I can’t remember my first encounter with a celebrity. In New York, you see famous people walking around all the time. I’ve seen Presidents, famous singers, authors, etc. But the first one I encountered and was impressed with was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Because I was attending college, I worked temp jobs when I wasn’t in class. I was asked by my temp agency if I wanted to work at Doubleday books as an administrative assistant. I said sure.
The person at the temp agency told me how to dress and gave me a work description to read before I began work on a Monday.
I arrived early for work on Monday. I was introduced to the man for whom I would be working by a woman from Human Resources. I don’t remember his name, but he was Canadian and had recently arrived from Canada. He was extremely tall and good-looking; almost looked like a matinée idol. From the get-go, he and I worked very well together. It was a very good Monday start.
The next day, I answered his phone and someone who sounded very much like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis asked for my boss. I Said to her, “May I ask whose calling? She answered, “Mrs. Onassis.” Sure enough, it was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
While I worked at Doubleday, I got to see a lot of Mrs. Onassis. She often phoned my boss with questions. She would also send him Post- it notes via office mail. My boss would read them and return them to me “as done” and to throw them out. I often thought of keeping the Post-it notes because I thought some would be worth money some day. But I never kept any of them. I didn’t think it was ethical. If I had to do it again, I would have kept the Post-it notes. Those Post- its were part of history. I feel I threw away historical information, especially now that she’s gone.
Mrs. Onassis was very down to earth and did not act as if she was a celebrity. When coffee break time came, she got off her seat and walked down to the coffee cart, stood in line and got her own coffee. I used to see her in the bathroom looking at herself in the mirror and wonder what she thought when she looked at herself. She would take the elevator just like everyone else. She always had her office door slightly ajar. During the time I was working at Doubleday, she always wore brown and black clothes, usually pants, and flat shoes. She was taller in person. I always thought her hair was dark, but it had a lot of red high-lites. And she really did look like all the photos I’d seen of her. She had a shy way about her and was very quiet. She was definitely a classy woman!
Mrs. Onassis brought history alive for me by her presence at Doubleday.
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