My Life So Far (96 page)

Endnotes

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¹
I don’t mean to suggest that all girls who strive for perfection and feel inadequate end up with an eating disorder, but too many do. Every decade 5.6 percent of people with anorexia/bulimia die, which is about twelve times higher than the annual death rate due to all causes of death among females ages fifteen to twenty-four in the general population. The deaths are usually due to complications related to the disease, such as cardiac arrest, electrolyte imbalance, or suicide (Melissa Spearing, “Eating Disorders: Facts About Eating Disorders and the Search for Solutions,” National Institutes of Mental Health, NIH Publication No. 01-4901, [2001]). Feeling unwhole leads to other addictions besides those related to food. Psychologist Marion Woodman says, “An addiction is anything we do to avoid hearing the messages that body and soul are trying to send us.”

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²
For more information on Lee’s theories and practices, read the transcriptions of tape-recorded sessions at the Studio in
Strasberg: At the Actors Studio,
ed. Robert Hethmon, Viking Press, 1965.

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³
The Cherokee Nation is the largest tribal government in the U.S., with membership over 350,000.

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⁴
When the division at the 17th Parallel was made in 1954 at the Geneva Conference, it was stated explicitly that the “demarcation is
provisional
and should
not in any way be interpreted as constituting a political or territorial boundary
” [PP Doc #15]. The division was to remain only until national elections were held two years later to determine which government would be chosen to represent the whole, united country. The United States pledged to adhere to these terms, yet almost immediately set out to try to destabilize the situation, including canceling the elections. President Dwight Eisenhower wrote in his memoirs that had elections been held, Ho Chi Minh would have won probably 80 percent of the votes. This is when the temporary line at the 17th Parallel began to be referred to as an “international boundary,” the crossing of which was seen as “external aggression.” This new concept, stated as it was in numerous public speeches by our leaders, became generally accepted, and by the time I became involved as an antiwar activist in 1970, Vietnam was being portrayed as two different countries, and Vietnamese coming down from the North, even if they had been born and had family in the South (which was frequently the case), were seen as outside aggressors. Imagine if the British had created a boundary at our Mississippi River, saying at first that it was temporary, then making it official and calling anyone who came across, whether to see family or to fight for reunification of their country, the “enemy.”

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⁵
For transcripts of my broadcasts in Hanoi, see
U.S. Congress House Committee on Internal Security, Travel to Hostile Areas,
HR 16742. Actually, there are two types of transcripts in HR 16742. The first (and most common) kind comes directly from my radio broadcasts. The CIA transcribers copied down what they heard me say in English. Nothing was translated. Some examples of these would be on pages 7645, 7646, etc. But HR 16742 has another kind of transcript that can be misleading. An example of these would be on page 7653 (top of the page) where the transcript reads: “Sister Fonda indignantly said, [first two sentences in English, fading into Vietnamese translation—recording] Melvin Laird the other day said that bombing of dikes may be taking place . . .” etc. In these transcripts, what I said was first translated into Vietnamese, broadcast in Vietnamese by a Vietnamese journalist, picked up by CIA listeners and translated back into English. Anything translated twice like that can end up far from the original and shouldn’t be relied on.

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⁶
It was at a press conference in May 1969 that Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird focused publicly on the issue of torture of U.S. prisoners in Hanoi. In his article “The P.O.W. Issue: A National Issue is Born,” Dayton (Ohio)
Journal-Herald,
13–18 Feb. 1971, Seymour Hersh, author and journalist who uncovered the My Lai massacre and the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal, reported that “Laird had, as many officials later acknowledged, somewhat overstated his case.”

“Solid evidence of systematic abuse of prisoners has always been missing,” Hersh reported, and went on to say that when American families of POWs became alarmed at the reports of torture, they received letters from the Pentagon saying: “We are certain that you will not become unduly concerned over the [torture] briefing if you keep in mind the purpose for which it was tailored.”

