Post by dreamer on Jan 22, 2007 17:42:33 GMT -5
An insider's view of Kate Hepburn at home benefits arts center project
By Donna Doherty - 11/18/2006
OLD SAYBROOK – Katharine Hepburn hated to eat out in restaurants, either when at her Fenwick waterfront home in Old Saybrook or her 49th Street townhouse in Manhattan.
One of the reasons was because she had a cook and housekeeper at home who fulfilled her every wish and that of the many guests she entertained in both homes over the decades she lived in them. That woman was Norah Considine, who began her tenure in the Hepburn household in 1972, and ended it when the legendary actress died in 2003.
The story, from the vantage point of her daughter Eileen Considine-Meara- one of Considine's five children who all became friends of the famous actress - is told in the new book, "At Home with Kate: Growing Up in Katharine Hepburn's Household" (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., $24.95). The author will sign books today from 1 to 4 p.m. at Acton Public Library, from which all book-sale proceeds will go to the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center project.
Elaine Staplins, co-chair of the Capital Campaign Committee for the center, had suggested Meara come to an earlier summer fund-raiser, but she was unable to. The book introduction "seemed perfect," says Meara. "I'm delighted."
Meara, a human resources associate at the New York City financial management firm of Shenkman Capital Management, mother of three, and wife of New York firefighter Thomas, had never written before, but she does a more-than-admirable job of capturing in breezy conversational language just what it was like to be among the inner circle of the feisty actress.
She nicely weaves in biographical information about both families with a who's who of visitors, anecdotes about dozens of stars from many generations, such as Warren Beatty, Sidney Poitier, Jane Fonda, Martina Navratilova, Barbara Walters, with never-before-seen photos, many copies of personal notes to and from Hepburn and many of Hepburn's favorite recipes as prepared by Meara's mom.
The chapter about Hepburn's first dinner and eventual friendship with Michael Jackson is fascinating and funny. Especially moving is the final chapter of both the book and Hepburn's life, called "Letting Go."
"I grew up in many respects with free access to her brownstone in New York, starting at age 10," Meara said by phone from New York. "It was a lively, very happy place. I think I was very lucky to have had those experiences. You only realize it after the fact, when you say I wish I had done this or done that."
Considine, who is in Florida for the winter, "was definitely nervous about the book," says Meara, "but my mother and I have a good relationship. I'd wanted to do something that pleases her, but you also have to tell the truth. At the end of the day, I think she's pleased. It's a nice record of the days there."
Hepburn was a parsimonious Yankee, set in her ways and fully aware of her status as Hollywood royalty, although she eschewed living in California for her native New England, and the family home in Fenwick on Long Island Sound. It was after she died that the idea for the book came about, though Hepburn friends like gossip columnist had urged Meara to do something with her mother's recipes.
When Sotheby's held an auction of Hepburn's belongings, Town & Country magazine asked Meara to put together a "down-home kind of cookbook" with recipes and anecdotes for its private party. They served that food and passed out the handmade books at the event, which attracted many celebrities. Meara was later put in touch with literary agents Jane Dystel and Miriam Goderich, who guided her through the year-long writing process for the expanded book.
Hepburn hated change. "She put something down somewhere and it stayed there for 40 years," says Meara. "It was a lesson for me to see how Kate Hepburn lived at home. As I grow older, I think we're all interested in family, houses and rushing, rushing, but I look at her life and the things that were important to her and they were family and friends. She was very loyal."
And she loved sweets, especially Considine's lace cookies and brownies from a Hepburn family recipe, asking Considine to keep a supply of both in the house and for gift tins.
While Meara is well aware of all the Hepburn books out there, she never set out to do a "warts-and-all" version. She has read all of them because, "You always want to keep abreast of them, and sometimes I'd be hmm, that's not true, or where'd they get that. ... So many people purported to know Kate Hepburn and what her plans were," she says. "I just wanted to say what she was like at home. It's a safe harbor, and it always should be. I think that's where the true person comes out."
The person Meara paints is one who treated the household help as if they were family, generously remembering birthdays, births, stepping in when illness or personal problems needed addressing. Meara came to find out that Hepburn actually gave her mother her hip bone when she had hip-replacement surgery. Considine eventually gave it back to the family.
