SOMETHING ABOUT MARY

Zapwater has a fairly mobile office and it’s not uncommon to hop around from office to office for a change of scenery. Luckily, there are some pretty fascinating people that work here and there is always something new to learn about the person one desk away. Stephanie Poquette likes to collect vintage books and Michael Corrigan was once a roller-coaster enthusiast. Who knew?

But when I was presented with the question, “what is something not a lot of people know about you,” I had to stop and think.

When it comes down to it, I don’t have a wacky hobby or crazy curated collection. What I do have is a profound appreciation of and fascination with Marilyn Manson. Yes, the controversial rock star that fancies himself half glamour goddess and half American criminal. (Don’t jump to conclusions; I share a similar affinity for Britney Spears and Phil Collins.) Call it pre-teen rebellion, but back in 1996 something about him caught my attention and has held it since. Picture an eleven-year-old girl decorating her school locker with a picture of the less than handsome rocker. Imagine my mother’s concern when a school mate let me borrow a copy of the latest Marilyn Manson CD. She took one look at the lyric sheet and demanded I return it the following day.

Then in the winter of 2000, Marilyn Manson announced a show at an exhibition hall in Peoria. Seeing as my mother would not allow me to go alone and none of my friends could identify, my sister Erin offered to come to the show with me. We certainly were not the typical Marilyn Manson concert-goers. As an attempt to not be a poser but also not stick out like a sore thumb, I wore boots, jeans, a gray sweater and a winter coat. I outfit blended in just fine, but I’m pretty sure my smiling face gave me away. Erin and I stayed safely on the outskirts of the crowd, just close enough to witness his infamous stilts. In the end, nothing outrageous occurred, just some Goths rocking out to loud music.

Come 2011, I’ve swapped my Rolling Stone magazine photos with pictures of my friends and family and my concert list includes David Gray and Ray Lamontagne.

But just a few weeks ago I added some old Marilyn Manson CDs to my iTunes (my mom is cool with me owning them now) and I still let out a small shriek when beautiful people comes on the radio…or the Marc Jacobs 2011 F/W runway show.

Mary Doyle Senior Publicist