21 Reasons for Living by Jennifer Edwards

Image thanks to wonderful artist Jef Bourgeau 

Title: 21 Reasons for Living 

Author: Jennifer Edwards

Publisher: not known 

Source: TV series Hart to Hart pilot S1 E0 (pilot episode)

Mrs Jonathan Hart née Jennifer Edwards starts the series as a self sufficient investigative journalist who we see prowling around the grounds of a creepy health spa at night, while brandishing a gun (which turns out to be unloaded). Five series later she has mostly morphed into a decorative wife who stands on the sidelines watching her husband tackle the villains. What a pity.

Anyway, at the start of the pilot episode we discover she has written at least one book, and a copy is sitting on the coffee table chez Hart (it’s a blink and you miss it moment). Later in the programme we see there’s a flattering photograph of Jennifer on the cover. It’s called 21 Reasons for Living, subtitled A Collection of Interviews From 21 Favorite People. So perhaps Jennifer is a very well known journalist who has the clout to interview 21 extremely well known people who might be able to tell us their reasons for living. I imagine they’d have to be famous favourite people, because otherwise nobody would buy the book.

Of course Hart to Hart was first shown in 1979, but if Jennifer wanted to write 21 Reasons now she might want to interview Michelle Obama if she could, maybe MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates or Prince William? The Clooneys, the Beckhams? (I hope she managed to interview Dolly Parton earlier this year.) But who knows?

It’s so hard to judge who will continue to be famous and still qualify as a favourite person. Even very recent lists of influential or famous people seem to be filled with politicians who are now classed as pariahs, musicians who have lost their reputations in major scandals, tech executives I have never heard of, and… Elon Musk. And I can’t believe Elon would be one of Jennifer’s favourite people.

Remember, I wrote this post 2 years before it was due to be published. I have hardly changed it. But things do change.

I wonder who Jennifer was interviewing in the 1970s? 

Also by Jef Bourgeau