Mothers

Sly Stallone’s Mom, The Celebrity Astrologer: Jacqueline Stallone

Bill Thompson

Jacqueline Stallone– often just called “Jackie” – Was the mother of Sylvester Stallone and Frank Stallone.

But during her long life Jackie was much more than just another celebrity mom.

As a young woman, for example, she was once a trapeze artist, and a chorus girl. Later she was a hairdresser, a local TV personality, and founder of an all-female gym.

Jackie also became interested in astrology in the 1950s, and by the 1980s had established a reputation as a celebrity astrologer. She even ran a psychic hotline.

In 1989 Jacqueline Stallone wrote a book for a general readership, on using the stars to optimize our personal power. She called the book Star Power. She and I had a conversation about it while she was on a book tour.

So here now, from 1989, Jacqueline Stallone.

Jacqueline Stallone died in 2020 at age 98.

Describing the ‘Funny Sauce’ of the Blended Family: Writer/film producer Delia Ephron

Bill Thompson
Photo by Wes Washington

A couple of generations back, a typical American family might consist of a mom, a dad, and 2.4 kids.

But as the divorce rate rose a new American family archetype emerged: the so-called “blended family.”

There was now a new dynamic that included stepparents, stepchildren, step-siblings, exes and new mates…

And absolutely no owner’s manual to describe how all those pieces are supposed to fit together.

That was the brave new world that writer Delia Ephron stepped into in 1982 when she became a stepmother.

Get your copy of Delia Ephron’s book

And it wasn’t long before Ephron, a talented writer who had already written several books, realized she needed to write a book about this.

In 1986 Delia Ephron wrote that book, which she called Funny Sauce. I met her that fall when she was on a book tour.

So here now, from 1986, Delia Ephron.

In the years that followed our interview, Delia Ephron wrote screenplays for movies like “You’ve Got Mail,” “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,”” and “Hanging Up.”

And she produced “Sleepless in Seattle,” written by her big sister Nora.

Delia Ephron is now 80. Her most recent book was published in 2022.

Working Moms: Lois Wyse’s Impact on Mot/herhood and Advertising

Bill Thompson
Lois Wyse

Baby Boomers may be the last generation whose mothers generally were stay-at-home moms, taking care of the house, baking cookies, and so forth. Or so the stereotype goes.

But some had moms who went to a job outside the home every day. What is the norm now was the exception 60 years ago. And it created a lot of angst, as moms worried about whether their kids would become normal as they reached adulthood.

One of those working moms was an advertising executive – indeed, co-founder of her own ad agency.

Get your copy of Kathy Wyse Goldman’s book

Her name was Lois Wyse. You may not have heard of her, but you know some of the brands that she worked on. She is the one who came up with the slogan, “with a name like Smuckers, it has to be good.” Bed Bath And Beyon was just “BedAnd Bath” before Lois suggested adding “Beyond.”

In the early 1990s Lois’s daughter Kathy Wyse Goldman – by then herself a working mother – began to consider and appreciate her upbringing in a way she hadn’t before. And it inspired her to write a book, which she called My Mother Worked and I Turned Out OK.

And so it was on the day in early May 1993 that I met with Kathy and Lois to talk about the book.

So here now, from 1993, Kathy Wyse Goldman and her mom Lois Wyse.

Lois Wyse died in 2007 at age 80.

Life as Osama bin Laden’s Sister-in-Law Revealed

Bill Thompson

Married to the mob is one thing. Imagine what it would feel like if you married into a family whose name was linked to terrorism?

Swiss-born Carmen bin Ladin was once Osama bin Laden’s sister-in-law. Her marriage to Osama’s half brother Yeslam broke up several years ago and she had nothing to do with the September 11th attacks.

Her 2004 book Inside the Kingdom isn’t even about her notorious ex-brother-in-law. It reveals what goes on inside the strict Saudi culture that she and her daughters were part of.

Nevertheless, when I spoke with her she was candid about the family, the culture, and Osama.

So here now, from 2004, Carmen bin Ladin.

Carmen bin Ladin is now 69. Her divorce from Yeslam was finalized in 2006.

You may also like these episodes:


Betty Mahmoody

Ivana Trump

Buy Books / Media from Amazon

As an Amazon Associate, Now I’ve Heard Everything earns from qualifying purchases.

