This time we'll focus on a brief career in the clothing industry. This was the late '60s, a time for change and social upheaval. Where was Mr. Link you ask? Why, he was wrapped up in a bundle of narcissism, celebrating an unrelenting hedonistic lifestyle.
This was, of course, helped along by the first Mrs. Link (Gladys Manishevitz). It began in 1964 with tea dances at Miami's La Gorce Country Club and hanging out with her mod friends. One of those friends, Verna Buffington-Smythe first suggested to Gladys that Mr. Link meet with her photog acquaintance, Billy Snaps.
Mr. Link, having no usable skills to speak of, looked at this as his attempt to break free of rural West Palm Beach (no coconut farming for him!). With only his high school class photo (see below), he and Gladys went to Billy Snaps office in Miami.
Suncoast High School - 9th GradeOf course, no matter who you know, you have to start at the bottom. From the archives of Billy Snaps comes Mr. Link's first ad for Chapstick:
The 1966 Chapstick ad was Mr. Link's launching pad to success. It was on to the good things in life: Norwegian beer, Cuban cigars, Canadian bacon, and Swedish models. One Swedish model in particular, Tova Benvik, would be a factor in rerouting Mr. Link's life.
After three years of living in a swirl of the jet set lifestyle, his fame and fortune came to a head in 1969. Where was the long-suffering Mrs. Link? She could no longer share Mr. Link with the rest of the world, so she divorced herself from him and his ego. The word on the street is that along with the settlement came "hush money". The hush money concerned incriminating polaroids, taken by an enterprising drifter named Hoji, of Ms. Benvik and Mr. Link "partying" on Panama City Beach.
Below, is Mr. Link's last photo taken by Billy Snaps in 1969. Ahh, the arrogance of celebrity. Here we have Mr. Link mocking the working man. Wrapped up in his full-length, sable, man-fur, taunting the blue collar worker. Vanity, thy name is Mr. Link. Smug SOB!
After three years of living in a swirl of the jet set lifestyle, his fame and fortune came to a head in 1969. Where was the long-suffering Mrs. Link? She could no longer share Mr. Link with the rest of the world, so she divorced herself from him and his ego. The word on the street is that along with the settlement came "hush money". The hush money concerned incriminating polaroids, taken by an enterprising drifter named Hoji, of Ms. Benvik and Mr. Link "partying" on Panama City Beach.
Below, is Mr. Link's last photo taken by Billy Snaps in 1969. Ahh, the arrogance of celebrity. Here we have Mr. Link mocking the working man. Wrapped up in his full-length, sable, man-fur, taunting the blue collar worker. Vanity, thy name is Mr. Link. Smug SOB!
