rate the book anything under 5 stars unless I hate it. This is the persons own words, on their own experience - their life. Reading older biographies is sometimes complicated, and it sure was in this case. I read through contemporary eyes; things that shouldn’t have been ok then… shouldn’t have been tolerated were. “It WaS a DiFfErEnT tImE” - yeah, idgaf. A lot on this book was hard to wrap my brain around (I’ve compiled a short —- ehhh… short-ISH list below of those points). Elvis and Me was published in 1986, and written about a time in the 60s and 70s. The societal shift on what’s acceptable and what isn’t is showcased in this book.
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