Annette has passed. Apparently she has been under hospice care. I'm not sure of age but I'm guessing around 70.

Annette closed her doll shop in Westminster here in SoCal many years ago and moved to Oregon. I bought almost all my Genes and fashions from her for years. Annette was instrumental in starting the first Gene Fan Club here in SoCal which went on to produce the first Gene Convention in Hollywood.

A group of us splintered off from that original group as we didn't want to be involved in convention planning at that stage. We called ourselves "The Hollywood Exiles" and we got together on a fairly regular basis. To this day many of us still gather to celebrate our favorite doll and each other. "Gene - Famous" members of the Exiles which originally numbered around a dozen are: AD Designers Lynne Day, Vince Nowell, Sean LaBlanc, and "Bob Lange".

I'll be forever grateful to Annette for introducing me to Gene but even more grateful for facilitating introductions to lifelong friends.