In 1998 or so, Bianca told Dimitri about how she missed Mona's corned beef and cabbage, that it was Bianca's great Aunt's recipe, maybe? It was some extended family member of Mona's, and this person was Irish. This would have been February 1998. So Mona was apparently of Irish descent, but I don't think her extended family was ever really explored, which is a shame.

In my mind, I made up the backstory of Mona coming from a large family -- one headed by her father, a minister -- who largely shunned her for marrying Eric, who had been a member of an acting troupe that passed through her hometown. Very William Inge-esque but (I felt at the time) it might have explained a few things.

My thing was always that Mona had a brother who was shunned for marrying a black girl. Their grandson appears in Pine Valley and becomes part of the Kane fold.

I think I would rather see that than Onyx Kane.

In my mind, I made up the backstory of Mona coming from a large family -- one headed by her father, a minister -- who largely shunned her for marrying Eric, who had been a member of an acting troupe that passed through her hometown. Very William Inge-esque but (I felt at the time) it might have explained a few things.

Mona's family could have been killed when she was younger or they could have turned their backs on her when she and Eric divorced - being a single mother wasn't exactly common or socially acceptable in the late 50s/early 60s.

Mona's family could have been killed when she was younger or they could have turned their backs on her when she and Eric divorced - being a single mother wasn't exactly common or socially acceptable in the late 50s/early 60s.

This is true.

Oh, there was so much to explore with Mona and Eric's backgrounds. Are we even sure Kane was his real surname, or was it merely his "stage name"? I would like to think his REAL last name was "Kanisky," which might make Erica at least partially Polish.

I kind of love that. Reminds me of what I've read about WASP princess Iris learning that her biological mother was the (heavily inferred, but not outright stated) Jewish Sylvie Kosloff.

I'd like to hear more from Agnes Nixon about her interest in the single mother/daughter relationship she seemed fond of: Mona/Erica, Ada/Rachel, Sadie/Carla, Kate/Ava...

I had always assumed it was because so many mothers and daughters watch these shows and AN, along with others, wanted to give them characters they could identify with.

And now that I think of it, she's been candid about her own strained relationship with her father. I wonder if she chose to explore that dynamic with the father figure in absentia.

Loved WOST! Having been obsessed with tv themes all my life, and especially soap openings and closings, I visited the site daily and was there until the very end. The community of posters was the best then and hasn't been matched since IMO. Spirited, passionate, and educated commentary that is sorely missed.

I never realized Agnes had a strained relationship with Mr. Eckhardt, but I guess it makes sense. Didn't he try to sabotage her first meeting with Irna? Something about how the only reason he set it up was so that Irna could tell her she had no talent. They showed him!

I think Agnes alluded to something about her relationship with her father when she was interviewed for Jeff Giles's OLTL book. She said she knew what it was like to have a domineering father like Viki Lord's.

I've got to get that book. Yeah, she talked about her relationship with her father in her Lifetime Intimate Portrait (special appearance by Miss Ellen Holly).

Sedrick, long time no see!

Wasn't Agnes supposedly working on her memoirs at one point?

Yes, Agnes said in the Lifetime Intimate Portrait that her father was largely absent from her life as a child, and that she spent a lot of her time making up stories and acting them out with her dolls and paper dolls and the like. Erica's bad relationship with her father - minus the creepy rape retcon - was based on Agnes' relationship with her own father.