The Seesaw Girl and Me: A Memoir Review

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(More customer reviews)If you're a Bewitched fan, this book really isn't chock full of behind the scenes Bewitched stuff. Dick does tell us the story of the day he met Elizabeth Montgomery, and he makes a few references here and there to the last day on the show or something else about it, but its basically not about Bewitched.
Instead, this is a fantastic opportunity to literally be in the same room with Dick York and listen to him (and maybe even talk back sometimes) as he tells us all about some of the memorable things that happened in his life up until the point that the book was written. He was 56 then. He did this in 1985, and he died in 1992.
He dictated this book into a tape recorder and it has a wonderful feeling like he's talking to you like a friend would. He tells you many stories; some happy and some sad and some made up. He doesn't go on and on with a "whoa is me" attitude. He makes light of most of the hardships he's had. He manages to tell any of the sad stories without making us stop and cry each time.
I actually lost it when I read the part where he was having an imaginary conversation with a fireplug on the street about why he resumed smoking after being smoke free for over a year. I have cried many a tear about his senseless death to emphysema before, but to think he might still be with us today if he had remained quit all those years ago, is more than I could deal with.
Dick York was not just an actor. He was a deep thinking, caring, humanitarian. He was the kind of person this world is in dire need of having more of. He has the overflowing compassion of a Buddhist and an obvious understanding of the interconnectiveness of all life.
In his final few years, on oxygen, struggling to breathe, he used his little remaining time to help others. He helped feed the hungry and cloth the poor with nothing but a pad, pen and telephone. Using his celebrity, he managed to help a lot of people, even though he himself was poor. In fact, this book was done in an effort to pay one month's rent in 1985 when he didn't have it. His selflessness is an inspiration. And so I can't help but cry for him when I think of how he (and so many other good people) have died younger than necessary thanks to tobacco.
What shines through the most is how much he loves his wife and his children. This is a love story above all. In fact, if you're going to cry over anything, it might be his immense love for his wife and family rather than any tragedy he might have endured.
Unlike some autobiographies or biographies which go in direct order of a person's life history, this is nonlinear. Again, its really like sitting with an old friend and listening to his stories. If you read this with his voice in your head, you can really feel like you are just there with him as he jokes and makes light of himself and his life and shares intimate feelings and ideas.
As a bonus, there are some great pictures in the middle of the book. What a gorgeous man he is. His big, dark eyes really reflect the kindness and gentleness within.
This book can be read by somebody who's never even watched Bewitched or heard of him and you would come away feeling like you just got done spending an evening reminiscing with an old friend. Dick York is not one of those untouchable celebrities. He doesn't have Hollywood written all over him. He's just a regular guy who was an actor by profession.
This book is worth every penny and then some. I can't recommend it enough.


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