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Jane Seymour Opens Her Heart in Writing 'Among Angels'
Filed under: Celeb Parents, Celeb News & Interviews
Jane Seymour hopes her new book is inspirational to others. Credit: Bryan Bedder, Getty Images
Jane Seymour first captured global attention as Bond Girl Solitaire in "Live and Let Die."
The 59-year-old actress went on to produce and star in the long-running TV show "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman," and, more recently, she made audiences giggle with her racy portrayal of a randy cougar in "Wedding Crashers" and brought in votes as she waltzed her way through the fifth season of "Dancing with the Stars."
Lately, she's been busy with her furniture and jewelry lines, and being a mother to Katie, 29, and Sean, 24, from her third marriage with David Flynn, and twins, John and Kristopher, who are nearly 15, with her current and fourth husband, James Keach. (Fun celebrity factoid: John's godfather was Johnny Cash and Kris's was Christopher Reeve). She is also the stepmother of Jenni, 30, Flynn's daughter, and Kalen, 33, Keach's son.
And, if acting, designing and mothering wasn't enough, Seymour has a new book out. "Among Angels" is about, you guessed it, angels, and their role in our lives.
Seymour recently spoke with ParentDish about the book, family and opening her heart.
The 59-year-old actress went on to produce and star in the long-running TV show "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman," and, more recently, she made audiences giggle with her racy portrayal of a randy cougar in "Wedding Crashers" and brought in votes as she waltzed her way through the fifth season of "Dancing with the Stars."
Lately, she's been busy with her furniture and jewelry lines, and being a mother to Katie, 29, and Sean, 24, from her third marriage with David Flynn, and twins, John and Kristopher, who are nearly 15, with her current and fourth husband, James Keach. (Fun celebrity factoid: John's godfather was Johnny Cash and Kris's was Christopher Reeve). She is also the stepmother of Jenni, 30, Flynn's daughter, and Kalen, 33, Keach's son.
And, if acting, designing and mothering wasn't enough, Seymour has a new book out. "Among Angels" is about, you guessed it, angels, and their role in our lives.
Seymour recently spoke with ParentDish about the book, family and opening her heart.
ParentDish: What is "Among Angels" about?
Jane Seymour: I wrote a book called "Open Hearts," which spoke about the philosophy of what it is to open your heart and how it impacts our lives, and this is really a sequel to it. The concept is that if you live with an open heart, then you are able to receive the benefits of angels and, indeed, you are able to become an angel for someone whether or not you know you are.
When I looked up the definition of angels, it said they are messengers and human beings. It could be any one of us at any given time. Quite often, you go through life and some extraordinary thing happens and people say, "Oh, my gosh, you're an angel doing that for me."
I wanted to put together a book of stories, of extraordinary things happening, that could not have happened to the people they happened to if their hearts weren't open and they were not ready to acknowledge and receive whatever it was that came their way. I also wanted to show the essence of an angel is something in every faith and in literature. You can ignite the angel in you or be receptive to angels. I collected stories, found things in literature and poetry and, of course, put all my art work in it, as well. It's supposed to be an inspirational book.
PD: When did your heart open?
JS: My mother went through a lot in her life. She was in a Japanese concentration camp in Indonesia for three and a half years in World War II, and many other terrible things happened to her. Yet, she always stayed positive and she always told my sisters and I that if we opened our hearts, especially in times of great struggle, rather than closing it off and letting it eat us up inside, lived in the present and reached out and helped someone, it would help us in whatever we were dealing with in our lives.
PD: You have a stepdaughter and I always admired how close you stayed with her, even after you divorced her father.
JS: I think those people who can't understand that have never had a relationship with another person. If you love a child, you're not going to not love that child because you're not genetically or legally connected. Jenny, as far as I'm concerned, is my first born. She was the first child I ever held in my arms, ever fed, made laugh or changed diapers. There are six children in my family. I have an equal amount of love for Kalen, my husband's son, who I only met when he was 13. I'm very close to him. All the children are equally loved. There's no question of steps or no steps. They're equally loved and equally taken care of. We make absolutely no separation between who was born to whom.
PD: And equally told off, I hope.
