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Remembering Bradley Jeffries, a real Barbie Columbia native Bradley Jeffries is remembered and her legacy honored by her young cousin, Mary Lynn Houlihan, who grew up thinking Bradley must have been the "real Barbie." Mary Lynn's special memories follow: I remember standing in Bradley's closet as a little girl after she left for college and thinking she must be the real live Barbie. She had the coolest clothes, costumes, shoes and accoutrement; I had never seen anything like it. I loved it in there, it was a whole other world for me. Now, 50 years later, I have gotten another glimpse into the world of Bradley Jeffries and I am again in awe. Prior to Bradley's death the summer of 2021, I still thought of her with the wondertinge of my youth but knew few details of her vibrant life. I knew my Uncle Todd & Aunt Ilene (Bradley's parents) had passed away and her visits to Kentucky had become few and far between. I knew she lived in Florida and I knew she had great taste; she never failed to send a special gift for the big events in my life (my first blue box was from Bradley; I swooned). We were family and I knew she loved me; a precious gift in this world. When I arrived in Florida to meet with Bradley's dear friend, Lawrence Voytek to go through Bradley's things, I had no idea what I was in for. I can only imagine the slackjawed look on my face as I sat amid boxes and thumbed through Bradley's address book seeing names I only knew from art history, music, movies, television or literature: Toni Morrison, Richard Gere, The Clintons, Paloma Picasso, Wolfgang Puck, Isabella Rossilini, Jasper Johns, Diane Keaton, Lili Tomlin, Meryl Streep, David Byrne, Sharon Stone, Ted Koppel, Dan Rather, Liza Minelli and Dennis Hopper, just to name a few. From that moment, the stories, connections, descriptions and adventure of (re)discovering Bradley only got more interesting and incredible. My cousin Bradley has brought me on the journey of a lifetime and while it involves sadness and loss over all I missed out on sharing as adults, it has been overwhelmingly positive as I've learned so much about incredible lives well-lived. Through Bradley's loving and loyal eyes, I have discovered Bob Rauschenberg, the significance of Bradley's relationship with him and her role in so many of his incredible accomplishments and worldwide travels since they met. For almost 30 years, she was Bob's right-hand woman, chief organizer and every other title that meant getting him where he wanted to be. Bradley took privacy, both Bob's and her own, very seriously. Bradley loved and protected Bob above all else and worked hard on many endeavors meant to ensure his legacy lives on and that his life-long support for the arts and artists continue. It was that clear wish that sent me and Lawrence on the hunt for Bradley's Rauschenberg collection. We used a listing of the art in her name from the Rauschenberg Foundation and went through everything in her condos as carefully as possible, documenting each piece we found. Sadly, we were unable to locate half of the pieces listed and we were running out of time. Just before the removal company came to clear out the condo to be listed for sale, I located the missing Rauschenberg's in the back of her closet; where their white backs had been mistaken as the wall. I have never felt such a sense of being directed from beyond. I like to believe that as we have navigated from losing Bradley through discovering her amazing life and relationships, her influence has made the pieces fall into place for this show. I feel gratitude to Bradley for each step our family can take to memorialize the incredibly important relationship between an artist and his trusted assistant. This story was posted on 2022-04-24 08:57:05
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