Product Description

memoraBEALEia : A Private Scrapbook about Edie Beale of Grey Gardens by Walter Newkirk, celebrates and pays tribute to Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale. Miss Beale was the first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and is best known for her participation in the famous documentary Grey Gardens (1976). This book was specifically created for fans of the film. On April 22, 1976 college journalist Walter Newkirk traveled to Grey Gardens, the Beale estate on Long Island, to interview Edie Beale about Grey Gardens, for his college newspaper, The Rutgers Daily Targum. In the 1970s, Edie Beale and her mother Edith Bouvier Beale -- the respective cousin and aunt of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - former society ladies - were living in a cat-infested, filthy, crumbling estate called Grey Gardens in East Hampton. The interview for the Rutgers newspaper was conducted shortly after the release of the film. Newkirk and Beale kept in touch for several years, by phone and by mail. After the estate was sold and her mother died, Beale moved to New York ( from 1980-1983) and the author escorted her to luncheons, parties and special events. She later moved to Florida, and died in January 2002. memoraBEALEia contains never-before-seen photographs of Edie Beale and Grey Gardens, the Rutgers Targum interview along with a few other obscure newspaper clippings, reproductions of letters written by Little Edie (along with cards she created), and art inspired by Grey Gardens. There are also essays about Miss Beale by photojournalist/paparazzo Ron Galella, former literary agent Pat Loud (An American Family, PBS TV series, 1973) and the artist Maria Manhattan. A new movie about Edie Beale and her mother, also called Grey Gardens, starring Drew Barrymore as Little Edie and Jessica Lange as her mother Big Edie will be released during 2008.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #99383 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-17
• Released on: 2008-03-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 92 pages

About the Author
Author Walter Newkirk is the founder of Walter Newkirk Public Relations LLC. A graduate of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, he worked on publicity for the film Roseland (1977), with director James Ivory and producer Ismael Merchant, and now primarily books interviews nationwide with authors for satellite TV tours, including titles by Martha Stewart, Valerie Bertinelli, Jenna Bush, Geraldo Rivera, and Tom Clancy. Previously, Newkirk was a publicist for The Whole Theatre in Montclair, NJ, where Academy Award winning actress Olympia Dukakis was Artistic Director. He also worked in public relations for The Newark Museum in Newark, NJ; and the John Harms Center For The Arts in Englewood, NJ - which has since been renamed Bergen PAC; Bergen Performing Arts Center - on projects with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, Charles Osgood, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Eartha Kitt. As a college journalist, Walter Newkirk interviewed Edith Bouvier Beale, the actors Divine and Jon Voight; in addition to Pat Loud, who appeared in the first national reality series in television history An American Family (PBS, 1973). memoraBEALEia is Mr. Newkirk's first book, a collaborative effort with Walt Radomsky and Jeff Holtzman, all alumni of Rutgers University and the Rutgers Daily Targum.

Customer Reviews

Couldn't believe how fast it was over!
I am a major devotee of the Beales. I try to get my hands on anything I can. I have both CD's,copies of articles written long ago, have seen the Broadway show, can sing the whole original cast recording myself, have read Lois Wright's offering - so, there are my credentials - this book was very interesting for what it is because one wants to find out what happens to Edie after her mother is gone and she is free. It was like picking up on a cliff hanger - but having said that, at 91 pages, (did I know that? I don't know if I knew that) I read the whole thing in an hour - I feel it was far too much money for such a meager compilation - Sorry I went for it and plucked down all that dough!!

"Slightly" Facinating
Yes, it had a some new things to entice the usual salacient Edie fan - I admit to being a reverent, admiring Grey Gardens ghoul myself - but didn't any of you guys think this slight (91 page) volume was a bit overpriced - even at the Amazon rate? Perhaps if Mr. Newkirk had included his DVD- " Little Edie Speaks" (and even upped the price) I wouldn't have felt a tad short changed.

Memorable MemoraBEALEia
Fantastic look into the life of Little Edie. This book by Walter Newkirk and his CD as well, give a personal view of Little Edie. Little Edie Live! A Visit To Grey Gardens Both the book and CD show a less quirky and more realistic view of the real woman. It's like those little moments of clarity you see in all other videos or even the stage play, extended into a real life-long relationship with a young man. I was really touched by her impressions of America after 911. The way she was able to pick up a friendship with Walter after being out of touch for years, shows her sincerity. Those of us who are Edie fans, know she was more than a character, she really had a tragically beautiful life. Her devotion to her mother and her free spirit should inspire all of us to find the "Little Edie" in us all. I purchased a few copies for friends and have only been thanked and praised with positive comments. This book is almost like peeking into a personal diary and learning those little secrets that make a person so human and vulnerable. We can all relate to that.