Joined On: Nov 30, 2008
Last Online: Jan 04, 2009

Heather Summerhayes Cariou

Close Up

Location:

New York/Los Angeles/Toronto/Vancouver/Winnipeg

About Me:

I am the author of the best-selling “Sixtyfive Roses: A Sister’s Memoir,” chosen by Canada’s Globe and Mail as one of the Best 100 Books of 2006, and by Target Stores as a Recommended Read for 2008. Feature film rights to the book were recently optioned by Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) and her company, Unbelievable Productions.

I was born, raised and educated in Ontario, Canada. As a child, I dreamed of becoming both a writer and a ballerina. When I learned the fates of the Bronte sisters, Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath, I chose ballet over writing, and trained for a time at the National Ballet School of Canada. I fantasized that fans would someday drink champagne from my toe shoes, a la Anne Pavlova. Seeing Elaine Stritch as “Mame” in 1969 changed all that, and I decided to become an actress.

As a teen, I was active in several community theatres, high school drama clubs, and was an award-winning young actress in my community. I was also a founding member and Board member of the Ontario Youtheatre. After two years at Ryerson University Theatre School in Toronto, and a third at Sheridan College in Oakville, I graduated with a High Honors diploma in Media Arts. I made my professional debut with the company at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, where I remained for three seasons, while also becoming a founding member of the Center for Actor’s Study in Toronto. I subsequently enjoyed a career lasting twenty years, acting professionally on stages across Canada and off-Broadway. While working as an actor, I also held jobs in sales, fashion, catering, and business management.

As the daughter of the founders of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, I've been involved in fund-raising and promotion for over forty years. I grew up as a "well-sibling," the eldest of four children, and I'm growing old(er) as the grandmother of two.

I'm a founding member of the Galaxy Writers Workshop in New Jersey, and sit on the Board of the International Women’s Writing Guild, to whom I owes my life as a writer. I have studied writing for over twenty years at the IWWG Summer Conferences, the Mid-Atlantic Creative Non-fiction conference, the Aspen Writer’s Festival, and UCLA.

Married to stage and screen actor Len Cariou, I am my husband’s “roadie,” dealing with every conceivable challenge of working and living on location. We live out of our suitcases but pay a mortgage in West New York, New Jersey, within view of our beloved Manhattan. An inveterate mother hen to both friends and strangers, I'm notorious for my ability to prescribe the right self-help book to anyone I've known for more than ten minutes. Phrases that friends and associates have used to describe me include “damn the torpedos” and “shoot from the hips.” I can throw a formal dinner party for twelve at the drop of a hat, and havecooked Thanksgiving dinner for the entire cast of a Broadway show on the road in a hotel room. I am represented by Anne McDermid at McDermid and Associates, and currently working on a novel.

Now Reading:

Alice Munro's Collected Short Stories

Achievements:

Author, "Sixtyfive Roses: A Sister's Memoir"