"I think Kate Hepburn would be pleased with this book," she says. "I hope she would be, because that was my intention. She was an extraordinary lady, and I wanted to pay tribute to that."
www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17486096&BRD=1773&PAG=461&dept_id=30987&rfi=8
By Donna Doherty - 11/18/2006
OLD SAYBROOK – Katharine Hepburn hated to eat out in restaurants, either when at her Fenwick waterfront home in Old Saybrook or her 49th Street townhouse in Manhattan.
One of the reasons was because she had a cook and housekeeper at home who fulfilled her every wish and that of the many guests she entertained in both homes over the decades she lived in them. That woman was Norah Considine, who began her tenure in the Hepburn household in 1972, and ended it when the legendary actress died in 2003.
The story, from the vantage point of her daughter Eileen Considine-Meara- one of Considine's five children who all became friends of the famous actress - is told in the new book, "At Home with Kate: Growing Up in Katharine Hepburn's Household" (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., $24.95). The author will sign books today from 1 to 4 p.m. at Acton Public Library, from which all book-sale proceeds will go to the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center project.
Elaine Staplins, co-chair of the Capital Campaign Committee for the center, had suggested Meara come to an earlier summer fund-raiser, but she was unable to. The book introduction "seemed perfect," says Meara. "I'm delighted."
Meara, a human resources associate at the New York City financial management firm of Shenkman Capital Management, mother of three, and wife of New York firefighter Thomas, had never written before, but she does a more-than-admirable job of capturing in breezy conversational language just what it was like to be among the inner circle of the feisty actress.
She nicely weaves in biographical information about both families with a who's who of visitors, anecdotes about dozens of stars from many generations, such as Warren Beatty, Sidney Poitier, Jane Fonda, Martina Navratilova, Barbara Walters, with never-before-seen photos, many copies of personal notes to and from Hepburn and many of Hepburn's favorite recipes as prepared by Meara's mom.
The chapter about Hepburn's first dinner and eventual friendship with Michael Jackson is fascinating and funny. Especially moving is the final chapter of both the book and Hepburn's life, called "Letting Go."
"I grew up in many respects with free access to her brownstone in New York, starting at age 10," Meara said by phone from New York. "It was a lively, very happy place. I think I was very lucky to have had those experiences. You only realize it after the fact, when you say I wish I had done this or done that."
Considine, who is in Florida for the winter, "was definitely nervous about the book," says Meara, "but my mother and I have a good relationship. I'd wanted to do something that pleases her, but you also have to tell the truth. At the end of the day, I think she's pleased. It's a nice record of the days there."
Hepburn was a parsimonious Yankee, set in her ways and fully aware of her status as Hollywood royalty, although she eschewed living in California for her native New England, and the family home in Fenwick on Long Island Sound. It was after she died that the idea for the book came about, though Hepburn friends like gossip columnist had urged Meara to do something with her mother's recipes.
When Sotheby's held an auction of Hepburn's belongings, Town & Country magazine asked Meara to put together a "down-home kind of cookbook" with recipes and anecdotes for its private party. They served that food and passed out the handmade books at the event, which attracted many celebrities. Meara was later put in touch with literary agents Jane Dystel and Miriam Goderich, who guided her through the year-long writing process for the expanded book.
Hepburn hated change. "She put something down somewhere and it stayed there for 40 years," says Meara. "It was a lesson for me to see how Kate Hepburn lived at home. As I grow older, I think we're all interested in family, houses and rushing, rushing, but I look at her life and the things that were important to her and they were family and friends. She was very loyal."
And she loved sweets, especially Considine's lace cookies and brownies from a Hepburn family recipe, asking Considine to keep a supply of both in the house and for gift tins.
While Meara is well aware of all the Hepburn books out there, she never set out to do a "warts-and-all" version. She has read all of them because, "You always want to keep abreast of them, and sometimes I'd be hmm, that's not true, or where'd they get that. ... So many people purported to know Kate Hepburn and what her plans were," she says. "I just wanted to say what she was like at home. It's a safe harbor, and it always should be. I think that's where the true person comes out."
The person Meara paints is one who treated the household help as if they were family, generously remembering birthdays, births, stepping in when illness or personal problems needed addressing. Meara came to find out that Hepburn actually gave her mother her hip bone when she had hip-replacement surgery. Considine eventually gave it back to the family.
"I think Kate Hepburn would be pleased with this book," she says. "I hope she would be, because that was my intention. She was an extraordinary lady, and I wanted to pay tribute to that."
www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17486096&BRD=1773&PAG=461&dept_id=30987&rfi=8