Sadly, Olivia Goldsmith died after completing Wish Upon A Star. Her close friend and assistant Nan Robinson remembers her:
At the time we met, Olivia lived in a historical Vermont stone house that she had renovated. She frequented a small diner in town. It was through her waitress, Etta Kennett, that Olivia and I came to work together. She asked Etta if she knew of anyone who could help with typing. Etta responded, ‘I know a little girl who always has a laptop with her and works on manuscripts when she isn’t driving a school bus.’ With that, Olivia left a diner napkin that had her name and number on it with Etta.
When Etta gave me the napkin, I was so excited by the possibility of actually being able to give my opinion on a writer’s work I called and made an appointment to meet Olivia a few weeks after she had returned from the book tour for First Wives Club, her huge bestseller. She told me about her work, what she expected and then sent me up to her office to ‘fool around with the Mac’. When I went back downstairs to let her know I was finished, she handed me a copy of her book along with the manuscript for her second. ‘Learn my style by reading and then make any comments you’d like on Flavor.’ That’s how we started working together.
The winter of ’93 brought an offer from HarperCollins U.S. for a worldwide three-book deal. Olivia and I were on our usual morning beach walk in Hollywood, Florida. Olivia said she wouldn’t do the deal without me. My response: ‘Well, it seems like a fun thing to do.’ She laughed. Obviously, I don’t know how to count, do I? Wish Upon A Star is her eleventh novel.
Olivia was a strong believer in: ‘Have pen will travel.’ So we did. Paris twice, Italy three times, England at least six times, India, Wyoming, a road trip of the California coast, not to mention other places within the United States while on book tour, and for speeches and public appearances. When we weren’t traveling the reward system worked for us best: hot fudge sundaes or shopping at designer outlets. As for our adventures in Hollywood – that’s a whole other fairy tale. I can say that Olivia was proud to see her ‘words turned into flesh’ with the movie The First Wives Club. Having it hailed a phenomenon was a definite bonus.
As if book writing wasn’t enough construction, Olivia also loved to remodel. She worked on her stone house; a classic six co-op; a three-story townhouse; two lofts and a cottage but her most challenging endeavor was Beaver Hall – a Georgian mansion on the Hudson River in upstate New York.
For more serious realities I have to thank her for being there when I became seriously ill four years ago before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
I haven’t even made a dent in thanking Olivia for all the impact she’s made on my life and continues to make. If life could mimic fairy tales then I would wish upon a star for my best friend to come back so I could ‘live happily ever after’.
I hope you enjoy Wish Upon A Star – Olivia had a love affair with London and this is a fitting tribute to it.
Nan Robinson