By Attila Honey

The night I met Jackie Kennedy was almost surreal. The seventies in New York was an exciting time in many ways. I call those years my “bad girl” years because I was busy with my career, networking to beat the band and just loving New York. There was always something to do. No matter that the air was so dirty that you couldn’t wear a white sweater ten minutes before it was gray and no matter that everyone had triple locks on their doors and bars on their windows because crime ran rampant. New York was made for me at that point in my life. The air just seem to vibrate with excitement – the Met, the New York City Ballet, great parties, Broadway, great jazz joints in the Village. It was like that.

My spin now on those early years is that the only people who live in Manhattan are those who are seriously ambitious or have a screw loose– which I was and had. My best friend Lovey always saw to it that I went to the right parties where I could meet the right director and get the right part…like the night I met Jackie Kennedy.

When you work in the theatre – whether it’s on Broadway or Off Broadway – rarely do actors eat before a performance but rather, they go out after the show which is late – like 11 – 11:30. So that’s what I always did. We’d all go out to some trendy bar/restaurant and eat, have a few martinis and then go to a party. On this particular night, Lovey and I went out to eat, had a few drinks and smoked a joint. Yep! That was my life (and more) in the seventies. I was foot loose and fancy free. But on this particular night, after swilling our martinis and “other”, he said, “Oh I forgot, we have to go to a party at George Plimpton’s tonight.” By that time, I was feeling so good – I didn’t care where I went. But when you were invited to a Plimpton party, you could expect to meet the “who is who and who is doing what everywhere.“

The minute we rang the bell, his butler opened the door and before I knew it, I -hear, “Lovey where have you been and I so glad you brought her – I would have been furious with you if you didn’t and oh have you met Jackie?” The Jackie he was referring to was Jackie Kennedy. We were introduced and she put her hand out in such a way – as though it appeared to me that I was supposed to kiss her ring. She always photographed beautifully – but in person, she looked quite different. Yes, she was always elegant but her eyes were so far apart that it gave her face a rather bizarre look close up. In any case, I deferred from kissing her ring and was beginning to feel abit “loopy” and said, “Oh, it’s just so nice to meet you, love your hat – but I’ve got to get off my feet.” From that point on, I sat and just watched this ballet of movers and shakers – each networking their behinds off, kissing up and not meaning a word of it. But that was the world I was in – and was very much a part of. That is how business today is done – if you are ambitious – which I’m not.

Thank God I’ve matured and can look back on those years when my life was so wild and say, “Thank God it’s over!” The truth is, there is no love in a life like that – only self interest and ambition. But that was me and it has helped to form the person I am today to myself – meaning I like living in my own skin and my God is the Reality of my life. I don’t regret those experiences because it has helped me to make friends on every level. But the night I met Jackie Kennedy could have developed into a real conversation had I not been so looped.