Marian Seldes reads from Chapter 79 “The Woman Who Was My Father” of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young. Seldes was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995. By that time, she had acted on the stage, in film, television, and on the radio. In 2010 she was honored with a Tony Lifetime Achievement Award. Her first Tony was won in 1967 for her performance in A Delicate Balance.

Perhaps Esther Longtree’s unscrupulous sexual behavior has something to do with her own parentage. In this chapter, Esther contemplates this very idea because she herself was conceived under bewildering circumstances. Some people blame Esther for her own conception as her mother and father never consummated their marriage. Instead, her father impregnated her mother by kissing her on the forehead.

 © copyright Charles Ruas 2023