Parker, Lara 1942- (Mary Lamar Rickey)

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Parker, Lara 1942- (Mary Lamar Rickey)

PERSONAL:

Born October 27, 1942, in Knoxville, TN; married Jim Hawkins (a contractor and builder); children: (first marriage) Ricky, Andy; (second marriage) Caitlin. Education: Attended Vassar College; Southwestern at Memphis College, B.A.; University of Iowa, M.A., 2004.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Santa Monica, CA.

CAREER:

Actor. Appeared in television series, including Dark Shadows, Hawaii 5-0, Doctor's Hospital, Switch, Kung Fu, The Incredible Hulk, Remington Steele, and Galactica 1980. Appeared in television movies, including The Lazarus Syndrome, People Like Us, and Desperate Voyage. Faculty member at a college in Los Angeles.

WRITINGS:

Angelique's Descent, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1998.

The Salem Branch, Tor (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Lara Parker is best known for her portrayal of the witch Angelique on the daytime television horror series Dark Shadows, which aired from 1967 to 1971. Tied in with the series were thirty-two original paperback Dark Shadows novels, all written by Dan Ross. After a hiatus of more than two decades, HarperCollins decided to revive the Dark Shadows books, and asked Parker to write the first novel in the new series. She was an "inspired choice," according to Dark Shadows Journal writer Alan Hayes, because Angelique's Descent is "well written, engagingly plotted, entertaining and at times, quite simply impossible to put down." Especially notable to Hayes is Parker's sympathy for Angelique, who comes across as a whole, complex person instead of a stereotyped character. Parker, Hayes concluded, "has delivered an intelligent and entertaining book for a mature audience."

The story continues in The Salem Branch. Barnabas Collins, the vampire who had been Angelique's lover, has become human through a treatment invented by his new fiancée. At his country estate, where he goes to recover from the treatment's side effects, he encounters a young woman, Antoinette, who reminds him of Angelique. He also discovers evidence of a vampire. His efforts to protect himself and Antoinette from this threat lead him to a shocking discovery about Antoinette's real identity. Kristine Huntley, writing in Booklist, concluded that "fans of the show will find much to love in this yarn."