Monday, June 30, 2008

Jamie Lee Curtis, the "Take Action" Author/Actor/Mom



Listening to Jamie Lee Curtis address the audience at the PLA President's Program was an invigorating and stimulating experience. Her energy, enthusiasm, and spirited form engaged and enthralled the audience for over an hour. Jamie Lee based her address today on family values. This may seem "old fashioned" or moralistically didactic, but it was not so. She wowed the librarians in attendance with her real-life stories, demonstrations of her work ethic, and snapshots of her impressions of our society in moral decline.

Pornography, espoused Jamie, is much too easy for our children to find. It permeates our society, making our children vulnerable to its exposure. "Where are parents today?" Jamie Lee asks. Why do they find it so difficult to set limits? Is it the parents, or is it our societal mores that are at fault? Her books, she will tell you, are designed to bring children and their caregivers together for special moments as well as special messages, including her latest book, Big Words for Little People.



Jamie Lee was certainly entertaining, calling herself a devout "organizer of closets", not to be confused with "closet organizer". She is, as she will profess, a Mom first, and then, in no particular order, an actor, author, and "take action girl". Her numerous proclamations of being honored to be asked to address an audience of librarians were heartfelt. Her admission of SAT scores of 820 (combined) was both humorous and straight from the heart.

One other thing that comes straight from her heart are her books. Jamie Lee Curtis will tell you that her books do not come from time spent in an office with a computer, but from her real-life experiences with her own children. Like the time she wanted to write a book using the word "consequences" and her editor at the time said no. My children, Jamie claimed, know the word "consequences". But, still no go from her editor. She dutifully used another word - but went on to be sure she one day wrote a book about big words.

Jamie Lee Curtis was funny, inspirational, informative, and ebullient. But most of all, she was honest and genuine. She concluded her address by reading her new book Big Words for Little People to the audience. She read the book straight from her heart - just as she spoke - straight from her heart!!

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