Prudence EmeryB次元官网网址檚 life has taken her to the lofty world of celebrity, high society and show business, but it all started in a small coal and lumber town in the 1930s.

Emery, a Victoria resident and longtime film publicist and public relations officer, recently released her memoir, Nanaimo Girl. In the book she recalls her interactions with some of the biggest celebrities of the past 50 years and includes the stories that were the most B次元官网网址渇unny, unusual and sexy, in that order.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 felt quite happy and actually somewhat amazed that IB次元官网网址檇 done all that stuff,B次元官网网址� Emery said. B次元官网网址淏ecause as I say in the book, I had B次元官网网址榮heer lack of directionB次元官网网址� which took me everywhere.B次元官网网址�

After a mischievous youth that saw her go through two boarding schools before dropping out of UBC in her second year, Emery spent her early 20s travelling Europe and partying with artists and aristocrats before returning to Canada to try to find a job.

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Her first experience working with celebrities came at Expo B次元官网网址�67 in Montreal where she worked in visitors services and showed stars like Jack Benny, Liberace and Hugh Hefner around the pavilion.

After Expo she returned to London and through a family connection was offered a position as a press and public relations officer at the luxurious Savoy Hotel, an establishment frequented by the rich and famous. In her five years at the Savoy Emery crossed path with countless politicians and entertainers, such as Pierre Trudeau, Louis Armstrong and Noel Coward. She said she managed to fit into high society B次元官网网址渨ith a lot of help from champagne.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭he fact is you maintain a fair amount of distance, but at the same time if you have a certain kind of personality, I guess which I have, you seem to be able to get along with them,B次元官网网址� she said.

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After an introspective moment when she realized she was becoming numb to a life of luxury, Emery returned to Canada in 1973 to help launch the Toronto Zoo and later Roots and the Griffin Poetry Prize, before going into film publicity for the next 35 years.

During that time Emery worked on 120 productions around the world, including 10 films by Canadian director David Cronenberg. She held a nervous Nicolas CageB次元官网网址檚 hand during an interview for a teen magazine, chaperoned Ben Kingsley on a whirlwind trip to the Cannes Film Festival and traded pants with Sophia Loren.

B次元官网网址淚 do feel very privileged to have been in the film industry in particularB次元官网网址�B次元官网网址� Emery said. B次元官网网址淚 look back and I think, B次元官网网址楬oly cow, I was there on the Great Wall of China with Jeremy Irons.B次元官网网址� The time when youB次元官网网址檙e doing it, it just seems normal. Then you look back on it and you think, B次元官网网址榃ow.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

But whether she was on a film set or hobnobbing with VIPs, Emery never forgot where she came from. She said being brought up in a small town like Nanaimo was in the 1940s and B次元官网网址�50s B次元官网网址渁lways sticks with you.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 used to drag the guys in the cars and I was a bit of a wild brat and no matter how you go through life, that always stays with you, that little bit of Nanaimo, with a bit of edge,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淪o every time I misbehave later in life, I blamed it on B次元官网网址楴anaimo Girl.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Nanaimo Girl is available online from and .

arts@nanaimobulletin.com
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