“I mean, her father was an alcoholic, and her mother was the suffering wife of a man who she could never predict what he would do, where he would be, who he would be. And it's sort of interesting because Eleanor Roosevelt never writes about her mother's agony. She only writes about her father's agony. But her whole life is dedicated to making it better for people in the kind of need and pain and anguish that her mother was in.” PeopleMenNeedsWritingKindMeanWholeWould BePainLife IsMotherSufferingFatherInterestingWifeWhole LifeDedicatedAgonyAnguishAlcoholicsEleanor Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“I think Eleanor Roosevelt always had a most incredible comfort writing letters. I mean, she was in the habit of writing letters. And that's where she allowed her fantasies to flourish. That's where she allowed her emotions to really evolve. And that's where she allowed herself to express herself really fully, and sometimes whimsically, very often romantically. And it really starts with her letters to her father, who is lifelong her primary love.” ThinkingWritingMeanSometimesFatherEmotionFantasyHabitComfortLettersIncrediblesPrimariesEvolveLifelongEleanor Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“Well, the reality of her father was that he was a very diseased alcoholic, who died at the age of 34. And one always has to pause to wonder how much you have to drink to die at 34. And he was a really tragic father. I mean, he was absolutely unreliable. He was absolutely involved with various people. He had outside families, outside children, outside wives. He made his wife's life miserable. And she [Eleanor Roosevelt]ignored all of his faults and retained this sense of him as the perfect father.” PeopleWellsMeanChildrenMadeRealityAgeDiesFatherPerfectWonderWifeInvolvedDrinkDiedFaultsVariousMiserableTragicPausesIgnoredAlcoholicsUnreliableEleanorDiseasedPerfect Father Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“Eleanor Roosevelt loved to write. She was a wonderful child writer. I mean, she wrote beautiful essays and stories as a child. And Marie Souvestre really appreciated Eleanor Roosevelt's talents and encouraged her talents. Also, she spoke perfect French. She grew up speaking French. She's now at a french-speaking school where, you know, girls are coming from all over the world. Not everybody speaks French.” KnowsWorldWritingMeanChildrenStoriesSchoolBeautifulGirlSpeakPerfectWonderfulTalentGrewGrew UpSpokesEssaysAppreciatedEleanorMarieSpeaks FrenchWonderful ChildrenSpeaking French Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“I mean, if you pause over what it means at the age of 76 that Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, the happiest single day of her life was the day she made the first team at field hockey. Field hockey is a team sport. Field hockey is a knockabout - I mean, picture Allenswood, the swamps of north London. It's a messy sport. So she really enjoyed playing this rough-and-tumble sport in the mud of Allenswood, a team sport. And she was very competitive. And she loved being competitive, and she loved to win. And that, I think, was all of the things that Allenswood enabled.” IfsThinkingFirstsMeanMadeAgeWinningSportsTeamFieldsLondonEnjoyedRoughHockeyPausesMudMessySwampsEleanorSports TeamField Hockey Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“I mean, in the campaign of '24 and in '28 and '32, you know, Eleanor Roosevelt insists that women have equal floor space. And this is a great victory over time. Then she wants women represented in equal numbers as men. And she wants the women to name the delegates. And the men want to name the delegates. Well, Eleanor is absolutely furious. And because they don't want her to walk away in 1924, she wins. And this is a great political victory. She has floor space equal to the men, and she has the right to name the women.” KnowsMenWantWellsMeanPoliticalWinningNamesSpaceWalksNumbersHe ManVictoryEqualCampaignsFuriousDelegatesEleanorGreat VictoryGreat PoliticalPolitical Victory Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“Eleanor Roosevelt fights for an anti-lynch law with the NAACP, with Walter White and Mary McLeod Bethune. And she begs FDR to say one word, say one word to prevent a filibuster or to end a filibuster. From '34 to '35 to '36 to '37 to '38, it comes up again and again, and FDR doesn't say one word. And the correspondence between them that we have, I mean, she says, "I cannot believe you're not going to say one word." And she writes to Walter White, "I've asked FDR to say one word. Perhaps he will." But he doesn't. And these become very bitter disagreements.” WritingBelieveMeanEndsLawFightingWhiteCome UpBitterMaryAgain And AgainOne WordDisagreementCorrespondenceEleanorNaacpFilibusterWalter White Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
