Never Say Never by Ricki Lake
I have been on an autobiography kick lately! Trying to clear out my book shelf. The book shelf is bending (Note: Do not buy cheap Wal-Mart book shelves…and then pack them to the hilt. Oops.)
I found Ricki Lake’s book Never Say Never on the sale rack at TJ Maxx. I remember watching her talk show with my mom while growing up. Besides her season on Dancing with the Stars, Ricki has been out of the lime light.
Never Say Never starts out with her childhood. The things her mother would say to her were absolutely atrocious and did nothing to build up a budding child’s confidence and self esteem. Adding insult to injury, she goes on to explain how she was sexually abused by the family’s handyman in their own basement. After surviving that trauma, she began to stuff food down her throat…her thinking was that by becoming fat, that would hide her girlish figure and keep men from coming on to her. This was the start of her struggles with weight management.
She goes on to discuss her lead role in Hairspray and then working along side Johnny Depp in Cry Baby. I had no idea she was in that movie. I happened to catch the last 15 minutes of it and remember seeing the black haired girl give birth to a baby in the back seat of the car. That was her. These roles and a few other small ones eventually lead to her own talk show; a show that did not follow the standards of talk shows currently airing during the 90’s (Sally Jesse Raphael & Geraldo Rivera to name a few!) At this point she ends up finding her husband, Rob, and eventually gets pregnant.
The birth of her first child was via c-section and she hated the experience, although ecstatic to be given this tiny little life to take care of. Towards the end of her talk show, she becomes pregnant again and starts searching for a different kind of birth experience. She found the birth movement, which was an underground group of women who birthed with midwives and the help of a doula(s) whether it was at home or in a Birth Center. Intrigued, Ricki continued her education on the matter. She ended up delivering her second child at home in the bathtub, an all natural labor and delivery.
An extremely empowering experience that was never far from her mind years after the birth, she began to realize her true passion was in educating women on their rights as a birthing mother and the choices that are available to them. With the help of Abby Epstein and Ricki’s savings, they produced “The Business of Birth” a video documentary on birthing in the United States. She has since made a second installment to the first video…both of which I can’t wait to get my hands on and watch!
The end of her book discusses the fall out of her marriage, her time on Dancing with the Stars and how that changed her and made her grow, as well as falling in love again.
I enjoyed this book, despite not caring for the “voice” in the writing. This is a should read for those struggling with weight issues and that inner voice that says nasty things just won’t quit.
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