JS: Oh definitely! We're a very close family and we're very friendly with their mothers. Jenny's mother and I are very close and also Kalen's mother. That is also astounding to people, but it's true.
PD: How do you do that? That's very hard for a lot of people.
JS: I always think, well, it's not my relationship that failed with them, it's their relationship with someone I love or did love that failed. And, in both cases, they are parents of a child I love and I have to take care of, and you parent together with someone. I'm not going to do something that the other parent wouldn't want and vice versa. When my daughter, Katie, was born I sent her when she was 3 months old to have a play date with her half-sister and my then-husband's ex-wife and everyone thought I was crazy and, actually, it was the best thing that ever happened. They totally bonded and Jenny's mother is referred to in our house as Mamma Linda.
When I looked up the definition of angels, it said they are messengers and human beings. It could be any one of us at any given time. Quite often, you go through life and some extraordinary thing happens and people say, "Oh, my gosh, you're an angel doing that for me."
I wanted to put together a book of stories, of extraordinary things happening, that could not have happened to the people they happened to if their hearts weren't open and they were not ready to acknowledge and receive whatever it was that came their way. I also wanted to show the essence of an angel is something in every faith and in literature. You can ignite the angel in you or be receptive to angels. I collected stories, found things in literature and poetry and, of course, put all my art work in it, as well. It's supposed to be an inspirational book.
PD: When did your heart open?
JS: My mother went through a lot in her life. She was in a Japanese concentration camp in Indonesia for three and a half years in World War II, and many other terrible things happened to her. Yet, she always stayed positive and she always told my sisters and I that if we opened our hearts, especially in times of great struggle, rather than closing it off and letting it eat us up inside, lived in the present and reached out and helped someone, it would help us in whatever we were dealing with in our lives.
PD: You have a stepdaughter and I always admired how close you stayed with her, even after you divorced her father.
JS: I think those people who can't understand that have never had a relationship with another person. If you love a child, you're not going to not love that child because you're not genetically or legally connected. Jenny, as far as I'm concerned, is my first born. She was the first child I ever held in my arms, ever fed, made laugh or changed diapers. There are six children in my family. I have an equal amount of love for Kalen, my husband's son, who I only met when he was 13. I'm very close to him. All the children are equally loved. There's no question of steps or no steps. They're equally loved and equally taken care of. We make absolutely no separation between who was born to whom.
PD: And equally told off, I hope.
JS: Oh definitely! We're a very close family and we're very friendly with their mothers. Jenny's mother and I are very close and also Kalen's mother. That is also astounding to people, but it's true.
PD: How do you do that? That's very hard for a lot of people.
JS: I always think, well, it's not my relationship that failed with them, it's their relationship with someone I love or did love that failed. And, in both cases, they are parents of a child I love and I have to take care of, and you parent together with someone. I'm not going to do something that the other parent wouldn't want and vice versa. When my daughter, Katie, was born I sent her when she was 3 months old to have a play date with her half-sister and my then-husband's ex-wife and everyone thought I was crazy and, actually, it was the best thing that ever happened. They totally bonded and Jenny's mother is referred to in our house as Mamma Linda.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
10-21-2010 @ 10:02AM
MFlynn said...Yadda, yadda, yap yap.........do I believe ANY of that crap?
The tooth fairy before all that sugar.
Reply
10-21-2010 @ 10:35AM
Lori said...Wow. Jaded much? Just because you can't envision it for your own life, and can't understand the concept, doesn't mean it can't happen for other people. I feel sorry for you.
10-21-2010 @ 11:50AM
Trudy said...Flynn is an example of one WITHOUT an open heart...going to be a great book...my sister Valene is like Jane...what a blessing in the lives of everyone who meets her
10-21-2010 @ 1:39PM
Sue said...Why so hateful? Where is respect? It doesn't cost anything to be kind. Jane Seymour is to be commended on her attitude. I, too, have divorce in my family, along with several steps, and we try to maintain family harmony such as she discusses. It can be and IS done so this maligning attitude is out of order.
10-21-2010 @ 3:17PM
Don said...Guys. Russian invented a new superweapon. All are waiting for what will be
news here: Http://yep.it/rweapon
10-21-2010 @ 11:43AM
scott said...Jane is still one of the sexiest and most beautiful women in the world.
