Life as a warning to others

There's a quote from somewhere to the effect that "may your life serve as a warning to others." That quote kept coming back to me after Anna Nichole Smith died.

After a flurry of publicity surrounding the birth of her daughter, followed immediately by the suspicious death of her son, Anna Nicole pulled off the biggest publicity stunt she ever could by her own death. She couldn't have planned it better.

Anna Nicole will forever be remembered as a ditzy blonde who was an exotic dancer and posed nude for Playboy. She wanted to be like Marilyn Monroe and developed her "look" to emulate the late actress. She was like her in death too, dying suddenly, at a young age, the cause of death a mystery. Reportedly her nurse, shades of Marilyn's housekeeper, didn't call 911 right away when she found Anna Nicole unconscious and unresponsive, and didn't do any CPR - waiting instead for the paramedics to do it. Can't help but wonder if a Kennedy is going to surface somewhere amidst all the hoopla.

Having no discernible, marketable skills, Anna Nicole parlayed her sexiness into marriage with a rich old man. You do what you can.

She starred a TV program that focused on Anna Nicole being Anna Nicole. Nice work if you can get it.

Then, having exhausted all her resources, she dropped dead. It may be the end of Anna Nicole Smith, but it isn't the end of the saga. In death, as in life, Anna Nicole is serving as a warning to others.

Three men claim to be the father of her infant daughter. All three are willing to submit DNA to prove it. How could a ditzy bimbo like Anna Nicole find three men who are so devoted to fatherhood? A lot of unmarried mothers no doubt are wondering that after hearing "are you sure it's mine?" and chasing after child support money. It's tempting to wonder if -after what you know will be years of litigation and lawyer fees, it is determined that young Dannielynn is as penniless as a high school dropout who has to get work as a stripper - how long it will take paternal concern to fly out the window.

A warning to others. Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, who claims to be the baby's father, told a news source that he had an affair with Anna Nicole because she was a very sexy woman and sex with her was at the top of - what? All possibilities? Not because he loved her, not because she cared for him - and from all indications, she cared for and trusted very few - but because having her was something to brag about.

Not that he's any great prize. He is willing to dump his wife to bring in a baby who apparently has more money. Doesn't say much for marriage, but then again Zsa Zsa - an Anna Nicole precursor - always took it rather lightly herself. It's just that now that she's 90, who's going to take care of her in her senior years?

What a mark Anna Nicole has left for posterity. Pretty impressive for a ditzy blonde. Here's hoping that she's resting in the peace that she could never have in this life.