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A review by juliajjshields
The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop
5.0
Kelly Bishop is truly an icon and inspiration. Hearing her narrate her life completely enthralled me and surprised me at every turn. Not only does she have an insane resume including a Tony award winning Broadway actress and dancer, but she also is such an incredible human being. + the forward by Amy Sherman-Palladino was a wonderful touch :,)
At 80, she shares her story unapologetically, frankly & so authentically. She’s witty & warm, telling the audience everything from her relationships to her lil feuds to sparing no detail in the recounting of her journeys to some of her most famous work, Dirty Dancing & Gilmore Girls. The sheer pop culture impact and scope of this woman is wild…the ways she casually mentions being part of events that created Broadway royalty like A Chorus Line to her husband being an anchor for this new little tv network called ESPN is wild.
The way she opened up about the losses in her life—especially her dear husband, Lee Leonard—resonated so deeply with me. She shares she’s never been religious but believes there must be more out there and found her own ways to make peace and feel connected with him.
Audiobooking this felt like sitting down with a grandmother and a cup of tea. I absolutely devoured this and couldn’t help but feel sad as it came to an end. It’s a quick listen that will continue to reverberate in my mind for a while. I almost want to take a deep dive into all of her work including old clips of her dancing days. Shes truly just tHAT woman, that girl, that bitch. Bishop is a gem and I’m so glad she came out with a memoir.
I deeply respect and value her generation. My grandparents were both of her time and gone now, and their stories too were something I cherished then and always. While Mamie & Papy experienced war & hardship that Bishop did not, the simple fact of a life in a time that differs so drastically from today and to live through such events & history is remarkable. It speaks volumes to me of humanity and everything we are and can endure. While again Bishop didn’t experience anything crazy, the simple details of her day to day life creating these historic moments of the industry is mind boggling. She emphasized listening to her gut and gratitude for the way things seemed to come together each time she felt they were falling apart.
This may be getting a bit meta, but I truly just value storytelling and the interwoven individual histories that build our collective understanding and context so deeply. Kelly Bishop is one of those people that embody this in entertainment and expressed such pride in passing the torch to the next generation. I can keep going but given this review is already tremendously long, I’ll leave it at how lucky we are to hear her story and what a marvelous woman✨
—
“Aren’t we lucky that there’s such a wide variety of dreams to choose from, & so many people who choose them?…What on earth would we do without one another?”
“I live a life I’d envy if I weren’t me.” 💌
- obsessed with this quote & is my aspiration
At 80, she shares her story unapologetically, frankly & so authentically. She’s witty & warm, telling the audience everything from her relationships to her lil feuds to sparing no detail in the recounting of her journeys to some of her most famous work, Dirty Dancing & Gilmore Girls. The sheer pop culture impact and scope of this woman is wild…the ways she casually mentions being part of events that created Broadway royalty like A Chorus Line to her husband being an anchor for this new little tv network called ESPN is wild.
The way she opened up about the losses in her life—especially her dear husband, Lee Leonard—resonated so deeply with me. She shares she’s never been religious but believes there must be more out there and found her own ways to make peace and feel connected with him.
Audiobooking this felt like sitting down with a grandmother and a cup of tea. I absolutely devoured this and couldn’t help but feel sad as it came to an end. It’s a quick listen that will continue to reverberate in my mind for a while. I almost want to take a deep dive into all of her work including old clips of her dancing days. Shes truly just tHAT woman, that girl, that bitch. Bishop is a gem and I’m so glad she came out with a memoir.
I deeply respect and value her generation. My grandparents were both of her time and gone now, and their stories too were something I cherished then and always. While Mamie & Papy experienced war & hardship that Bishop did not, the simple fact of a life in a time that differs so drastically from today and to live through such events & history is remarkable. It speaks volumes to me of humanity and everything we are and can endure. While again Bishop didn’t experience anything crazy, the simple details of her day to day life creating these historic moments of the industry is mind boggling. She emphasized listening to her gut and gratitude for the way things seemed to come together each time she felt they were falling apart.
This may be getting a bit meta, but I truly just value storytelling and the interwoven individual histories that build our collective understanding and context so deeply. Kelly Bishop is one of those people that embody this in entertainment and expressed such pride in passing the torch to the next generation. I can keep going but given this review is already tremendously long, I’ll leave it at how lucky we are to hear her story and what a marvelous woman✨
—
“Aren’t we lucky that there’s such a wide variety of dreams to choose from, & so many people who choose them?…What on earth would we do without one another?”
“I live a life I’d envy if I weren’t me.” 💌
- obsessed with this quote & is my aspiration