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⁷
A handwritten note from President Nixon to H. R. Haldeman says that “the POW’s need to have the worst quotes of R. Clark and Fonda” to use in their TV appearances, but this information “shouldn’t come from the White House.”

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⁸
Actually, when it comes to caring about the welfare of our soldiers, polls from the late 1970s published in congressional studies show that people who opposed the Vietnam War were much more sympathetic to the special needs of veterans than were those who supported the war.

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⁹
In 1968, a reinvestigation by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee suggested that the “incident” of our ships being attacked was “imagined or invented.”

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¹⁰
Final Report
(October 1975) of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force in the Watergate cover-up case,
U.S. v. Mitchell et al.
This indictment was dismissed by the government on June 3, 1974, after Colson pled guilty in the case relating to the Nixon White House sponsored break-in at Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office,
U.S. v. Ehrlichman et al.,
where Mr. Colson had been charged with conspiracy to violate civil rights. That indictment was also dismissed when Colson pled guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with the prosecution of Dan Ellsberg, a case that was dismissed by the federal judge because of government misconduct. Colson was sentenced on June 21, 1974, to serve one to three years in prison and fined $5,000. (His actual sentence, however, only ran from July 8, 1974, until January 31, 1975.)

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¹¹
But congressional delegations who went to Vietnam and visited refugee camps in Indonesia in the late 1970s disputed this, saying the exodus was more due to historic hatreds and economic devastation exacerbated by the U.S. embargo. When antiwar activists were asked to sign public petitions about the boat people, aimed at the North Vietnamese, I refused. I felt it was the U.S. government that should have been petitioned to live up to its treaty obligations and help alleviate hardships we had brought about. Unfortunately, it would take another whole decade for the Clinton administration to normalize relations and lift the trade embargo.

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¹²
I am releasing several new exercise DVDs featuring my most popular workouts. Two to three complete workout programs will be combined on one DVD. The Personal Trainer series—three complete programs in one DVD—focuses on distinct body parts.
The Complete Workout and Stress Reduction
DVD combines my Complete Workout program with a unique low-impact stress-reduction program. In recognition of the growing childhood obesity trend in the United States, I’m re-releasing my two successful Funhouse Fitness kids exercise programs on one DVD, called
Jane Fonda Presents: Funhouse Fitness for Kids.

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¹³
It was also the central office of 9to5, the National Association of Working Women, which grew out of Nussbaum’s Working Women Organizing Project in Boston.

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¹⁴
It was nominated for a Best Song Academy Award and became an RIAA Gold record. The film was one of the top-grossing films of that year. What most amazed Bruce and me was that it appealed almost equally to men. Bruce attributes this to the fact that everyone has, at one time or another, worked for a hellacious boss and had their ideas ripped off or been passed over for promotion, so the theme of employees getting even was appealing across the board.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am indebted to my editor, Kate Medina, who gracefully persuaded me that less is more and whose creative diplomacy allowed me to feel that all the “contouring” was my idea.

I am forever grateful to Robin Morgan, the “angel on my shoulder,” whose sisterhood and attention allowed me to sleep at night.

And to Eve Ensler, who has enveloped me in protective love and inspiration these last five years.

I want to acknowledge my children: Vanessa, my conscience, for keeping me honest; Troy, my soul, for drawing me always toward the light; Lulu and Nathalie, for reminding me to search deeper for the love in my marriages.

My thanks to Laura Turner Seydel, Teddy Turner, Rhett Turner, Beau Turner, and Jennie Garlington Turner for their righteous critiques; and to Tom Hayden and Ted Turner for vetting their chapters in my life.

I must acknowledge my wonderful researchers, Suzanne McCormack, Frankie Jones, and Sarah Shoenfeld.

I am grateful to the gang at Random House: Gina Centrello, Dennis Ambrose, Benjamin Dreyer, Richard Elman, Lisa Feuer, Laura Goldin, Margaret Gorenstein, Carole Lowenstein, Elizabeth McGuire, Timothy Mennel, Gene Mydlowski, Tom Perry, Danielle Posen, Carol Poticny, Robin Rolewicz, Allison Saltzman, Carol Schneider, Sona Vogel, and Veronica Windholz. Your support has meant the world to me.

