Tapestry

Barbara Hollander

The best way to get a front row seat to the amazing life of Gino Hollander is by reading the memoir of his wife Barbara, who has been his constant companion for over 50 years.

Barbara was already a filmmaker when they met. She helped Gino get his first job in the film industry and was instrumental in his taking the name Gino. When he thought about moving to Spain with three young kids of their own and two other boys from Gino's first marriage in the picture, with no obvious means of support and after just starting the life of an artist, Barbara resisted but agreed. You can imagine what goes on in the mind of a mother with three young kids, moving to a foreign country with no contacts, almost no money and not able to speak the language. Still she stayed by his side and flourished.

She writes about this and so much more in TAPESTRY. Not only does Barbara educate her audience with amazing detail and astounding stories, but she does so with humor and wit. Often the book reads like a gripping novel which hooks the reader in early chapters and pulls you to the end, while you find yourself shaking your head that a family could live a life so full of adventure.

Here is an excerpt:

It has never occurred to him that he could possibly fail at anything he set out to do. His supreme self-confidence, hard work and optimism always carry him through. I marvel as over and over again I see him do those things he can’t possibly do. Take as an example his inexplicable and almost spur of the moment decision to be a painter. He couldn’t draw a straight line. Hardly had ever tried. There was an easel in the house and some art materials left over when I finally abandoned the whole thing but that was no excuse. He said at the time and has repeated over and over that he wanted to escape the pressures of the market place and instead put all effort into a life’s work at what was meaningful. His wanting to get everything done yesterday didn’t go too well with the rush and wait atmosphere of film making. Too many conferences too much of everything.

He knew intuitively that Europe was going to be a more hospitable place for him. In Europe there still is a respect for an artist, an atmosphere more conducive to pure creativity, not the bottom line dollar credo of the States. In starting out as a painter he needed, he knew, a place where he could live more simply, more meaningfully, than Manhattan. He had no fear, no second thoughts, he just rushed off impetuously. And of course it worked. Of course he was right.

I spoke with their son, Scott, who grew up in Spain and now works in the film industry in Los Angeles. I expected that when Barbara wrote the memoir, almost five years ago when this blog is published, she must have referred to notes and perhaps had started chapters when she was younger. After all, when she wrote the book, she was 85 years old. They lived in Aspen at the time.

"No, she pretty much sat down and started writing it then!," Scott explained. What is so amazing about that fact is how many particular memories are described with lucid skill and in such an entertaining manner.

Get a copy and enjoy!

(Click on the book cover for the Amazon link)