Duchess of Palms
$24.95
| Title | Range | Discount |
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| Trade Discount | 5 + | 25% |
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Description
A “fifties girl” tells the fascinating story of her marriages to novelist Billy Lee Brammer and Congressman Bob Eckhardt, and how these relationships propelled her into the multifaceted life she has led on her own terms. Child of the Great Depression, teenage "Duchess of Palms" beauty queen, wife of an acclaimed novelist and later of a brilliant U.S. congressman, and ultimately a successful single working woman and mother, Nadine Eckhardt has lived a fascinating life. In this unique, funny, and honest memoir, she recounts her journey from being a "fifties girl" who lived through the men in her life to becoming a woman in her own right, working toward her own goals.
Eckhardt's first marriage to writer Billy Lee Brammer gave her entrée to liberal political and literary circles in Austin and Washington, where she and Brammer both worked for Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. She describes the heady excitement of LBJ's world—a milieu that Brammer vividly captured in his novel The Gay Place. She next recalls her second marriage to Bob Eckhardt, whom she helped get elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as her growing involvement with the counterculture of social protest, sexual revolution, and drug use. Eckhardt honestly recounts how the changing times changed her perception of herself, recalling that "I didn't know how to achieve for myself, only for others, and I felt ripped off and empty." This painful realization opened the door to a new life for Eckhardt. Her memoir concludes with a joyful description of her multifaceted later life as a restaurateur, assistant to Molly Ivins, writer, and center of a wide circle of friends.- Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
- In the Beginning
Big Nadine, Little Nadine: 1930s and 1940s
My Role Model
A New Life, and New Problems
Big Nadine
Growing up, in Body and Mind
Billy Lee Brammer, 1950
Young Marrieds
Testing the Waters, Pushing the Boundaries
Chapter Two
- 1951-1961: A Wild Ride in Washington
Meeting "The Senator"
Wandering Eyes and Hands
The LBJ Charisma
The 1956 Election
A Marriage on the Verge
Deep in the Heart
The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
Sadness Permeated the Marriage
A Novel Finds Success, but a Marriage Crumbles
Bill's Swinging Sixties
Chapter Three
- 1961-1966: A New Love and Politics
The Power of Fantasy
Tragedy and the Aftermath
The Run for Congress
Chapter Four
- 1967-1969: Life as a Congressional Wife
Congress, Itself
Junkets: The Perk That Almost Makes It Worth It
The Congressional Social Whirl
A Front-Row Seat to a Revolution
A Culture in Turmoil
A More Personal Revolution
Chapter Five
- The Seventies: Changes, Both Public and Private
More Changes and a Growing Distance
Multiple Roles, Many Faces
Reefer Madness
Bill Makes an Appearance
Back Home to Texas, Once Again
The Death of a Marriage
An Experimental Walk Down Memory Lane
Endings Bring Beginnings
The Nineties and the Circle Closes
Epilogue
Index
Additional information
| Dimensions | 1 × 6 × 9 in |
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