Friends have often remarked that 88-year old Harriet Wright’s life is like a novel. She has gone places that few go, met people that few meet, and had experiences that most people can only dream about. She traveled with the rich & famous, raised a son who himself became famous, and had more adventures than the film character Forest Gump. I’d Do It Again! is her story.

Harriet’s adventures began when Jimmy Durante plucked her from the waters of the Aquacade at the 1939-40 World’s Fair to join the first chorus line of the famed Copacabana Supper Club. She became part of the nightclub circuit crowd and was regularly mentioned in the most famous of the New York columns. She attended parties hosted by Sinatra and other celebrities, and was romanced by high profile friends including John Roosevelt (FDR’s son), and John Jacob Astor III. She appeared in Hollywood films, lived in Cairo, Egypt, had a romance in Tunisia, experienced a weekend in jail, and enjoyed a 6-week Caribbean adventure with Jose Ferre.

By the early 1970s her son, a rebellious teenager, became the youngest designer to ever win the prestigious Coty Critics Award, the fashion industry equivalent of the Oscar. His success provided Harriet with a back stage pass to the world of fashion and places like Studio 54 where she mingled with the jet set crowd well into the 80s. Always on the go, Harriet organized celebrity charity benefits through the World Famous Copacabana Girls, Inc, an organization she co-founded. She also assisted Clovis -- as a show assistant, buying consultant and emergency problem solver -- with his career as it spiraled upward.

I’d Do It Again  isn’t just a lighthearted story. In an effort to fulfill her vision of an exciting and glamorous life, Harriet also endured much heartbreak, including the deaths of two husbands and two sons. Her husband Don, a pilot and military intelligence officer, was stationed in Cairo, Egypt in 1947. He and a U.S. petroleum, U.S. cultural and U.S. military attaché’ all died in the mountains of Ethiopia on a “routine” mission. But recent declassified information suggests that there was nothing “routine” about the Near and Middle East at that time. One American diplomat referred to the area as a “hotbed of international espionage,” while another remarked, ”I’ve never seen such devilish rouses to obtain new oil.” Its relevance to the drama currently being played out in the Middle East is startling, and connected.

In fashion, as in life, her son Clovis broke all the rules. From his first show he was a star, and single-handedly changed the way fashion shows would be presented from then on. He was the first to introduce African-American models to the runway, simply because his instinct told him to do so. Stuart Chrysler remarked, “six months after he launched his business, he wasn’t in fashion, he had become a fashion.” He was also an eccentric and colorful celebrity. Dashingly good looking, with boyish charm, he mesmerized columnists and the “in” crowd. I’d Do It Again serves also, in part, as the first authorized and intimate look into his life and career. It further serves as an introduction to the forthcoming book “Clovis Ruffin: Making A Statement.”

Harriet has a strong personality, one that readers will come to love or despise; yet, all will be captivated to know how her story unfolds -- and she’s not done yet! Psychics tell her she will live to 103, and she exclaims, “Let’s go, go ,go. Dead is a long time.  When I die, I want to do it living!”

Riveting because it’s true, I’d Do It Again! has all the elements of a motion picture; drama, heartbreak, glamour, excitement, inspiration and discovery. It is Harriet’s aim in this book is to take readers on a journey through times and places most don't get the opportunity to experience, and also find insight into to their own lives by walking in the steps of hers'. “When one door closes, another opens, and all you have to do is have the courage to walk through it,”  she says.   

Copyright 2005 - All Rights Reserved

Read the prologue here

You can order this book at your local Barnes & Noble, or buy it online here.