BACKGROUND

by

Karen Soroca

"Oh Lord, that cheesecake looks mighty good. How about I get you and me a little piece?" Before I could respond, this spry seventy-nine year old woman was up, out of her seat, cutting twos slabs of "mighty good cheesecake" from the caterer’s desert table.

Eve and I first met while working on a Republic Airlines commercial specially designed for business travelers. I was an inebriated businesswoman, she was a feisty old lady who, when even slightly provoked would clobber our poor leading man on the head with her handbag.

Although we didn’t work in the same vignette, all day long I found myself compelled to be with Eve, listening to her anecdotes and laughing at her insights. There was a self-assuredness, an ease about this woman and we had an instant rapport.

The shoot lasted well into the night. We said our good-byes and wished each other well but never exchanged phone numbers. Each of us got lost in our daily tasks.

But there must be something to fate. Several months later, I decided to write a magazine article concentrating on the elderly because of my close relationship to my Grandma who was, at that time, ill. It was also around the time when the "where’s the beef?" lady, Clara Peletier, had reached super stardom. To pay my bills, I also worked on CHEERS, warming a barroom bench on a weekly basis where I witnessed Al Rosen, a character actor well in his seventies, rise from the ranks of extra by stealing the show with his scruffy voiced one line deliveries. I was suddenly very aware of how older people can still be not only productive but successful and decided to write something on these newcomers who were gaining notoriety in show biz for the first time even though they were in the supposedly winter chapter of their lives. I needed one more senior and through the suggestion of a friend, was given Eve’s name which I immediately recognized as the woman I worked with on the Republic Airlines commercial.

I interviewed her, along with several others, however, her story telling was so much more inspiring that, when compiling my article, I kept focusing in, on and about Eve. I submitted the story to several publications and received numerous "thank you but, etc." Putting the story temporarily away in my ever expanding file of articles, scripts and treatments, I went on with my life.

All was not in vain. I was now dating a man who had an ex-girlfriend who was Editor of a new show biz publication. We met, I showed her my writing samples and she liked the article on Eve, only cut out all the other people and concentrate on just Eve. I followed her instructions and submitted my newly edited article. The publishers liked it so much that they put it in the now being printed issue instead of holding it for the following month. Thanks to Eve, and,. of course, Ivana, my ex-boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend, I ended up becoming a staff writer for PLAYERS WORLD MAGAZINE. Eve’s life spanned the whole twentieth century. Born before the average household had telephone, televisions, dishwashers, or anything electrical; before people traveled by car or plane, and WAY before computers; she has seen the technological advancement of our species accelerate at a pace never before witnessed in history.

This is an incredible time to be living but it is also a time of great confusion, partly because of all the rapid changes. Also, being, looking and acting young has become an American fetish. How does anyone deal with growing old in today’s society where wrinkles are looked upon as a dreaded disease?

To Eve, age was just a chronological number. "Sure, my body’s changed but that’s just external. Inside, I’m still who I was fifty years ago. I’m still Eve, only I know more about me now."

Eve was a great role model. Nothing stopped her from doing those things that were important to her. Although she has recently passed away, she continues to be my loving teacher and has taught me that you learn from everyone and everything and at every age, if you’re open to it. After all, it’s never too late to love life and follow your dreams. How else do they come true?

This book is dedicated to Eve Smith, my "adopted" Grandmother and to Florence Horowitz, my maternal Grandmother, two short, feisty red heads who taught me to believe in myself and my dreams.

EVE SMITH PHOTOS: click here

EVE SMITH CREDITS: click here

For further information, or to purchase this manuscript, please contact author Karen Soroca at contact@danstarproductions.net.