I have been telling my story of serving as Doris Day’s personal secretary in the 1970s since my book Day at a Time: An Indiana Girl’s Sentimental Journey to Doris Day’s Hollywood and Beyond came out. It’s available on this Hawthorne Publishing website.
I am always happy to share some stories detailing my “dream-come-true” story with fans of all ages.
Two weeks ago, though, I had a phone call from a well known national weekly magazine asking if I would contribute to a story about Doris. The reporter who wrote a story about me and Doris in an earlier issue, called me again asking if she could send me a list of questions and if I would answer what I knew. However, the topic was never mentioned during the call. Later that day I received her e-mail with about 15 questions asking for my input. I was literally shocked at the subject, let alone the questions. What really bothered me is that this magazine was one I have promoted for its POSITIVE stories on Doris over the years.
Yes, I knew about the incident mentioned and was with Doris for much of the time being covered. But Doris is a person as well as a star, and not every piece of information is fair game, especially since she is an exemplary humanitarian to this day and a charming, decent woman as well as a movie personality. It was a delicate and personal situation from earlier years that this magazine wished to cover. I chose NOT to answer or deliberate on the subject. I phoned the reporter the next day, sharing my concerns, and told her I would not contribute to this story. I added that I was shocked at the direction the magazine was going, given the subject of this story. The reporter agreed with me, admitting she felt the same way. I told her how much I have praised this magazine for their positive stories about Doris. Now, I was reluctant to continue to do that. I am waiting to see if a story on the subject materializes.
On a very positive note, my story ’”Sentimental Journey with Doris Day” is currently the cover story in the October issue of SENIOR LIFE Indianapolis, a monthly free magazine on magazine racks of most grocery stores in the Indianapolis area. A couple of months ago I ran into Chef Wendell Fowler , motivational speaker and TV host, at a local Fresh Thyme store. He was featuring his latest books on eating right. After chatting for a couple minutes, we learned he worked for The Indianapolis Star and I wrote for The Indianapolis News at about the same time. Finally, my Doris Day story came up in the conversation. He became very interested in writing about it and asked for my input which I was happy to share. Chef Wendell captured some interesting comments and I was pleased with his account of my adventures with Doris Day…a very POSITIVE story.
Perhaps all the publicity, constant, about the lurid lives of the Kardashians and other tawdry series on TV have corrupted our tastes for entertainment news. In the case of Doris Day, there is always something refreshing and interesting to say about her without any need for sensationalizing.
Mary Anne Barothy