THE BEAT GOES ON
SANTA MONICA, CA— "The last official get-together I had with The Monkees was when they gave me a six dollar watch upon my retirement from the group", recalled Peter Tork, 34, the first to leave the TV super-group back in 1968. "They all chipped in, and even had it engraved.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Welcome Back, Peter
SANTA MONICA, CA— "The last official get-together I had with The Monkees was when they gave me a six dollar watch upon my retirement from the group", recalled Peter Tork, 34, the first to leave the TV supergroup back in 1968.
"They all chipped in, and even had it engraved. It read, 'To Peter from the guys at work' ".
Recalling the presentation, he feels, is the tyest way of summing up his days with The Monkees.
Since'then Tork has retaken his old name, Thorkelson, and is now teaching music, math, French, and politics at the Pacific Hills School in Santa Monica, California.
It is a loosely structured experimental academy for children.
His two children—Hallie, six, and Ivan, nine months, display little interest when it comes to Daddy's past pop fame.
"Whenever a Monkees program comes on TV Hallie usually goes out roller-skating leaving Barbara (his wife) and me to watch it alone.
"It doesn't get me down. Quite the reverse. It's a healthy attitude".
How does an ex-teen heartthrob land an academic job with no qualifications... something he's now returning to school for?