Book Review: Betty White's Pearls of Wisdom by Patty Sullivan

Betty White’s Pearls of Wisdom
by Patty Sullivan (Biography White)

This book’s author, Patty Sullivan, is the wife of blind singer and motivational speaker Tom Sullivan (a fixture on TV talk shows of the 1970s and 1980s). Before Patty and Tom were even married, when Tom was singing in a Cape Cod bar, actress Betty White and her husband Allen Ludden (who were both appearing in a play nearby) saw Sullivan’s musical act and befriended the young couple. From this point in their lives and beyond, Patty and Tom became a close part of Betty’s life, especially after Allen passed away. Over the years, Betty became Gram III to Patty and Tom’s two children, and they often spent the holidays together as a family, either at Patty and Tom’s home in the Los Angeles area, or the oceanside home in Carmel, CA that Betty and Allen had had constructed before his passing.

 

This book is Patty’s recollections of the more-than-fifty years relationship she had with Betty White, and the “Pearls of Wisdom” she acquired from watching how Betty lived her life. A large percentage of her recollections deal with Betty’s love for the animal kingdom and the environment. Patty also goes into a lot of detail of how everyone around Betty coped with her aging in the last 15-20 years of her life.

 

Pearls of Wisdom had a lot of great moments and memories but also became a tad repetitive. None-the-less, to see through the eyes of someone who was so close to Betty was invaluable, as are the large number of full-color photos used to illustrated this book. Anyone who loves animals, or who loved watching Betty throughout her superstar career on television should definitely enjoy this one.

 

(If you enjoy this, Betty wrote several books herself, all of the following of which are available through the libraries: Pet-Love: How Pets Take Care of Us (1983), Betty White In Person (1987), Here We Go Again: My Life in Television (1995), If You Ask Me (and Of Course You Won’t) (2011) and Betty & Friends: My Life at the Zoo (2011).

 

Mentioned within Pearls of Wisdom are three books she co-authored with Tom Sullivan, The Leading Lady: Dinah’s Story (1991), Together: A Novel of Shared Vision (2008) and Alive Day: A Story of Love and Loyalty (2009). The latter two novels are available in electronic formats, but the libraries don’t own The Leading Lady — you can order it through our InterLibrary Loan service for only a very small fee.

 

In 1971-72, Betty hosted a TV series, The Pet Set, for 39 episodes. All 39 episodes of this series are available through the libraries’ Hoopla Digital service, though each episode is a separate check-out and you are limited to 4 Hoopla check-outs per month.)

 

( Wikipedia entry for Betty White ) | ( publisher’s official Patty Sullivan author web page)

 

See Charlotte M.’s review of If You Ask Me (and, Of Course, You Won’t!) by Betty White in the January 2012 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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