Title: The Third Gilmore Girl: a memoir
Author: Kelly Bishop
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: September 17, 2024
ISBN: 978-1-6680-2377-8

{Book review written in sestina form.}

Kelly Bishop’s mother gave her freedom.  
Rise above ironing a philanderer’s shirts; choose not to have children.  
The ballet, a haven, a place to escape, a girl could air her flair.
Discipline, joy, and endurance shaped Bishop as a young dancer.
Then, 1960s New York City, auditions led to harder work.
Landing her role in A Chorus Line took grit, honesty, and persistence.

Even Michael Bennett’s manipulations yielded to Bishop’s persistence.
Choreography, costume changes, a chorus girl has little time for freedom.
Show after show after show, audience fervor eases tough work.
In her private life, Bishop preferred caring for pets to raising children.
At some point she knew she’d age out of being a dancer;
turning down dancing gigs to pursue acting took flair.

In 1976, Bishop’s Tony Award speech showcased her flair.
Even as an award-winner, finding acting jobs took persistence
Elaine Stritch in Company inspired Bishop’s move to acting from dancing.
Alas, a marriage to Peter the gambler compromised her freedom.
A father to one he never saw, still, he insisted Bishop have his children?
That’s when she knew this marriage would not work.

She’d never “fix him,” and getting a divorce was also hard work,
but adversity only seemed to enhance Bishop’s flair.
She chose to stay on the pill. She chose to avoid having children.
She nurtured a longing to move to Hollywood, to test her persistence,
and walked away from her beloved A Chorus Line, reclaimed her freedom
because she knew a woman’s dignity could grow beyond a girl dancer.

Playing a madam in Hawaii Five-O to a mother in Dirty Dancing,
crying real tears on cue proved to come easy to her; she loved actor’s work.
Always taking pleasure in her part nourished her supply of inner freedom.
Discovering that for film takes that demanded matching, she had real flair.
But not so much for keeping a boyfriend whose social climber persistence
led to terminating a pregnancy. Abortion was right for her & the unborn.

Who says castmates can’t be like one’s own children?
Just ask Emily Gilmore, who was more of a socialite than a dancer.
As a dry-humored grandmother whose pride and persistence
made her the Gilmore woman that show needed to work.
Was it her regal demeanor and her natural flair;
Or, maybe it took the essence of Kelly Bishop, a model of true freedom.

Yes, a woman can relish freedom! She’s never required to have children.
She can explore the magnitude of her flair with a heart floating like a dancer.
Bishop’s memoir inspires us to delight in hard work and savor persistence.

©Rebecca Jane Johnson, 2024

Rebecca Jane is the author of She Bleeds Sestinas because as they say, “if it bleeds, it leads.” She writes book reviews in sestina form because sestinas are circular, not linear, which is more harmonious with mind/body/spirit biorhythms.