The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
This is a first-hand account on the life of a controversial show denizen to get to the very core of the person why she was the way she was.
The late irrepressible talent manager and entertainment columnist Lolit Solis was a colorful story in itself.
Laguna Province and its people—the Lagunenses—were witnesses in her rise to fame (or notoriety, depending on where one takes a view of her) and influence and the factors that went with them which were responsible in her gathering of fortune on her stead from her lower-class sensibilities to middle class sensitivities.
As a colleague, I am privileged to have seen and touched the humble beginnings of Lolit who I always referred to as Tita (a term of endearment to an older woman by affinity or an aunt by blood) in my verbal and written communications.
I was a Sampaloc Kid since 1971 when I entered college and eventually graduated in 1975.
Sampaloc, a district in Manila was and still is an old place in the city where it is sometimes defined as a melting pot of the National Capital Region (NCR) because of its multiregional migration from the provinces as it is within the university belt where diverse students from the regions congregate.
Sampaloc is also a historical place of the old rich in Manila like the Guidotes, the Alma Joses, the de la Rosas (yes, matinee idols and brothers Rogelio and Jaime de la Rosa were true-blue Sampaloc guys) etc.
It is likewise an area for pioneering city dwellers who originated from and outside of it.
Tita (a term of endearment to an elderly woman by affinity or an aunt by blood) Lolit lived in a modest yet almost decripit house in Lardizabal Street, a few meters away from MF Jhocson Street.
But no, Wikipedia isn't precise in describing her as one who lived in squatter's area for Lardizabal isn't slums but a residential stretch of new and worn-out structures, some plain abodes, others, apartments or board and lodging spaces.
As a matter of fact, the house where Tita Lolit stayed was surrounded with pots of plants and neatly hung curtains as I always passed by it.
According to her distant relative, the Solis property is still theirs.
Lagunense celebrities had resided and still residing in the vicinity like Pagsanjanense action star Dan Fernandez (yes, the former lawmaker from the Lone Congressional District of Santa Rosa) at the corner of MF Jhocson and Manrique when he was an Optometry student at CEU and when he was already an actor.
Joey Gamara (late singer and discoverer of actor and Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando) from Siniloan was a Sampaloc resident.
Pila's Pride Maverick Relova, the other of the comic duo Ariel & Maverick, lived in the vicinity of Nazareth School in Sampaloc as well as Majayjay's TV and movie actress Encar Benedicto who stayed near Forbes Street. Nazareth School was where Joey de Leon and Lolit were classmates.
Neighbors in Lardizabal were and still are almost all from towns of Laguna like Alaminos, Sta. Cruz, Liliw, San Pablo, Nagcarlan etc.
Most of them have witnessed the hard climb of Tita Lolit to popularity from being a family breadwinner to a hand-to-mouth existence brood, cub reporter, jeepney rider, among other menial and odd worker to owner of a big house in Fairview, celebrated columnist, car owner, high rated TV host, controversial and sought after talent manager of named stars with high paying fees etc.
One morning in the late 70s, I saw Tita Lolit at the Bustillos Market at the corner of Legarda and Earnshaw where she carried a huge box of goods and a basket of wet items.
She didn't take a tricycle but walked home carrying those items.
It was the time Tita Lolit coined the word "anda" which means money she asked straightforward from stars, producers, directors, scriptwriters and other showbiz denizens who could fork out dough for her.
Tita Lolit was indeed a high profile forerunner of “envelopmental journalism” in the biz.
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