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Author Revealed

Hannah Pakula
Photograph © Sigrid Estrada

Hannah Pakula

Hannah Pakula is the author of The Last Empress, which was a New York Times notable book, The Last Romantic, which was called by Graham Greene the best biography and one of the three best books of the year, and An Uncommon Woman, which was a Los... Read full bio

Author Revealed:
Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. Hang in there
Learn more about Hannah Pakula
Hannah Pakula Revealed
About Hannah Pakula
  • What is your birthdate?:
    7/23
  • Previous occupations:
    Wife, mother, book reviewer for newspapers in cities where I was living, author of articles on blue jeans and shopping bags.
  • Favorite job:
    writing
  • High school and/or college:
    Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles; Wellesley College in Massachusetts, the Sorbonne in Paris, and Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
  • Name of your favorite composer or music artist?:
    Argerich, Andsnes or Perahia playing the romantics, Glen Gould playing Bach, Rudolph Serkin playing Beethoven
  • Favorite movie:
    almost anything directed, written or produced by my late husband, Alan J. Pakula
  • Favorite television show:
    McNeil-Lehrer Evening News
Revealing Questions
Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
A. Filled with love, luck and punctuated by tragedies
Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. Hang in there
Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Love, health, and work I want to do.
Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. The sudden or accidental death of someone I love
Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. Here in New York
Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. Queen Marie of Romania, Empress Frederick of Germany and/or Madame Chiang Kai-shek -- because I feel that although I never met any of them, I know them intimately.
Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. Aung San Suu Kyui
Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. I don't know, but I will no doubt find out when I get an irate letter from some angry reader.
Q. What do you regret most?
A. Not starting to write books at an earlier age.
Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. The technique to play the piano really well
Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. Starting to write historical biography at the age of forty
Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. Impatience and the inability to suffer fools gladly.
Q. What’s your best quality?
A. Stick-to-ittiveness
Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. Google
Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. My oversize glasses which I've been wearing for forty years.
Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. I kinda like Cyrano de Bergerac.
Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. Thomas Ripley.
Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. Probably one of the women I have written about so I could ask, "Tell me, please, where did I go right and where did I go wrong?"
Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. As a writer, it's the current overuse of the word "robust," but bad grammar is right up there in the top ten.
Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. Going to concerts, especially chamber music. I'm also addicted to playing scrablble and backgammon on line while listening to WQXR (NYC's classical music station). I can't listen when I'm writing, because then I tend to write in rhythm with the music.
Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Professional musician.
Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Honesty, loyalty and generosity
Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. Vietnamese spring rolls.
Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. "There's a Small Hotel," "I Get a Kick Out of You," the men's duet from "The Pearl Fishers," any of the songs from Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" or "The Youth's Magic Horn"
On Books and Writing
Q. Who are your favorite authors?
A. Proust is the only one I can think of at the moment.
Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. "Remembrance of Things Past"
Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
A. Any of the children's classics -- "The Wind in the Willows," "Mary Poppins," "The Hobbit," The Wizard of Oz," "Charlotte's Web," etc., books I read to my children and can now enjoy with my grandchildren.
Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
A. Start with the second paragraph.
Q. What comment do you hear most often from your readers?
A. I loved your last book (I never hear from the ones who hate my work).