Actress and author Jamie Lee Curtis is passionate, and her passion at present is directed toward Saturday, Dec. 23, at 7 p.m. for a book signing at Iconoclast Books in Ketchum. She will sign copies of her latest children's book, "Is There Really a Human Race?"
"There was never a plan that I would ever write books. I got a combined score of 860 on the SATs," said Curtis whose success as an author scores off the charts. "Is There Really a Human Race?" is the seventh children's book that Curtis has written with illustrator Laura Cornell.
Curtis claims it was all an accident, but the clarity and understanding of the world that resonates through her stories are ideas and observations she has spent a great deal of time mulling.
"When I started writing the first book it was really about selfhood," said Curtis. "It's a discovery that comes with a lot of very hard thoughts and personal lessons on my own and with my children that I distilled into little life lessons for all children."
Her self-help books for children, as they are sometimes called, allow children to think like children.
"The book is about competition," said Curtis. "How many people get to be number one in life? What does that say to the middle of the pack? Most people live in the middle of the pack, and very few people make it to number one."
Curtis feels we live in a time where the only goal in life, is to be number one.
"This modern group of parents who invented the word 'parenting' pay more attention to their children because they do not want their children to be raised like they were," Curtis said. "The goal is to be the best person you can be."
Possessing a strong character, Curtis said she puts 150 percent of her energy into everything she does. She likes to see things through to completion, and with expediency. Curtis' collaboration with Cornell is a partnership that she truly values.
"I am meticulous and obsessive, and she is an artist that often runs up against deadlines. What she brings to these books I could never do," Curtis said.
Along with the success of the books, Curtis has also managed to create a philanthropic arm in her projects.
"My goal to be number one is so I could give more money away," she said. "Charity begins at home, and I am mindful."
For more information about the book singing, call 726-1564.
?Is There Really a Human Race?? by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell. Joanna Cotler Books Harper Collins. $16.99. pp. 40.
