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Article clipped from The Palm Beach Post

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Gilbert continued from Fl Playmate." She repeated it emphatically several times during our interviews. But in searching the inter-net, another Playmate's name kept surfacing: Dolores Donlon, Miss August 1957. If Donlon was alive, she would be 90, making Gilbert the second oldest living Playmate. Donlon's Wildpedia entry, and entries about her on Playboy.com and other sites, said nothing about her death. Every other Playmate of that era had either passed on, or had birth dates that made them younger than Gilbert. Of course, there is little to no verifiable information about Playboy centerfolds' actual birth dates, or deaths. (Even Gilbert admits she's fudged her age over the years.) Post staff researcher Melanie Mena also could find no evidence that Donlon was dead, so I broke the news to Gilbert that she might not be the oldest living centerfold and wrote the story that way. She was disappointed. "You're kidding," Gilbert said. "I'm surprised. How about that? I can't have my claim to fame." But the uncertainty kept nagging at me. Last week, when I Googled Donlon's A modeling shot from Neva Gilbert's early career. name again, a website came up that I hadn't seen before. It indicated Donlon had died, and that her last husband was named Fernando Mendez. Armed with that information, our researcher was able to find a brief obituary notice for Patricia Dolores Mendez, of Philadelphia. (Donlon's real name was Patricia Vaniver. She had also been a pinup model and appeared in some movies and TV shows in the '50s.) The obituary did not mention Playboy, but said she died five years ago, at the age of 92. On Tuesday, I called Fernando Mendez in Philadelphia, who graciously confirmed that Patricia Mendez was indeed Dolores Donlon, Neva Gilbert sometimes served as a model at trade shows, such as this in Los Angeles in the 19505. She said she was in the bubble bath all day. The sign on the tub reads: "Neva Gilbert Takes Her Softwater Bath Here!" PHOTOS COURTESY NEVA GILBERT the Playboy Playmate. "She passed in November 2012," he said. The next call was to Gilbert. "That's too much," she said with a big laugh, pleased that she once again had her "claim to fame." Since the original story came out, Gilbert said she's received nothing but positive comments from her neighbors and friends. "I got two letters from people I don't even know, who wished me well and told me how good I looked," she said. "It's just been delightful." She had talked about writing a memoir on her life and times, but admits she hasn't gotten very far. "I've been procrastinating all over the place," she said. But she wanted to know if we were planning to set the record straight: "Are you going to write one of those things, a correction?" Here it is, Neva. laydlettepbpost.com Twitter: LarryAydlette ....... ,. . .,. , ...,.. . , .. ------,---.-,. ,..,--,'1.,....,- 3912. W. A StUSON AVE. -: ''''' "--: 7'; I'? '' Ilia -...,,,,,..r,H ,;. ..: K ),., ,,,,:,,,f, AN...3.527, - 1 ,r..5., F. :,.. ' i -!,..- (!far, OM pk.. r!-L -7"tr. IN ar ,r, Lr, ,, - ... .' '.. -- - : i :: '----". 1 .. . . 'it..., ! .. : i : i - : . 1 i , ,..- . .: . . . . . ...-r . -.."' ,-...,--- S kali I P is.A E NI r. . tl: , . ' L'it'',' 1 , ,.. ' .1 't ::i,',:-, . ---'..:' :IIIP.-V 1 L ' ..iii. 1; ;. "I - -'' f I 11' r . 1 , ! .. , 7k If. .. .1, . ,-;... ,. . t , ' . 1. I I ,,,H''-',... i f - : : -.., .... , ,- ' .. 1 1 ' . : - i: AL .. -' ' 4',1 1 - .- - - ' ' 1 . .. . .1.11:C.7 ',.iP . . ... - N. - gki' iii;t1 . .. --77-71.3101--- -- ''''' pm; , ifh , e ..iier gAii,' . L ..,...... ' ..17..:' ..7.1..ki'l . Ho. Q,,. .. ovot ,,..I. ,,..iv; .. ,...1111, . . . ...,.,.. 7 -., ..., .7--..-H,,,: 40..Z7L,t 4. ':'.' i-;? E. . . , 1.;:.'''' 7-- '-'- ........, ; ...:,-- .5,, --- - VI AN; 1 Y:4,,.:54 ' -- . : - -. ' -, --,1 . --1 ' - ,.' --i, - i;".--,, --.,... '''1,0,,, .. ., , . . 4 die .-i,-.,,),,, -.17744-e. - ,:ctip.- .,,...-. - 4... , g 0. . . .,.. f.54-ii. . 4 ! ,, .5' -f,-... r,-,,,, ,,.k, -- i, ' -...4 ,.' .!1'.vi a 5. ---" 'ri Air "k ', L 1.:''' -,- :-1 '- 4 . , -:: : s'14. - - -. ',- 1ji, ' -, . . .' , ...L ,d(k.-- , ).. 1 ..) ...,, ... ''''At 1 -..", ,..i.-r- , .-',.y',:,. ' ., ... ' ' ''-.., ... . 1 Nosm.,0;! -',4',-; ' . .,.. . , . ..; 4!.;..,'!- - -,! ---,...:.-.-,:,,, , . ' 0....g..! ' ' ' fs .; 4., Aill 4tr-l--' ----:-.:111An . -, . -.., l pir ' 4,-,i,, 1 .., 4, i -, , -I... ,a,k.,L.,: 417:Ai ,.,, t.4:..,. - . ,'"z --; , . ,,, , Ilk,. , .. ' : 4 ; 11 --'.....:1 ', ' . Zit, , , - -.........r''.., , vall.M.1110-'L ,. , - --,, Jowl- . .. .-' . -- .. .... -;'...'- '7 -;..e. ---- - '''. - .7..- ----.-AzTóigl 4- 4---.2...-, ' , ' ,..t..4-1k, 4 ." -''''.;--.7..-..19 .0v. '..--,- . . ,:-.. ... -,t 4. -r----' , -, i ' ' -,- - , , ,.. C'. g ... .- , -:ir--,----;-'111110 k . , ,, ,, ,Ez,.. ,....,,.,,:.,..,,, ,... ,,, ,..,.,,.,,..,,,, ...,, ,(Lf-.N. L. - L-,,, 14164e:ill 3:, - ,.
Article from 05 Feb 2017The Palm Beach Post(West Palm Beach, FL)
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