英語書籍：Promises I Made My Mother (節選四）ZT
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英語書籍：Promises I Made My Mother (節選三）ZT
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英語書籍：Promises I Made My Mother (節選二）ZT
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====Promises I Made My Mother 簡介==================
PROMISES I MADE MY MOTHER
by Sam Haskell
with David Rensin
FROM THE BOOK JACKET:
What would my mother say?
How would she want me to handle this situation?
How can I make this tough decision and stay true to
myself?
Sam Haskell still asks himself these questions every day.
When Haskell was young, his devoted mother, Mary,
instilled in her son the values of character, faith, and
honor by setting an example and asking him to promise to
live his life according to her lessons. He did, and those
promises have served Haskell consistently from his
Mississippi boyhood to his long career at the venerable
William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills.
In this inspiring memoir full of touching stories and
amusing anecdotes, Haskell reveals how he kept his pledge
to his mother to live a decent life--even in the shark-
infested waters of Hollywood, where he handled the hottest
stars and packaged the highest-rated shows--by refusing to
become the cliche of an amoral agent. Here is Haskell as a
child in Amory, Mississippi (pop. 7,000), discovering the
power of hope as he waits for an unlikely visit from the
"Cheer Man" (a representative of the detergent company who
gave ten dollars to anyone using the brand), learning
humility after pursuing an eighth-grade "Good Citizenship"
award he cockily assumed he'd win, and confronting the
complications of human character when a near-fatal car
crash exposed his judgmental father's true nature.
Years later, in Hollywood, Haskell would rely on his
mother's teachings--honesty, self-reliance, and faith
--as he rose from the William Morris mailroom to
eventually become the company's Worldwide Head of
Television. His capacity for friendship and his insistence
on living his version of the Golden Rule (being "thought-
fully political") allowed him to handle various client
crises and the tense negotiations that nearly scuttled the
last years of "Everybody Loves Raymond" and the entire
existence of "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air."
Haskell has achieved success through self-respect, and
from his story we learn how we, too, can maintain our
dignity when faced with life's challenges. This stirring
memoir is a testament to mothers everywhere who instill in
their sons the lasting values they need to become good men
and devoted fathers.
======================================
PROMISES I MADE MY MOTHER
by Sam Haskell
with David Rensin (nonfiction)
Published by Ballantine Books,
an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group
ISBN: 9780345506559
Copyright (c) 2009 by Sam Haskell
PROMISES (Part 3 of 5)
======================================
CHAPTER ONE
Promises I Made My Mother
"A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his
mother the longest." --IRISH PROVERB
Everybody needs their mother.
Mothers do more than give us life. They embrace, nourish, and
comfort us. They are our first teachers, protectors, and guides. Our
mothers are our conscience and our safe harbor. The mother/son
relationship is not often written about, but my mother believed it
is one of the strongest bonds that exists. As the poet Robert
Browning put it, "Motherhood: All love begins and ends there."
My mother, Mary Kirkpatrick Haskell, was all of this and more to me.
Her life was an inspiration. She graduated from high school in 1942,
when she was only sixteen, as class valedictorian. She was also
editor in chief of the school newspaper, class secretary, a Hall of
Fame member, and the Daughters of the American Revolution Good
Citizenship Girl of the Year. Her high school yearbook says it all:
"She has a smile for every joy, a tear for every sorrow, an excuse
for every fault, and an encouragement for every hope."
After high school my mother planned on going to college. A child of
the Depression, she had big dreams about a bright and successful
future, but because there was no money, she put aside that dream for
a while and became a teller at the Bank Of Amory. Even there, her
dedication attracted attention. Her looks did, too. My mother had
big brown eyes, the most beautiful smile, rosy cheeks, auburn hair,
and was thin with a real pretty figure. She reminded some of a young
Jane Wyman. A neighbor, Mr. Guy Pickle, remembered how my mother
used to walk home from the bank at lunchtime: "Every day all the
businessmen on Main Street gathered just to watch your mother walk
by. She was so beautiful she could stop running water."
My mother dreamed of leaving Amory, earning a nursing degree, and
traveling the world. Without faith in herself, and trusting that her
dreams could become a reality, she might have settled for less. But
she persevered through good times and bad, and became both
accomplished and respected in her profession as a school nurse
practitioner and as a homemaker raising three boys. My mother had
more friends than anyone else I've ever known. She was decent and
kind to a fault, and she set me on the path to a positive life.
Plus, she told me every day that I was special, and encouraged "my"
dreams.
It might sound as if I've put her on a pedestal, but, of course, no
one is perfect. Momma was sometimes too sensitive and a bit shy. But
I loved her beyond all measure, and have never made a secret of it.
More than once I've been asked, "How could you love your mother that
much?" I always answer, "How could I not?"
Simply put, my mother's life set an example for me, and the lessons
I learned from her are a part of everything I've done. After high
school, I attended Ole Miss, where I met Mary Donnelly, the woman
I'd soon marry. After graduation, I followed my show business dreams
and in 1978 moved to Los Angeles, where I got my start in the
mailroom of the prestigious William Morris Agency. Eighteen months
later, I became a full-fledged talent agent and eventually
represented a wide range of artists including Kathie Lee Gifford,
Debbie Allen, Dolly Parton, Ray Romano, Bill Co*****y, George Clooney,
Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, and His Royal Highness the Prince
Edward. I became the agent for many talented writers, producers, and
directors as well. I worked hard and eventually rose to become
Worldwide Head of Television at William Morris--one of the most
powerful jobs in Hollywood. When I resigned from the agency in
December of 2004, after twenty-six years, Mary and I continued our
journey focusing on philanthropic causes, several of which you will
read about in this book.
None of this could have happened had I not taken to heart the many
lessons my mother taught me daily, and worked to keep the many
promises I made to her about how I'd live my life, promises large
and small, spoken and silent, promises that brought me success and
kept me grounded.
Because of my mother, I promised to share my blessings, have faith
in myself, be kind, find something to believe in, treat everyone--
high or low--the same, be a strong and fair parent, never stop
dreaming, be a good friend, keep God at the center of my life,
maintain my character and integrity, be trustworthy, live every day
to the fullest, always pick up a penny for good luck, have a
wonderful life, and never forget how much she loved me.
This book is about those promises.
Hardcover: Read ends on page 7.
====作者 Sam Haskell 簡介==================
Sam Haskell moved from Mississippi to Los Angeles in 1978 to work at
the William Morris Agency. He became an agent in 1980, senior vice
president by 1990, executive vice president by 1995, and Worldwide
Head of Television by 1999. After a twenty-six-year career, he
retired in 2004 to pursue philanthropic endeavors. In 2007 he was
named one of the 25 Most Innovative and Influential People in
Television over the last quarter century by "TV Week." He lives in
Los Angeles with his wife, Mary Donnelly Haskell (his college
sweetheart and a former Miss Mississippi), and their two children,
Sam IV and Mary Lane.
David Rensin has written or co-written thirteen books, five of them
"New York Times" bestsellers. His most recent titles are "All for a
Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer
Miki Dora" and "The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up."
英語書籍：Promises I Made My Mother (節選一）
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