I Must Say (39 page)

A typically shy me makes a surprise visit during a Steve Martin appearance on
Letterman
, October 2009.
(Getty/CBS)

Playing it straight as lawyer Leonard Winstone (with Len Cariou) in the FX series Damages.
(Craig Blankenhorn/Fx/Everett Collection)

With Jason Alexander in the L.A. production of
The Producers

Four slices of ham: Robin Williams, me, Jerry Lewis, and Steve Martin at the Aspen Comedy Festival, 2000.

In heavy prosthetics to play Larry David and Tom Hanks's Forrest Gump in TV sketches.

Jiminy Glick gets carnal with Kathie Lee Gifford on
Prime Time Glick
, 2002.
(Comedy Central/Everett Collection)
.

Nan and me with bearded Tom on the accordion at our annual Christmas party, 2000.

In Sun Valley at the top of 2010,
(from L–R)
Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, me, Nan, Patti Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen, Jann Wenner (holding son Noah) Matt Nye, Debra and Bing Gordon.

With the fabulous Nora Ephron, 2008.

The Short family Christmas card (with Buster the dog), 1994.

Thanksgiving at New York's Tavern on the Green, 2006
(from L–R)
Henry, Oliver, Katherine, me, and Nancy.

The Mountie: my beloved Nan, Central Park, 1999.

T
o me, it's a little daunting to determine who to acknowledge and thank when you're writing about your entire life: “between the forceps and the stone,” as Joni Mitchell once put it. Who do you exclude? The doctor who pulled you out seems pretty important. In my case, he later became a very successful plastic surgeon; what Leonardo was to canvas, Dr. Schleckman was to saggy neck skin. Of course, there are the myriad schoolteachers who guided and authors who inspired; too many to list. And I'm thankful for the family I was blessed to be born into—the spectacular Shorts—as well as the guidance, patience, and endless love of my three children, Katherine, Oliver, and Henry. For me, there's nothing more rewarding than getting a deep-tissue massage while glancing over and seeing one of your kids getting tutored in math.

More specific to this book—which I'm anxious to read—I can't thank enough my collaborator, David Kamp. His cleverness and craft kept the year or so that we worked together as fun, focused, and painless as a thing like this can be. When I get to work with a
writer I admire, everything seems to fall into place. So I must also thank Dick Blasucci, Paul Flaherty, Michael Short, David Feldman, Jon Macks, and all the other brilliant writers with whom I've been lucky enough to collaborate over the years.