An excerpt worth reading from "Kate Remembered" by Katharine Hepburns' close friend and biographer A. Scott Berg:
After more than ninety years of challenges-personal, professional, emotional, and physical-Kate was surrendering, and seemed happy doing so. "Life's tough for everybody," I heard her say more than once, "and that's why most people become victims." She lived most of her life as a contestant in that great struggle, always pushing herself hard, riding the wave and sometimes swimming ahead of it. "The natural law is to settle," she once said. "I broke that law."
Because Hepburn lived so long, for so many years ahead of her time, most of her fans forgot or failed to realize that she broke other "laws" in her lifetime as well. The biggest was that she refused to live as a "woman" in what was very much a man's world. She conducted her acting career as any freelance actor might, seldom seeking the protection of a studio or a manager or agent. She conducted her personal relationships with that same independent spirit. Her initial response to any interdiction was always, "Says who? Just watch." In so doing, she became a hero, someone men and women of all ages had to admire.
* I really appreciated this sentiment. It may sound preachy, but often times I find that it's important to be reminded of great role models past and present. Especially in a day and age where the media so constantly bombards us with figures who seem like cheap knock offs rather than the real McCoy.
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