Skywriting: A Life Out of the Blue

I always enjoy watching Jane Pauley on television, and this book provides the same enjoyment. She is honest, funny, and intelligent. Jane is very open about her mental health issues. She acknowledges her bipolar disorder without blaming anybody, or feeling sorry for herself. It helped me to deal with similar issues. You will enjoy this book. Jane's life and career before the Today show is also very interesting to discover. The cover has a great photo. Jane looks as young as ever.

In Jane Pauley's book "Skywriting a life out of the blue," she tells her memoirs and family secrets with love and without judgement.Jane and her sister Ann,grew up in the 1950's in a new Indiana suburb,with a mother and father who loved them. Jane did well in school and after college,at an early age, became a host on The Today Show and later an interviewer on Dateline.However,beneath the happy facade,in a job that would create envy in many women,Jane feels ambivalent,and after marrying,she feels torn between her home and children. During her 40's,she is unable to comprehend the dark feelings that would come unbidden,over her.Periodically,throughout her life,she is attacked by hives,that the M.D.'s regarded as idiopathic.(no known cause). She is also during this time,unable to understand her Father's peculiar moods,until she and her sister,find bottles and evidence of heavy secret drinking.She is disappointed, however,she does find a good setting for him to dry out, under supervision.They re-unite as father and daughter. Again,the hives have starded up,in a very severe way. Her Doctor gives a cortisone type drug,which induces her first hypomanic attack. Jane has never experienced this before,and reveals she has bi-polar illness.During a stay in the hopital,she is stabilized on lithium and other meds.She also learns how to pace herself. She tells her story,in the way she reported others,her purpose is to help people. As she saws at the end,there are no charmed lives only just lives.

Jane Pauley, that intelligent ray of sunshine, AND bipolar disease? The news dropped me in my tracks. Here was a trusted, normal face on a condition I've always looked upon as a scary problem to run from. I, who almost never reads celebrity memoirs, scooped up SKYWRITING immediately to learn more. SKYWRITING begins with the 2001 bipolar episode, a side effect of a heavy dosing of steroids for persistent hives. If the news stopped me, just a television viewer who does not know Pauley personally, imagine what it did to her, a person who always seemed to be sailing forward in her busy public life. As she healed, she began experimenting with what she calls "skywriting," starting out with an image or memory and seeing where the pen took her. When she was done, she had revisited her childhood, adolescence, career in television and family life. She invites readers along on her journey to self rediscovery. Pauley's writing is clear as a bell, and the chapters on the bipolar experience are delivered without overdramatization. Once the book turns to her life, it measures out in segments reminiscent of "Dateline" pacing, with segues fraught with foreshadowing. Those looking for hot gossip will not find it. There are several personal revelations but none that will change the way Pauley is received in the world: warm, smart and genuine. Few journeys of the self are as downright decent and ultimately as reassuring as this one.

I have always admired Jane Pauley - she always seemed serene and in control, but in "Skywriting" she shows that, as with the lovely swan gliding across the water, there is a lot of activity going on below the surface. She writes about growing up in Indiana, her quick rise to the top in broadcast journalism while maintaining a private personal life, and the conflicts involved with being a working mother. This is also the story of her parents and the midwestern values that they represented which are still evident in Jane Pauley's character today. She also writes honestly about a bipolar episode brought on by a reaction to prescription drugs. Written in a stream of consciousness style, the book is a coming-of-middle-age appreciation of a life filled with personal and professional success. There were many times in her life when Jane Pauley just seemed to be in the right place at the right time, but once she was there, she handled it beautifully - it is great to go along for the ride.

The first few pages of Jane Pauley's memoir, "Skywriting" felt cerebral and--in spite of being a fan--had me thinking the story of her life might be too high-minded for my tastes. This was NOT the case. Jane Pauley's writing style unfolded in a way that was as familiar and charming as that likeable person seen on television all these years. And in spite of her shyness and her fierce protection of her private life, in these pages she lets loose and allows us to follow her path of self-discovery. In several aspects she tells the story of many of us who have suddenly found ourselves in the midst of middle age: the conflict of being a working mother ("...if I work full time does that make me a part-time mom?"); dealing with aging parents and well-guarded family secrets; reaping the joys of a close and loving relationship with a sister and a spouse; and, my favorite, that "we're in this together." As she puts forth in the book, she has often been praised for her "genuineness" and "authenticity." This quick read is no exception and I highly recommend taking an afternoon to get to know the real Jane Pauley. Many thanks to the author for "having the courage to say yes." From the author of "I'm Living Your Dream Life," and "The Things I Wish I'd Said," McKenna Publishing Group.