From the White House to the Teenage House: Liz Carpenter’s Unplanned Parenthood

Bill Thompson
Jenkins Garrett with Liz Carpenter in UTA Library’s Special Collections, 1987

Imagine this scenario: you have lived a full life as a war correspondent, an aide to a president, a press secretary to a First Lady, and a leader in important social movements.

And just as you have retired to what should have been a comfortable life you are suddenly thrust into being a parent again.

That is what really happened to Liz Carpenter, once a key figure in the Lyndon Johnson administration in the 1960s.

But when her brother died in 1993, his three unruly teenagers came to live with Liz Carpenter. And she found herself, at age 73, a mother once again.

In her 1994 book Unplanned Parenthood Carpenter describes the unique challenges she faced. But she also had some wise and insightful thoughts about those Generation X people she was raising, and their peers.

So here now, from 1994, Liz Carpenter.

Liz Carpenter died in 2010. She was 89.

You may also like these episodes:


Benjamin Spock

Betty Friedan

Buy Books / Media from Amazon

As an Amazon Associate, Now I’ve Heard Everything earns from qualifying purchases.

Mary Tillman

Bill Thompson

Recently the 20-year war in Afghanistan came to an end. Have his given all of us time to reflect on those two decades.

We also remember the 23 hundred or so US servicemen and women who died in Afghanistan.

One of them, in particular, drew public attention. Then-27 year-old Army Ranger, and former NFL star, Pat Tillman was killed in 2004.

But that tragedy was compounded when the Pentagon apparently attempted to cover up the circumstances of his death.

Mary Tillman on C-SPAN

It eventually was revealed that he was killed by a so-called “friendly fire.”

A few years later, Pat Tillman’s mother, Mary Tillman, wrote a book about her son and her fight with the Pentagon. And that’s when I met her.

So here now, from 2008, Mary Tillman:

Pat Tillman was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and a Purple Heart.

You may also like these episodes:
Winnie SmithAdm. Elmo Zumwalt
091521 Mary Tillman

Betty DeGeneres

Bill Thompson
Photo: Danlev / Dan Leveille

We learned recently that daytime TV’s Ellen DeGeneres Show is coming to an end next year after 19 seasons.

Her show made its debut just a couple of years after I met and interviewed her mom, Betty DeGeneres.

In 1999, Betty published a book called “Love, Ellen,” a memoir of her relationship with her famous daughter — and the challenges both mother and daughter experienced when Ellen revealed her sexual orientation.

Betty DeGeneres celebrated her 91st birthday last week.

Betty Mahmoody

Bill Thompson

Happy Mothers Day weekend to all the moms listening right now.

Today, the story of one exceptionally courageous mom.

Her name is Betty Mahmoody. In the mid-1980s she accompanied her her iranian-born husband back to his native country for what she thought would be a two-week vacation.

But instead of returning to the US, her husband informed her that they would be living permanently in Iran. And that was just the beginning of the ordeal for her and the couple’s four-year-old daughter Mahtob.

Betty Mahmoody tells the story of what happened over the next 18 months in her best-selling book Not Without My Daughter. Her book was later made into a major Motion Picture starring Sally Field as Betty Mahmoody.

So here now, from 1988, Betty Mahmoody…

Betty Mahmoody will be 76 next month. She is President and co-founder of One World: For Children.

Her daughter In 2015, Mahtob Mahmoody wrote her own book about her and her mother’s escape from Iran.

Grace George Corrigan

Bill Thompson

Tomorrow is January 28, and if you are old enough, you undoubtedly have a clear memory of exactly where you were 35 years agp, on January 28, 1986.

That was the day of that horrible tragedy, the explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger.

Among the crew members was teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe, who had won a nationwide competition to become the first teacher in space.

Watching the liftoff in person that day was Christa McAuliffe’s mother, Grace George Corrigan.

A few years later, Corrigan wrote a book about her daughter, and that’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1993, Grace George Corrigan.

Christa’s father died in 1990,

Grce George Corrigan died in 2018 at athe age of 94.

---------------------------------------------------------

You may also lik these episodes:
Buzz Aldrin

Georgia Holt

Bill Thompson

Mothers are always proud when their children are successful, and especially so when their grown children become entertainment stars.

One such mom is Georgia Holt, whose daughter is one of those rare performers who is such a star she’s known by just one name — Cher.

I met Georgia Holt in 1988, after she had written a book called “Star Mothers.” which told not only her story and Cher’s, but the mothers of many otgher stars.
Here now, from 19o88, Georgia Holt:

Georgia Holt is 94 now. Cher will be 74 in a couple of weeks.