Life isn’t everything: Mike Nichols, as remembered by 150 of his closest friends
Ash Carter and Sam Kashner
Henry Holt and Company (November 2019)

Thank you, Igor Mikhail Peschkowsky, for the pleasure of your company…and humanity

Here’s how Ash Carter and Sam Kashner set the table for the feast of observations and insights to follow, contributed by 150 people who who knew Mike Nichols best:

“My congratulations to the winners. My love to those who have not won tonight. I just want to remind you of my motto: ‘Cheer up, life isn’t everything.’ It stands me in good stead.” — Mike Nichols, acceptance speech, 2005 TONY Awards

These are among the subjects of greatest interest and value to me:

o What his childhood and adolescence experiences seem to reveal — and explain — about the insecurities and self-doubts he had until near death
o The nature and extent to which he used his experiences to enrich his talents
o When and how Nichols and Elaine May became a team
o Its defining characteristics
o What differentiates their humor from almost anyone else’s

o When and why their careers went separate ways
o Nichols’ unique style as a director of live theater
o His unique style as a film director
o Why so many people in and out of show business cherished his friendship
o Excluding his beloved wife, Diane Sawyer, the relationships he considered of greatest importance to his personal growth and professional development

I thought about including a few observations and insights that most enriched my understanding and appreciation of Mike Nichols. There were several hundred from which to select. I eventually decided not to compromise the sheer joy (there is no other word more appropriate) for those who will proceed through the Introduction and fourteen chapters that follow. The sequence of loving and respectful revelations would have delighted Mike Nichols in ways and to an extent  only he could have described with style and grace.

After reading this book, I suggest that you check out You Tube videos, including these skits: “Telephone Operator,” “Funeral,” and “Jewish Mother” as well as “Elaine May Salutes Mike Nichols at the AFI Life Achievement Award.”