Natalie Wood in her perch

Natalie in her "perch" working on her relaxing needlepoint. Photo taken by Dennis Davern

I've posted this photo of Natalie several times at this blog. It is also included in "Goodbye Natalie Goodbye Splendour" and if I had had my way, it would've been the cover of GNGS. Those in the publishing world didn't think it was a glamorous enough or recognizable photo of Natalie. I appreciated the business end of publishing, so I deferred. It takes a lot to produce, distribute, and market books. You have to allow publishers their expertise in such matters, but this is the Natalie I had hoped to portray, right up front.

This is the Natalie only a select few got to see. This is the Natalie content with life's simpler pleasures. This is Natalie, the woman, enjoying her day creating something she would later proudly display when finished: perhaps a pillow cover, a wall hanging, a scarf. This is the Natalie who would sit in the wheelhouse, upon what came to be known as "Natalie's Perch" and for hours on end her expression of "all's right with the world" would be prominent. Her girls would be off jet-skiing, or swimming, or playing in the main salon, and Natalie would later take them ashore for dinner and shopping, then spend the quality time with them she so loved.

This is the matronly Natalie, the one the public might not recognize, but this is the real Natalie, the one who was content with being a wife and mother, but also there existed Natalie, the legendary actress, the one who loved the entertainment industry and knew she had a lot more to offer. That's the Natalie we see in compelling, classic films, and the Natalie who ended up paying with her life for being nothing more than who she is: a wonderful, true-to-life mixture of reality and ambition.