This couple’s book chronicles the ardent, if sometimes stormy, relationship between two strong personalities. Kirk is the son of a hard-drinking Jewish immigrant ragman and junk collector, Anne is the daughter of a prosperous German family. During his 60- year film career, Kirk was frequently away for long periods on location shoots and they wrote to each other constantly. Anne kept every letter, both ways, and preserved them in their wine cellar. Letters include facts about Kirk’s infidelities with various movie queens as well as affairs of fellow stars, sparing few graphic details. The couple also wrote about their friendship with U.S. presidents and their wives – from The Kennedy’s and Johnson’s to the Reagan’s and the Obama’s.
After 49 years of marriage, Anne decided on her own, to convert to Judaism. At their 50th wedding anniversary celebration, she announced, “Kirk has been married to two shiksas. It’s time he got a nice Jewish girl.”
The couple takes particular pride in their Douglas Foundation which has contributed some $120 million for charitable projects, among them numerous playgrounds in the U.S. and Israel.

A very enjoyable book - not only did the Douglas' share their letters to each other during their courtship and marriage, they also shared letters sent and received from folks such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Henry Kissinger, Barack Obama, the Kennedy's, and many others. The book also contained numerous photos. I thank the Douglas' for sharing their memories. It is too bad that letter writing has gone by the wayside in these days of texting and twittering. The anticipation of getting the letter, holding it, reading it and re-reading it is a very special feeling that cannot be replicated with electronic communication. ( )

Quite an interesting read! The letters between Kirk and Anne did get pretty tedious not too long into the book. However, the insights that they both told about themselves and others in LaLa land were very interesting. They hung out with and knew quite a lot of the Hollywood elite. Of course, Kirk did turn 100 years old in 2016. I do remember him accepting an award after his stroke. I had no idea, though, that was the longest phrase he had spoken since then.

There is a lot of trivia for the buffs out there.

A touching memoir that I was glad I had the opportunity to read and review. Thanks, Perseus Books Group, Running Press and Net Galley. ( )