Dear Mr. You (21 page)
Authors: Mary -Louise Parker
When I heard from his doctor that he would die in a matter of months or even weeks, I called him. I tried to talk both of us out of it altogether. I knew he was afraid and I tried to say all this stuff about, I don’t know. It sounds so inane now. All the usual stuff about how no one really knows anything, and he had every reason to stay open to miracles. We didn’t know for sure what would
happen, I kept saying, and he said, yes, you’re right. Then because he was the wizard of all fathers he asked me what I was doing, like that should have mattered. I said well, okay, I’m standing in this really awesome bookstore. You’d love it, I said. He gave a sigh of longing and said, oh my, tell me, they have anything interesting? I said yeah, tons. I’ll send you a book from here, how does that sound. He said that’s wonderful, that’s just tremendous, thank you sweetie. I told him I was sending him some candy too and he thanked me, said he’d be on the lookout for it, and he then said, tell me, what are you writing now? You working on anything? I said oh Daddy, just little things, I don’t know, and he said okay, but listen to me
just write, keep writing, promise me that you will.
First and hearty thanks to Scott Henderson for the constant encouragement and for leading me to the brilliant Eric Simonoff. (Eric, you are a giant.) Without him there would be no book. Humble thanks to Colin Harrison and Nan Graham at Scribner for their enthusiasm about this project and confidence in me; I am so grateful. For help and support: Debra Kletter, Larissa Laskin, Nicole Gillingham, Claudia Ballard, Nicole Burdette, Jake Honig, Frandy Rubio (you too, Andy), Amanda Hosten St. Louis, Katrina Diaz, Kate Barry, K. Todd Freeman, Josh Ritter, Hunter Parrish, Joe Morra, and Kirsten Parker. Peter Hedges, for help with the birthing of babies and books (and for Lucas). Deep bows to those who said that I could and should write: Craig Lucas, Mike Nichols, Mark Strand, Eli Attie, Mary Foote, Elizabeth Cuthrell, Merri Biechler, Jessica Lamendella, Dava Waite, Mary Karr, the chief
himself, David Granger, Ryan D’Agostino, and everyone else at
Esquire
. For keeping it real and surreal, that’s you,
DONKEY
, okay? Gratitude from
MY HEART’S DEPTHS
to my siblings Jay, Sage, and Bruce. My thanks is
FOR REAL LIFE
, especially to and for my two
ETERNALS
, my son, my daughter. To them,
ETERNALLY
.
© TINA TURNBOW
MARY-LOUISE PARKER
is a Tony, Emmy, Obie, and Golden Globe Award–winning actress. Her writing has appeared in
Esquire, The Riveter, Bust
, and
Bullett
. This is her first book.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Parker, Mary-Louise.
Dear Mr. You / Mary-Louise Parker.
pages cm
1. Parker, Mary-Louise. 2. Parker, Mary-Louise—Relations with men. 3. Parker, Mary-Louise—Family. 4. Parker, Mary-Louise—Friends and associates. 5. Actors—United States—Biography. I. Title.
PN2287.P267A3 2015
791.4302'8092—dc23
2015017170
ISBN 978-1-5011-0783-2
ISBN 978-1-5011-0785-6 (ebook)
“Dear Daddy”
and
“Dear Mr. You”
appeared in somewhat altered versions titled “My Dad, My Boy” and “If You’re Good You Get Dessert” in the June/July 2012, volume 157, nos. 6 and 7, and the August 2009, volume 152, no. 2 issues of
Esquire
, respectively.