Title:
STAIRWAY TO PARADISE: GROWING UP GERSHWIN
Author: Nadia Natali
Publisher: RareBird Books
Pages: 304
Genre: Memoir
Author: Nadia Natali
Publisher: RareBird Books
Pages: 304
Genre: Memoir
BOOK
BLURB:
Growing up as Frankie
Gershwin's daughter, the sister of George and Ira Gershwin, was quite a
challenge. I didn't have the perspective to realize that so much unhappiness in
a family was out of the ordinary. But I knew something was off. My mother was
often depressed and my father was tyrannical and scary, one never knew when he
would blow up. I learned early on that I had to be the cheery one, the one to
fix the problems. Both sides of my family were famous; the Gershwin side and my
father who invented color film. But even though there was more than enough
recognition, money and parties I understood that wasn't what made people happy.
As a young adult adrift and
depressed I broke from that unsatisfactory life by marrying Enrico Natali, a
photographer, deeply immersed in his own questions about life. We moved into
the wilderness away from what we considered as the dysfunction of society.
That’s when we discovered that life had other kinds of challenges: flood, fire,
rattlesnakes, mountain lions and bears. We lived in a teepee for more than four
years while building a house. Curiously my mother never commented on my life
choice. She must have realized on some level that her own life was less than
satisfactory.
Enrico had developed a serious
meditation practice that had become a kind of ground for him. As for me I
danced. Understanding the somatic, the inner body experience, became my way to
shift the inner story.
We raised and homeschooled our
three children. I taught them to read, Enrico taught them math. The kids ran
free, happy, always engaged, making things, and discovering. We were so sure we
were doing the right thing. However, we didn't have a clue how they would make
the transition to the so-called ‘real world’. The children thrived until they
became teenagers. They then wanted out. Everything fell apart for them and for
Enrico and me. Our lives were turned upside down, our paradise lost. There was
tragedy: our son lost his life while attempting to cross our river during a
fierce storm. Later I was further challenged by advanced breast cancer.
It was during these times that
I delved deeply into the somatic recesses of myself. I began to find my own
voice, a long learning process. I emerged with a profound trust in my own
authority. It became clear that everyone has to find his or her way through
layers of inauthenticity, where a deep knowing can develop. And I came to see
that is the best anyone can offer to the world.
Enrico and I still live in the
wilds of the Lost Padres National Forest, a paradise with many steps going up
and down, a life I would not change.
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The First Page:
On December 8, 1980, my husband, Enrico, our three-year-old daughter,
Francesca,
and I finished our cross-country journey to Ojai, California,
where
we planned to make a home on land we had seen only once but had long
been
dreaming about, away from city life and, especially, away from my difficult
and
powerful family.
We’d
caravanned in separate vehicles, hauling all that we could carry in and on
top
of our cars, in addition to a foldout trailer hitched to Enrico’s Toyota jeep. At
the
end of a long, winding two-lane road that followed Matilija Creek, a brown
metal
gate barred our way. Beyond the gate lay the Los Padres National Forest,
wilderness,
and a mile farther up a dirt road through the canyon, our property. We
had
to wait for a key to open the lock, a key that a forest ranger was going to
hand
over—the
key to our new life. I gazed toward the jagged and intimidating mountains
that
leaned over the canyon. Inhaling the sweet smell of the dry chaparral, I
couldn’t
help but compare it to the lush, green landscape of my childhood home
in
Connecticut. This is going to be a very different life, I
thought. My privileged
upbringing
seemed the polar opposite of this place, and maybe that was what attracted
me
to it. Observing the struggles of my family and seeing that money and
fame
had failed to bring happiness, I’d learned I needed to find my own path. I had
not
fully formulated my goal, but it was something unique and original, and I had
to
find it on my own.
A
moment later a forest service truck pulled up by the gate. “You sure found
yourselves
a beautiful piece of property out here,” the ranger said, as he offered
his
hand to shake. “I’m Dave Brown. I suppose you know there are some pretty
dangerous
natural conditions you’ll need to look out for.”
Enrico
shook Dave’s hand as he asked, “And what does that mean?” Dave
took
a big breath. “Well, you should know about this if you guys are planning
to
live here. There’s the flood. That’s real serious this time of year. There’re
two
creeks you have to drive through that rise fast and wild when there’s a lot
of
rain. The water turns black and fierce. You could get trapped in here for
weeks.”
Enrico
and I exchanged worried looks. We had not known about this. “Also,”
he
continued, “as you probably know, there are rattlesnakes, coyotes, bobcats, and
black
bears. The bears won’t bother you much if you keep your food well covered.
But
the mountain lions . . .” Dave trailed off, as he looked at our young daughter.
“If
you suspect there are any about, better keep your little girl close by.”
About the Author
Nadia Natali, author of the
memoir, Stairway
to Paradise: Growing Up Gershwin, published by Rare Bird, Los Angeles,
2015, and The Blue Heron Ranch Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Zen
Retreat Center published by North Atlantic Books, Berkeley CA, 2008, is
currently working on a second cookbook titled Zafu Kitchen
Cookbook.
Natali, a clinical
psychotherapist and dance therapist, specializes in trauma release through
somatic work. She earned a master’s degree from Hunter College in New York City
in Dance/Movement Therapy and completed another masters degree in clinical
psychology with an emphasis in somatic psychology at the Santa Barbara Graduate
Institute. Nadia is a registered practitioner of Biodynamic Craniosacral
Therapy (RCST) and is also a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP)
who trained with Peter Levine.
DanceMedicine Workshops is
Natali’s creation where participants move through their trauma with dialogue
and dance. She also offers the Ojai community, DanceMedicine Journeys. In
addition to her private practice, Nadia and her husband offer Zen Retreats at
their center.
Born into a famous family that
was riddled with dysfunction, Nadia Natali made the choice to turn her life
inside out and step away from fame and fortune. Against her parents’ consent
she married an artist and moved to the remote wilderness in California. It was
there that she found grounding as she and her husband raised and homeschooled
their three children and opened a retreat center. As she gathered her own
momentum, she enrolled in a doctorate program finally becoming a clinical
psychotherapist specializing in psychosomatic work. She and her husband live in
Ojai California.
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