Search Salon

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Recently in Salon People

People Feature
Mutts: Praising the purity of the impure
The true champions are nowhere to be found at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
By Jean Hanff Korelitz
[02/14/00]

Nothing Personal
In the Buffy
Has Sarah Michelle Gellar become a vamp naysayer? Would a flying rock by any other name smell like perfume? In a world full of uncertainty, one thing's for sure ... three hours of Roberto Benigni at the Oscars are three hours too many.
By Amy Reiter
[02/14/00]

Obituary
Cartoonist Charles Schulz dies at 77
"Peanuts" made its debut in 1950 and eventually ran in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries.
By Mary Ann Lickteig
[02/13/00]

People Feature
Snubdance: The musical
The story is just like any other, except it's very cold. And people eat each other.
By David Goodman
[02/11/00]

Nothing Personal
Hell, 90210
Aaron Spelling shares special moments with starlets; is Kevin Costner Catherine Zeta-Jonesing or just following her around? And Neve vs. Jamie Lee ... she who screams last?
By Amy Reiter
[02/11/00]

Complete archives for People

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - -

With so much divorce and adultery and couples waving their dirty laundry on talk shows, someone has to polish the image of a tainted institution. During the pageant, five couples compete in Western and evening wear and are grilled about what makes their marriage so special. Fluffy-covered albums with photos and love tokens account for 15 percent of their final score. Mr. and Mrs. California are automatically penalized because "no one told them to bring a scrapbook." The winning couple must sign a contract stating they won't separate or divorce in the next year.

"At first I was hesitant to enter because I thought, 'Gosh, we're not perfect,'" says Mr. California, Kenny Bray. "But the judges are just looking for a wholesome, down-to-earth couple to promote the values of marriage." Kenny and his wife, Wendy, have been married for five years and finish each other's sentences. Both have names that end in "y" and both look like they stepped off a Wheaties box. Kenny works for an airline and Wendy studies behavioral science. "I'm the envy of all my friends," she gushes. "Every Sunday I get strawberries in bed, and when I'm taking a shower, Kenny warms up my robe in the dryer. The best part is, we don't have to watch football on Sundays." Though it was fun being single, Wendy likes having "a husband who loves me no matter what -- even on that bad-hair day."

David and Karin Jenkins, Mr. and Mrs. Florida, were voted "cutest couple" by their seventh-grade class. On the first day of sixth grade, Karin came home and opened the yearbook. "David Jenkins," she murmured, tapping his photo. "That's the boy I'm going to marry." "Mmm," her mother replied. "And how was lunch, dear?" David composed a love letter to Karin during study hall:

Dear Karen, do you like me, I mean more than a friend!?! I like you more than a friend!?! Write back and answer all questions!

The note is included in their album, which is decorated in satin with seashells in the shape of a heart. The Jenkins and their two children model for Disney Studios as the company's "token white family." In fact, they went to Disney World for their honeymoon. They own a wedding and pageant consultation business: Karin does makeup and David does hairstyles and designs the clothes (he created Karin's pageant gowns). They also teach a marriage enrichment class. The Jenkins competed in America's Perfect Couple 1995. "We want to promote marriage and it's cool that this event celebrates marriage," Mr. Florida says. "If we could just touch one couple with a spark that might save their relationship, that would be really cool."

Roger and Cathy Carpenter, Mr. and Mrs. Kentucky, began a pen pal romance when she was 15. He'd dated one of her seven sisters before joining the Navy. "My mother should have been worried," Cathy says. "I was 15 with a 21-year-old sailor at my junior prom. But Roger was more of a gentleman than the Randy Andies I'd dated before. He's just a good ol' country boy," she adds, looking wistfully at the lanky man she married a month after high school graduation. Roger is an electrician whom everyone calls "the cowboy" because of the multigallon hats he wears. Cathy manages the family business with their 18-year-old daughter, Christella, who was recently named Miss Teen America. Christella is 5-9 (5-7 of that is legs) with strawberry blond hair. Under the application question, "What is your best asset?" Cathy wrote "my husband." Roger wrote "my wife."

"The word 'perfect' is intimidating," Cathy admits. "God may have someone for everyone, but you still have to do some of the work." Cathy is a Baptist. A halo would seem more fitting than a crown atop her cotton-candy hair. She claims she and Roger have never had a fight. "Well," she pauses, "an argument is the closest we've come to a fight. My mother always said, 'Never let the sun go down on your wrath.'" Roger strums guitar and serenades his wife with a song he wrote 32 years ago. It goes something like this: "She's got pretty green eyes and the sweetest smile, beautiful red hair that drives me wild, lips like honey, oh me oh my, I'm a lucky guy."

This marriage is the second round for Roger and Whitney Broach, Mr. and Mrs. Texas. He was divorced, and she was a widow. She has luminescent green eyes that never blink. She works as a paralegal and does tattoo removal and permanent cosmetics in a room that adjoins Roger's law office. "My first husband was abusive and I vowed I would never marry again," Whitney whispers in a petite voice. "But 20 minutes after meeting Roger, I knew he was a genius. And he's fantastic in bed," she adds, without batting a permanently lined lid. They eloped to Vegas on a very low budget. After spending $25 on a marriage license, Whitney talked a chapel owner into marrying them for $12. The honeymoon was dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

While Roger was recovering from heart surgery, Whitney averaged four hours of sleep in order to care for his clients as well as her patients. She wants to remove gang tattoos in exchange for ex-gangsters' performing community service. If they win, Whitney and Roger plan to visit women in shelters and prisons to illustrate that not all marriages are bad.

Next page | Key to the perfect marriage: A hot tub