Having published her own memoir, Boys in the Trees, in 2015, Carly Simon has now returned to her writing desk to author a memoir of her friendship with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The book, to be titled Touched by the Sun, will be published on Oct. 22 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Simon and Onassis met at a party on Martha’s Vineyard and began what is described in a press release as an “improbable, but lasting friendship.” The release describes the book as “an intimate, vulnerable, and insightful portrait of the bond that grew between two iconic and starkly different American women.”
In a statement regarding the forthcoming work, Simon said, “When I first met Jackie, I didn’t imagine we had that much in common, much less expect her to become my book editor, confidant, protective mother figure, and mischievous pal. She arrived when I least expected to make a new friend and she stayed up until the time of her death.” Onassis died in 1994 at age 64.
Simon, who is best known for hits such as “You’re So Vain” and “The Spy Who Loved Me,” further stated that Onassis was both a “protective mother figure” and a “mischievous pal.” Onassis worked for some time as a book editor and edited children’s books Simon wrote in the 1980s and ’90s.
In a August 8 post on her Facebook page, Simon wrote: “In some moments we were like two girls sharing our opinions of a new Dylan or Beatles album. We became the ‘girls’ we always had inside us.
“Jackie was so feminine but she was immensely gutsy and smart and I loved writing about her and remembering so many of our interactions.
Related: The story behind Simon’s “You’re So Vain”
Simon has been associated with various celebrities both within and outside of the music business for decades. She was married to James Taylor and, in “You’re So Vain,” cryptically referred to a mystery person who was later revealed to be actor Warren Beatty. Guesting on that single was another high-profile entertainer, Mick Jagger.
Watch Carly Simon sing “Nobody Does It Better”
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