Memory is a tricky thing. Small details can burn brighter than some of life’s defining events. The act of recall and the power of suggestion can fundamentally alter the content of our recollections. Experiences that seem like they should be tattooed onto our psyches can be lost to time.

And memory can be selective. Whether that’s by conscious choice, subconscious bias, or pure forgetfulness varies based on a lot of potential factors. But memory’s selective nature is undeniable.

Take the adult film star Beth Anna. A striking beauty, she started out go-go dancing out on Long Island in the mid 1970s before being named one of the best strippers in New York. She wasn’t in the adult film industry long, making just a handful of films in the late 1970s. But in that short period Beth Anna made an impact. She was the lead in the first adult film she ever made, Chuck Vincent’s Dirty Lily (1978). She starred in Ann Perry’s Sweet Savage (1979) as Shy Dove, a Native American who falls in love with a cowboy. And she dated fellow adult actor Pepe Valentine, the pair briefly becoming the ‘it’ couple of porn.

So what does Beth Anna remember about her time in the industry? Well…it’s selective. Some of it’s on the tip of her tongue, as if it’s been waiting to be asked. Other experiences are more elusive – and whether they’re hiding or just neglected isn’t obvious.

In this episode of the Rialto Report, Beth Anna shares what she remembers about her time in the adult industry. And what she doesn’t is just as much a part of her story. When music critics laud Eric Clapton as one of the best rock guitarists of all time, he always says the same thing: listen for the space between the notes.

This podcast episode is 60 minutes long.
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