The Luckiest Girl in the World

Here in Los Angeles my family only had one relative – my Aunt Francie.

By the time my sisters and I came into the picture her parents were deceased and she only had one sister still living, who lived in Northern California.

As I like to say she was ours and we were hers.

So every holiday was spent at Francie’s house if it'd be Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving or Christmas. She always made us lemonade from her Meyer lemon tree and she always used this glass pitcher. Because of my aunt I can make a really good pitcher of lemonade with just the right amount of tart and sweet.

Any trained actor will tell you the most important element of being a good actor is listening. I remember being five years old and no matter what I was sharing with her she listened intently to everything I had to say and had this wonderful conversation with me. In her eyes my sisters and I were never little children that could be easily dismissed. Talk about being spoiled at a young age. I always listen to what my friends have to say and they are always telling me I have the memory of a steel trap and I swear I got this trait because of her.

Francie never played with my sisters and I or got in the pool with us but we never expected her to. She was the quintessential hostess with her pitcher of lemonade and the makings for a martini or a bloody mary on standby in the kitchen.

Her dining room table always had tapered candles and placemats in colors appropriate for the holiday and she cooked everything without ever opening a cookbook. If you asked her what she put in a wonderful casserole she made, she would say, “Oh just a little of this and a little of that.”

So this blog entry pays tribute to the greatest Aunt a child could ever have.

More About My Photographic Series

I told you a little bit about my new photographic series last week.

I started working on the series yesterday and wanted to share this image with you.

My Great Aunt Frances Reid owned her home in Brentwood from 1968-2010 (42 years) and since she passed away our family has to sell her home.

In a perfect world I would be able to twirl a magic wand and have the home stay exactly like it is forever -- a museum of sorts. But since that is not possible I thought it was appropriate that I photograph the home. Not so much the rooms but the little things.

My Aunt Francie had a wonderful book collection so I thought it was important to photograph it.

My dear friend Ron Marasco came over yesterday and we went through all of her theatre books. Ron helped me tremendously figure out what was a rare treasure and what was as he calls it "readily available." I could not have done it without him.

In going through the books yesterday we found a book that belonged to choreographer Jerome Robbins (dated 1946), a book signed by playwright Moss Hart given to Francie's husband actor Philip Bourneuf and a script with a note from film/theatre director Elia Kazan.

I cannot wait to share more of this project with you.

New Photographic Series

I am starting to work on a new photographic series. A little info (or maybe more like a tease)

-- It has huge time constraints
-- It is probably one of the most personal projects I will ever work on

Intrigued?

More next week..........

Frances Reid

Most of the time I separate my professional and personal life but sometimes the lines blur and the death of my Great Aunt Frances Reid is one of those times.

The world knew her as Alice Horton on DAYS OF OUR LIVES but to me she was Aunt Francie. I could go on and on with ridiculously funny stories of things she would say to us when we were kids and someday I'll share some of those stories.

In the television world she was the quintessential grandmother and in real life she was anything but. Funny how what's real and what's on television can be so different.

I have always been the archivist and historian in my family. I'm not sure if that has to do with my love of photography or just that I am an incredibly nostalgic person by nature.

This is one of my favorite early photographs of Francie. I have no idea who took the photograph or what year it was.

As things pop in my head or photographs of her come out of boxes in my house there will be more blog entries.