Lies My Mother Never Told Me (27 page)

Bodil Nielsen, Rose Styron, Irwin Shaw, Gloria, Bill Styron, and the corner of my head in the back, at the pulpit bar, Paris, 1973—The ladies were singing The Writer Fucker Club anthem, “Take Him” by Rodgers and Hart.
photograph by Michel Ginfray/Gamma

 

At the East Hampton High School Senior Prom, June 1977—Photographs are deceiving. My father had died six weeks earlier, and I weighed ninety-seven pounds.

 

Me and my mother, photographed for a book on women, spring 1979—I don't remember who suggested we pose for this book, but we did. We had fun doing it. My mother was in pretty good shape, working for Doubleday and spending several days a week in New York City.

 

James Jones Literary Society symposium, 1999—Budd Schulberg, Joseph Heller, Gloria Jones, and Norman Mailer. It was the last time this group of literary lions was together.
photographs by Anthony Harvey

 

Posing after the luncheon, July 1998—Standing: E.L. Doctorow, Kurt Vonnegut, Peter Matthiessen, me, William Styron, Arthur Miller, Ismail Merchant, James Ivory. Seated: Kris Kristofferson, Gloria, Norman Mailer, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and Anthony Roth Costanzo, the young actor in the film.
photographs by Anthony Harvey

 

Jamie playing backgammon in Sagaponack, circa 1985—Poker, backgammon, chess—don't be fooled by Jamie's easygoing, self-effacing demeanor. You'll lose your shirt.

 

Kevin's and my wedding day, August 12, 1995—We always called this blooming white tree our wedding tree. Only a few hours later, my mother, in a rage about something or other, threw us out of her house.
photograph by Deborah Purcell

 

Eyrna, me, and Bill Styron, July 1998—The day of the garden party before the screening of
A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries.

 

Eyrna as Dorothy, 2000—Eyrna watched
The Wizard of Oz
at least five hundred times. Kevin bought her this outfit, complete with ruby slippers, Toto, and basket, which she wore every day until it no longer fit.

 

Eyrna and me in Carl Schurz Park, spring 2002—My student Scott volunteered to take some shots of me for a catalog. I brought Eyrna along and he snapped this wonderful candid shot of us laughing.
photograph by Scott Andrew Christiansen

 

Gloria and Eyrna in Sagaponack, July 2002—I believe this is before Gloria started drinking again. She's still very thin and her eyes seem clear and thoughtful to me. I keep looking for clues as to what triggered her relapse. I have no idea.

 

Gloria, Eyrna, and me, summer 2002—This is the only photo of the three of us I have, taken at a cocktail party at Eleonora and Michael Kennedy's house in Wainscott. We'd been away for a month and my mother was very happy to see us.
photograph by Susan Wood