Miss D & Me
Life with the Invincible Bette Davis
by Kathryn Sermak
with Danelle Morton
Hachette Book Group
288 pages
Paperback edition
On sale: September 11, 2018
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Powells
What was Bette Davis REALLY like? Her longtime assistant Kathryn Sermak, who worked with Davis in the final years of her life, published a memoir offering a peek at the world of a legendary actress. Readers get an insight into a working relationship that blossomed into a sweet friendship. Sermak discusses how she got the job, her time with Davis, trips to New York and Paris, Davis' stroke, the publication of B.D. Hyman's scathing 1985 memoir and much more.
When the hardcover edition of Miss D & Me came out last year, I had the pleasure of seeing Kathryn Sermak at a Harvard COOP event where she had an audience Q&A and discussed her years with Davis and her journey to publication. When I went up to get my book signed, I briefly chatted with Sermak. She admired by TCM Classic Film Festival bag and told me an anecdote of Bette Davis's friendship with TCM's Robert Osborne (Davis called him "Bully" and she called him "Spuds").
Thanks to the good folks at Hachette Book Group, today I'm offering my readers an opportunity to get their hands on a paperback copy of Sermak's memoir!
President Ronald Reagan, Kathryn Sermak and Bette Davis (Robert Osborne in the background) |
Publisher description:
Miss D & Me is a story of two powerful women–one at the end of her life and the other at the beginning–and how they changed each other forever.
As Bette Davis aged, she was looking for an assistant, but she found something more than that in Kathryn Sermak: a loyal and loving confidante, a co-conspirator in her jokes and schemes, and a competent worker whom she trained to never miss a detail.
For ten years, Kathryn was at Miss D’s side–first as an employee and then as her closest friend. Throughout their time together, Kathryn had a front-row seat to Davis’s late-career renaissance, as well as to the humiliating public betrayal that nearly killed her beloved boss and benefactor. Miss D & Me is an intimate account of the last years of the unique and formidable Bette Davis–a tale of extreme kindness, unfailing loyalty, breathtaking style, and the beautiful friendship that endured through it all.
CONTEST IS NOW OVER
Open Internationally!
Three winners will receive a paperback copy of Miss D & Me
Contest ends Sunday September 3rd at 11:59 PM EST
To enter:
Please leave a comment below telling me what your favorite Bette Davis movie is and why.
Also leave your e-mail address in the comment so I can contact you if you win.
Three winners will be selected at random on Monday September 4th and will be announced below. I will also contact winners privately via e-mail. All e-mail addresses will be edited out of the comments after the contest is done to honor your privacy. Must be 18 or older to enter.
Good luck!
Congratulations to:
@startspreading
Brittaney B.
Shelley F.