Jane Seymour and Christy Cashman have a lot in common. Besides both being actresses, producers and writers, they both understand the process of coping with grief.
Jane, who has been a part of the Forefront Living Foundation fundraising efforts in 2018 and 2021, also produced a 2014 documentary, “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me,” about the singer’s long, public battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Through the years, she has dealt with the death of loved ones.
For instance, when she was 40 she lost her father to a battle with cancer while divorcing her husband and discovered that painting helped her to cope.
As Jane explained to Abigail Seaberg, “Basically, I was suddenly homeless with two kids and no money. I just turned to painting… I painted my way out of the lowest part of my life.”
On the other hand, Christy’s book, “The Truth About Horses,” is about a young girl who loses her mother to death, emotionally loses her father and then her horse Trusted Treasure. It was while Jane was in Ireland filming “Harry Wild” that she attended an event and met Christy, who handed over a “15-lb. thing” that was the copy for the book she had been writing for nine years. Jane halfheartedly agreed to take it. But when she read it, she said, “Oh my god, this is amazing. I read it a second time on an airplane and everyone thought I had fallen apart.”
She was so sold on it that she signed up to make it into a movie.
Christy said the inspiration for the book was the fact that people experience loss in so many ways. Jane pointed out that while everyone has challenges, the book’s message is for people of all ages.
Following Jane’s lead, Christy will be supporting Forefront Living Foundation by serving as the keynote speaker for the 2024 Each Moment Matters Luncheon being co-chaired by Katie Townend Doherty and Katherine Wyker on Friday, September 13, at the Hilton Anatole.
Suggestion: Even if you’ve never suffered a loss or liked horses, get your reservation in, check out the book and settle back for a great read of this 392-pager that was just published last August. To quote Carly Simon, “Don’t waste another moment reading these simple lines of praise. Go straight to the horse’s mouth. By the way, it’s a winner.”
And that’s just the tip of Christy’s iceberg. She and her husband own Kilkea Castle, Ireland’s oldest inhabited castle, that has become a 140-bedroom, 180-acre resort.
* Photo courtesy of Each Moment Matters