BHHS Grads Share Love Letters from Parents to Kids

Even as students at Beverly Hills High School in the early '70s, Fredrica (Fredde) Duke and Debi Fries were known as go-getters, so it wasn't a complete surprise when their book Love, Mom Love, Dad was born after a gestation time of less than three months—from their seed of the idea in March of this year to brisk sales in May. It's a colorful collection of love letters from parents to their children. The self-published collaboration is a family affair—Beverly Hills style —with contributions from many other BHHS grads along with family, friends and celebrities.

They launched Love, Mom  Love, Dad just in time for Mother's Day, with a book signing as well as a reading to a standing-room-only crowd at the Village Bookstore in Pacific Palisades (which sadly recently announced that it will close its doors at the end of June). The book has been described as “Funny, poignant and personal … these heartfelt dispatches…attempt to bridge the parent-child divide.”

Beverly Hills Patch got the chance to talk to Duke about the book, which is available at Diesel bookstore at the Brentwood Country Mart, Village Books in Pacific Palisades and Beverly Glen Pharmacy. Copies can also be ordered directly from Duke at freddeduke@me.com.

Beverly Hills Patch: This is such a delightful book, filled with love, just as the title implies. How did it come about?

Fredde Duke: I wrote a letter to my daughter as an entry in my blog when she turned 25 on Feb. 7 of this year. About three weeks later, my childhood friend, Debi Fries, emailed me to say she absolutely loved my letter, and subtly suggested we could publish a book of love letters from parents to kids. I wrote back, agreeing completely: “Yes! Now, let’s do this by Mother's Day. Great idea!”

Patch: What was your next step?

Duke: We immediately asked a few friends to contribute their “love letters,” whether they were notes penned years ago by their parents or something they'd written more recently to their own children. Then we were referred to a self-publishing company that another Beverly friend had used.

Our first “yes” was from Monsita Ferrer, another Beverly grad, who offered a letter from her father, actor/director Jose Ferrer. His letter was so wildly interesting and articulate, it propelled us to keep going and ask for more submissions.

As the word got out, more notes and letters, and nostalgic photos straight from family scrapbooks, came our way—many arriving right before we went to press.

Among the many contributors, my husband, Michael Barrie [a writer for David Letterman and previously for Johnny Carson]; author and teacher Jackie Parker, whose sons Brandon and Jonathan are recent BHHS grads; author Joy Horowitz; television producer Chuck and Ava Fries; Donna Freberg; Chuck Rosin, a producer/writer of the original Beverly Hills 90210 television show; and Bruce Tyson. 

On a sad note, Carol Fries contributed a letter to her son, Tom Fries, who died some time ago.

Patch: Will there be a sequel?

Duke: Not so sure, but maybe you’ll be inspired to write your own letters to your kids. In the back of the book are journal pages just for that purpose.

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