NYWIFT Blog

Goodbye, winter caps—hello, summer hats! It’s that glorious time of year where many of us can switch from content creators to content consumers. NYWIFT members Mellini Kantayya and Kathryn O’Kane have put together #SummerHours, a series of fun summer books, movies, and TV shows by or about women.

By Kathryn O’Kane

When Sheila Nevins presented her book You Don’t Look Your Age…and Other Fairy Tales to a full house of NYWIFT members at HBO ahead of her book launch, she read the poignant last chapter about a pivotal moment in her life involving her mother. It was both vivid and heartbreaking. Nevins, a long-time members and friend of NYWIFT, has written a book that defies categorization. Part memoir, part fantasy, it provides a window into the life of a career woman whose name is synonymous with HBO Documentary Films. The book is filled with stories about the hopes of a young woman starting out in the business, the guilt of a working mother, and the fears of aging in an industry that celebrates youth. She manages to be honest even when she’s lying.

At the end of her presentation, Nevins insisted that everyone listen to the audiobook version. And why not, since so many of her fabulous friends lent their voices: from Glenn Close and Gloria Vanderbilt, to Lena Dunham and Gayle King. So when Meryl Streep read the last chapter, I already knew how it ended, and fresh tears astonished me, nonetheless.

(Cover photo by Bridgette Matthews)