From Dr. Phil to Cat Cora: Celebs thank their moms in letters
NEW YORK - Moms. Everybody has one. Not everybody remembers to thank them when it's well deserved.
In time for Mother's Day, Lisa Erspamer takes care of that in her third "letter" book, a series of collected missives that has already covered some written by humans to their dogs and cats.
The former TV executive and a team from her Los Angeles production company decided on 64 letters balanced between everyday sons and daughters and celebrities. She told The Associated Press in a recent interview it was actually the death of her dad that inspired her to put together "A Letter to My Mom," out April 7 from Crown Archetype.
"My father died many, many years ago and when he was on his death bed he wrote all of us letters. After he passed, my mother gave them to us. It's just a really powerful thing to get," she said. "I realized the one thing we don't get from people often is how they really feel."
Besides, she added: "I think of moms as our first love. They are the first person that we bond with."
Enjoy these excerpts from some of the book's celebrity kids to the women who raised them:
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Will.I.Am of mom Debra Cain
Thank you for designing me ...
Thank you for programming me ...
Thank you for developing me ...
Thank you for installing morals in my system ...
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Monica Lewinsky of mom Marcia Straus
If it weren't for you, I wouldn't still be here.
It's true.
Without your love and support during the maelstrom of 1998, I don't think I would have made it through the Starr investigation and the long shadow of the debilitating aftermath. To be sure, survival those first few weeks - drowning in a sea of fear, humiliation and devastation - would have been unimaginable had you not tended to me as only a mother could - as only you could.
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Dr. Phil McGraw of his late mom Geraldine McGraw
In my entire life, there was never a single day that my dad told me he was proud of me and not a single day that you didn't tell me. ... I still do my best to not disappoint you. Not that I ever really could. People often joked that I could set the house on fire and you'd jump in to say, 'Oh, he probably just a needs a nap. It's OK!'
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Cat Cora of mom Virginia Lee Cora
You dragged us to church every single Sunday when I know we obnoxiously whined, you dyed red Greek Orthodox eggs on Easter when all the other kids had pastels, and you always told us the truth even when it meant you had to deal with our backlash. And you never let us quit. Although I do wish you would have let me quit piano because all I could play was 'Music Box Dancer' after 7 years of lessons. I guess you made up for it with all the cooking lessons.
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Josh Groban of mom Lindy Groban
Raising me wasn't easy. I was odd, I was hyper, and sometimes I spoke in my native Martian tongue. But you were ever-patient, ever-loving and emotionally connected to me in that way that was telekinetic. As an art teacher and art lover you exposed me to a world I now feel fortunate to call my home. As a realist you never let me dream without the steadfastness and work ethic to back it up.