THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605100057
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Jennifer Dzuira
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
A FRENCH GRAMMAR book once used by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was sold recently at Sotheby's in New York for $42,500. Her berry spoons fetched $8,500. Her daughter's footstool, $29,000.
Jackie Onassis died in 1994. Since then, her children, Caroline and John F. Kennedy Jr., have picked through every letter opener and soup ladle of the estate. Some of her possessions they kept; some went to the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. The rest, including the desk on which Kennedy signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, went up for auction.
Collectors searching for remnants of Camelot, offered fistfuls of cash for memorabilia that Jackie's children didn't want. The moral here is that if you're famous and you die, people will want your stuff.
For example, say that you become fantastically famous. After your death, you may leave children behind. Eventually, these children may come to the realization that some guy wants to buy your plastic spatula for $74,000. Therefore, the best legacy you can leave your children is to save everything.
The grocery list you made yesterday and the complimentary bottle of shampoo you swiped from that hotel could someday draw crowds at an auction block. Don't even think about throwing away your elementary school report cards.
The only drawback to this plan is that it doesn't work until you die. But, before you do, enjoy the rest of this column. With the help of Norfolk Academy senior Sameer ``Stubby'' Pal, I've prepared a list of the 10 Best Sale Items at Sotheby's, all of which I'm sure will become available just as soon as their owners cease to function. Here goes:
10. The Unabomber's Post Office receipts
9. Madonna's maternity bustier
8. Timothy Leary's stamp collection
7. Marcel Marceau's Chatty Cathy doll
6. The original birth certificate of the artist formerly known as Prince
5. Captain Picard's teacup
4. Charles Manson's first jar of red finger paint
3. Steve Forbes' Monopoly Set
2. Alanis Morissette's United Artists gift certificates
1. The joint Clinton didn't inhale
Fame certainly has its perks. In all honesty, however, do you really want someone peering too closely at that little bracelet you were wearing when you came home from the hospital? Probably not. But, even so, I'm going to start saving personal possessions for my children - like my autographed copy of this column that some sap with a checkbook may someday just have to have for his own. MEMO: Jennifer Dzuira is a Cox High School senior who will attend Dartmouth
College next fall.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Jennifer Dzuira
by CNB