To each and every one of the following people I give thanks for their generous and ready input, encouragement, and advice: Joe Bangert, Hannah Bergen, Susan Blanchard, Dr. Susan Blumenthal, Fred Branfman, Thoa Branfman, Judith Bruce, Leni Cazden, Laura Clark, Ken Cloke, Cyndi Fonda Dabney, John Dean, Donald Duncan, Diana Dunn, John Echohawk, Dan Ellsberg, Tod Ensign, Peter Fonda, Shirlee Fonda, Roger Friedman, Lois Gibbs, Bruce Gilbert, Carol Gilligan, Jim Gilligan, Jerry Hellman, Mary Hershberger, David Hilliard, David Hodges, Dr. Marion Howard, Al Hubbard, Henry Jaglom, Maria Cooper Janis, Tom Johnson, Beverly Kitaen-Morse, Carol Kurtz-Nichol, Julie Lafond, Valarie Lalonde, Robin Laughlin, Laurel Lyle, John McAuliffe, LaNada Means, Edison Miller, Gordon Miller, Pat Mitchell, Bob Mulholland, Karen Nussbaum, Francine Parker, Dolly Parton, Dick Perrin, Hélène Plemiannikov, Bonnie Raitt, Terry Real, Sil Reynolds, Stephen Rivers, Rich Roland, Catherine Schneider, Olga Seham, Jim Skelly, Gloria Steinem, Lily Tomlin, Mike Uhl, Vania Vadim, Jon Voight, Leonard Weinglass, Paula Weinstein, Jay Westbrooke, Corinne Whitaker, Helen Williams, Marion Woodman, and Ambassador Andrew Young.

If life continued to run smoothly these past five years it’s thanks to the inestimable assistance of Steven Bennett. Cindy Imlay has been a constant help throughout, and Carole and Tommy Mitchell have provided essential support as well.

My love and thanks to you all.

CREDITS AND PERMISSIONS

Grateful acknowledgment is given to the following:

Bloodaxe Books: From “Honour Killing” from
I Speak for the Devil
by Imtiaz Dharker (Bloodaxe Books, 2001). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

Charles Darling: “The Magician’s Assistant” by Charles Darling is reprinted by permission of Professor Charles Darling, Capital Community College, Hartford, Conn.

Egmont Books Ltd.: From
The Velveteen Rabbit.
Copyright © 1922 The Estate of Margery Williams. Published by Egmont Books Ltd., London, and used with permission.

Farrar, Straus & Giroux, LLC: “Ah, as we prayed for human help” from
Uncollected Poems
by Rainer Maria Rilke, trans. by Edward Snow. Translation copyright © 1996 by Edward Snow. Reprinted by permission of North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

HarperCollins Publishers Inc.: From “I am too alone in the world . . .” and from “The Ashantis” from
Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke
, ed. and trans. by Robert Bly. Copyright © 1981 by Robert Bly. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

Kokomo Music: From “Nick of Time” written by Bonnie Raitt, copyright © 1989 Kokomo Music. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission.

Majorsongs, Co. and Harrison Music: “Ballerina” written by Carl Sigman and Bob Russell. Published by Majorsongs, Co. (ASCAP)/Administered by Bug Music Inc. (BMI). Published by Harrison Music. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.

Methuen: From “On Leaving the Theatre” by Edward Bond used by permission of the publisher, Methuen and Casarotto Ramsay & Associates Ltd.

Robin Morgan: An excerpt from
The Burning Time
by Robin Morgan and an e-mail written by Robin Morgan are reprinted with the permission of Robin Morgan.

New Directions Publishing Corporation: From “Relearning the Alphabet” by Denise Levertov from
Poems: 1968–1972,
copyright © 1970 by Denise Levertov Goodman, copyright © 1987 by Denise Levertov. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp., Pollinger Ltd., and the proprietor.