Tis the season for “Santa Baby”. The song. My mother (Eartha Kitt) first recorded that song, written by Joan Javits and Phil Springer, in 1953 with Henri René and his Orchestra. It quickly became a huge hit and she re-recorded it on several more albums. She never grew tired of singing it, and her fans […]
“A person is born twice. First, at birth, and then again, when his mother dies.” I heard Rufus Wainright say that on a recent CBS Sunday Morning show. That statement rang so true for me that I had to pause and write it down. I now re-read it daily as I embark on a new […]
Since my mother died, Mother’s Day has been filled with mixed emotions, celebrating my life as a mother, while longing for my own. The greatest gift my mother gave me was knowing that she always loved me. All the more remarkable, because as a child, love was something she never had. Sometimes, I felt that […]
As my mother, Eartha Kitt, neared the end of her life, it often amazed me how she would frequently state that she had no regrets. She had lived a truly incredible life, always followed her gut, stayed true to herself and relished every second of the journey. She felt she was complete. Had done what […]
My mother (Eartha Kitt) walked into the room when I was almost done with my task. She quietly came and sat on the floor beside me. Slowly and meticulously, she reached and picked up each and every one of the discarded petals with one hand and laid them down, ever so delicately, in the palm […]
The California home my mother Eartha Kitt purchased in 1957, had been the converted horse stable of an old estate. The names of the horses even remained above their stall doors. She used that in her argument with the city to allow her to keep chickens in the aviary that still stood as part of […]
Eartha Kitt at home. From South Carolina to Beverly Hills My mother Eartha Kitt would talk about her days picking cotton when she was a young girl in South Carolina. She earned a dollar a day for a pound and she never forgot how very hard that was. Long hot days and prickly bushes often […]
Many people don’t realize how ‘simply’ my mother Eartha Kitt lived. Even living in the heart of Beverly Hills, CA, my mother was true to her name (Yes, Eartha was her given name) and we had chickens, roosters and a vegetable garden. Now, remember, this was in the 1960’s, way before it was ‘chic’, ‘cool’ […]