Reply
10-21-2010 @ 12:26PM
Patty said...Always was a beautiful lady and a class act!
Reply
10-21-2010 @ 12:45PM
Eric said...MISS JANE, YOU GO GIRL -- LOVELY WOMAN, INSIDE & OUT!
Reply
10-21-2010 @ 2:08PM
Shari said...A nice interview. I'm sorry for the things that her mother went through. Sometimes we can't imagine what another's steps have been. An open heart and an open MIND, CAN help overcome anything. Also, forgiveness. Even the most guarded and cynical among us can be helped and loved and softened with these attributes. TY to jane Seymour for sharing this with us.
Reply
10-21-2010 @ 3:23PM
PETEY said...instead of constantly promoting herself,it might help Jane to get a little couch time.Four husbands later,and she is still the center of her universe!
Reply
10-21-2010 @ 4:54PM
Andrea Jahnke said...Met Jane in person at a recent gallery showing where she displayed her artwork. Found her to be self absorbed and self promoting. May she continue to paint a lovely portrait promoting herself. She obviously knows how to make money off of it while fooling most around her.
Reply
10-21-2010 @ 5:24PM
liguy said...Four marriages? What's wrong with this picture?
Reply
10-21-2010 @ 8:18PM
Lisa said...My family situation is like Jane's. I wasn't able to have children so when my husband and I married it was the first time I ever had kids I was responsible for. He had a boy and a girl from his first marriage, ages 10 and 2 respectively, and we immediately formed a family bond that is still there today even though both kids are grown and have kids of their own. I'm called "Mama Lisa" by my stepdaughter and now I am "GrandMama Lisa" too and I love it! I also remember something my stepson said to me when we were going through fertility treatments that really made me stop and think. Out of the blue one day, at age 14, he asked me, "Why do you want a baby? You have me and Courtney." My heart ached and soared at the same time. We're still close to this day.
Reply
10-21-2010 @ 8:23PM
clancyanne said...I loved Jane in "Dr.Quinn Medicine Woman" and I thought she was terrific on "Dancing..." She is definitely a class act with truly a heart of gold. God bless you Jane Seymour and I shall purchase and read your book.
Reply
10-21-2010 @ 8:26PM
marie said...It is a misnomer to refer to the Japanese Internment Camps as Concentration Camps...concentration camps were synonymous with Death Camps of the Holocaust. While I'm sure it was no picnic for people of Japanese descent to be placed in such relocation/internment camps throughout WWII, they were not placed there for the purpose genocide..therefore, it is historically incorrect and a distortion of facts to refer to them as 'concentration camps'...as for Jane Seymour - in total...I couldn't care less about her, just an 'overthehill' actress trying to keep her name in the public view. She's a billionaire, she should give all the proceeds from her book to war orphans or some such cause - the angels told me to tell her that. Have a great day!
Reply
10-21-2010 @ 9:09PM
Hooper said...Maybe you read that wrong. Her mother was a "guest" in a Japanese concentration camp in Indonesia. Very bad place to be. Would you trade places with her and give away all your money?
10-22-2010 @ 5:31AM
joe t said...Loved "Medicine Woman". Great story lines about the human situation. She IS beautiful, but not a great actress. She delivered all her lines like emotively she sounded literally out of breath! Like reading a book where every thought ends with an exclamation point! It's an exhausting read.
Reply
10-22-2010 @ 5:33AM
joe t said...Sorry. I meant "She delivered all her lines SO emotively she sounded literally out of breath!"
Reply
10-22-2010 @ 9:03AM
Glenn Posner said...A full life indeed.
Reply
10-22-2010 @ 2:43PM
Cynthia said...I think Jane is a classy lady to have an open heart with so many people in her life..How many can say they have that type of love. It's floors me to read that some people are such haters. You can tell the ones that have no life and love because they speak ill of people who love life no matter what come their way. Maybe the way they look at life is how they treat people in their life..Whatever you allow your mind to dwell upon is what make your surroundings what they are. What condition is you state of mind marie?
Reply