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September 04, 2007
Gabe Paul's Daughter To Write Yanks Book
From the Capital Gazette Newspaper -
Jennie Paul's father always told her not to look at the hole in the doughnut, but rather look at the whole doughnut - the same sentiment he shared with the 1977 world champion New York Yankees.
It is with those big-picture eyes that Ms. Paul, 56, views her Clay Street neighborhood where she's writing "Yankee Princess," a book about her relationship with her father, Gabe Paul, the president of the Yankees who worked under owner George Steinbrenner.
"Fathers and daughters have the most unique relationship," she said. "Everything relates back."
She's been working on different versions of her manuscript for the past six years, but as ESPN began airing the "Bronx is Burning" miniseries about the 1977 Yankees' run to victory in the World Series, Ms. Paul said she "bawled" her eyes out with each episode, sitting alone and watching a part of her life play out on the small screen.
It doesn't do her father any justice, she said.
"The more I watched it, the more I realized the real story had to be told," she said. "We never knew we were a famous family. He was just our dad."
Ms. Paul said she was about to give up on the book when she realized that sports fans still care about games that played out 30 years ago, and how the game has changed over time.
It's evident from her modest home that sports are still a huge part of her life. There are photos of her son in hockey gear, the television is tuned to ESPN and there's a copy of Newsday Inside Sports on the coffee table.
Her extensive Yankees sports memorabilia, including her father's World Series ring, are all tucked safely away in a variety of locations far from her current house, most at the family home in Florida.
She hopes to finish the book within the next six months and spent the Labor Day weekend in New York to meet with her agents. She recently signed a book deal with Literary Group International out of New York, the same company that published best-sellers "Flags of Our Fathers" and "October Sky."
But writing the memoir has been a long road. She has already rewritten the manuscript to create a more sentimental tone.
She hopes the book will also become a movie, and she's telling agents that she'd like Goldie Hawn to play the title role. But she got a surprise when she mentioned Ms. Hawn's name.
"They laughed at me," she said, laughing herself as she recalled the moment. "They told me she might be able to play the Yankee grandma. So maybe then we can get Kate Hudson instead," she said, referring to Ms. Hawn's actress daughter.
This could be a very interesting book. I would check it out once it's published.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at September 4, 2007 03:34 PM