Romance novel abridged in american Good Housekeeping magazine in the 80's. Artist meets professor.
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1pjfarm
I don't typically read Good Housekeeping or romance stories but I may have been in a doctor's office with time to kill and no book. Also my web search prior to this post tells me that there is a British magazine by the same name and similar format but unrelated.
Read in the American version of Good Housekeeping during the early/mid '80's, a novel that they abridged and I'm curious what they left out.
A woman from Ohio takes her Fine Arts degree from the University of Ohio (a fictional school) to New York City where she becomes semi-famous (at least among the pre-school set) as an illustrator for children's books. After several years, she's doing well enough that she moves to New England, possibly Conn. or rural Mass.
A number of years pass and her biological clock is starting to tick louder and no guy is on the horizon. She decides she's doing well enough to raise a kid on her own, but it still being the 80's, she wants to be married, at least when the child is born. She comes up with a plan where she will marry a guy, get pregnant, pay him for his time and then divorce him and he disappears from their lives. Since she's not all that cold hearted she'll clear the plan with the guy ahead of time.
While she's trying to think of a man to propose her plan to, a man rides into town in a MG sports car and asks to camp in the woods behind her house. She says OK. Not sure of the order, but he paints her shed for her and during a storm helps her cat give birth. She decides he's the man for her. She proposes the plan to him and he says, "Sure. "
They arrange a quick wedding, get her family from Ohio, and her friends, and get married. I think they honeymoon Down East in Maine, then return to her house. He does a few short term computer jobs, based mostly out of Calif., but primarily working out of her house.
During the next part of the story, she gets pregnant, they go to a classical flute concert, some college age students see him and call him professor, and he leaves the concert quickly.
Winter comes. He buys a scarf for someone for Christmas, doesn't tell her who (Later turns out to be his mother with Alzheimer.) He's been spending a lot of time in Calif. but moves back to her house until the baby is born. He takes her latest book to her publisher, says kids book publishers are different from textbook publishers.
She has the baby, a girl. He clears out after the birth while she's still in the hospital, and leaves her check for his services on the kitchen counter with paperwork for it to be held in trust for the girl.
She calls her sister, who comes to help with the newborn. She breaks down and tell the sister everything, including that she loves the guy but has no idea how to find him now. They put their heads together, professor, writes text books, likes computers, and since the internet is very different from now, start calling schools. They finally find him at Harvard (or possibly MIT.)
She goes to him and they declare their love for each other. It turns out the reason he's on sabbatical is because one of his students committed suicide and he needed time away to make sense of his life. Everyone lives happily ever after.
While I'm referencing this story, also in Good Housekeeping at about the same time, but different issue, was a short story by Kate Wilhelm. It was only about four pages and I haven't been able to find a record of it anywhere. I probably read it during the same doctor's visit.
It concerned a computer geek (female, looking to be about 16 but older) from California, looking for offices in New York City. The romance is with the real estate agent who's helping her. She decides to not get an office in the city but way out in the 'burbs near his parents place.
Thanks for the help in advance.
Read in the American version of Good Housekeeping during the early/mid '80's, a novel that they abridged and I'm curious what they left out.
A woman from Ohio takes her Fine Arts degree from the University of Ohio (a fictional school) to New York City where she becomes semi-famous (at least among the pre-school set) as an illustrator for children's books. After several years, she's doing well enough that she moves to New England, possibly Conn. or rural Mass.
A number of years pass and her biological clock is starting to tick louder and no guy is on the horizon. She decides she's doing well enough to raise a kid on her own, but it still being the 80's, she wants to be married, at least when the child is born. She comes up with a plan where she will marry a guy, get pregnant, pay him for his time and then divorce him and he disappears from their lives. Since she's not all that cold hearted she'll clear the plan with the guy ahead of time.
While she's trying to think of a man to propose her plan to, a man rides into town in a MG sports car and asks to camp in the woods behind her house. She says OK. Not sure of the order, but he paints her shed for her and during a storm helps her cat give birth. She decides he's the man for her. She proposes the plan to him and he says, "Sure. "
They arrange a quick wedding, get her family from Ohio, and her friends, and get married. I think they honeymoon Down East in Maine, then return to her house. He does a few short term computer jobs, based mostly out of Calif., but primarily working out of her house.
During the next part of the story, she gets pregnant, they go to a classical flute concert, some college age students see him and call him professor, and he leaves the concert quickly.
Winter comes. He buys a scarf for someone for Christmas, doesn't tell her who (Later turns out to be his mother with Alzheimer.) He's been spending a lot of time in Calif. but moves back to her house until the baby is born. He takes her latest book to her publisher, says kids book publishers are different from textbook publishers.
She has the baby, a girl. He clears out after the birth while she's still in the hospital, and leaves her check for his services on the kitchen counter with paperwork for it to be held in trust for the girl.
She calls her sister, who comes to help with the newborn. She breaks down and tell the sister everything, including that she loves the guy but has no idea how to find him now. They put their heads together, professor, writes text books, likes computers, and since the internet is very different from now, start calling schools. They finally find him at Harvard (or possibly MIT.)
She goes to him and they declare their love for each other. It turns out the reason he's on sabbatical is because one of his students committed suicide and he needed time away to make sense of his life. Everyone lives happily ever after.
While I'm referencing this story, also in Good Housekeeping at about the same time, but different issue, was a short story by Kate Wilhelm. It was only about four pages and I haven't been able to find a record of it anywhere. I probably read it during the same doctor's visit.
It concerned a computer geek (female, looking to be about 16 but older) from California, looking for offices in New York City. The romance is with the real estate agent who's helping her. She decides to not get an office in the city but way out in the 'burbs near his parents place.
Thanks for the help in advance.
2indybr12
I haven't been able to find anything about the condensed novel, but there were some Kate Wilhelm short stories published in Redbook about the same time. Is it possible it was Redbook instead of Good Housekeeping?
3pjfarm
Going back 25 years, it's hard to be sure of anything, :-) but I'm pretty sure it was Good Housekeeping. My problem is that I can't even find a mention of it on Wilhelm's own site, which one would expect to be comprehensive. I had just read 'Where late the sweet birds sang' which is why I read the short.
4pjfarm
Since the easy method of asking people didn't work, :-) I spent a dreary, grey Saturday afternoon in a brightly lit library scrolling through old editions of Good Housekeeping on microfilm. Good times. :-)
The novel is Perfect Strangers by LouAnn Gaeddert (or occasionally LouAnn Bigge Gaeddert.) It was in the June, 1985 edition. I've now got a copy of the novel coming to me through Inter-Library Loan.
I didn't find the short story so I'm re-asking that. I'm also willing to entertain the idea that I have the author wrong. As I said, it's been 25 years. :-)
Expanding on the short story, the guy lived for hiking. He dreamed of taking off for a good chunk of a year and hiking the entire Appalachian trail in one go. Since hiking didn't pay bills he would work for his uncle in New York City commercial real estate for a few months and then go hike until his money ran out.
The girl came to the agency looking for office space. She had started a computer company in a budding Silicon Valley in the mid 80's. Her business partner was even more shy and liked crowds less than she did so she had come East for the search. She was short and slight and looked to be a teenager though she was near his age (mid twenties).
After looking at every space he had in inventory and coming up blank, he had time to fall halfway in love with her. She meets his parents somehow, not through him, and decides that the company doesn't necessarily need an office but a mail drop would do. His parents offer their house, I think in the 'burbs rather than the boroughs, as a location and the end of the story finds her telling the guy that she'll be back about once a month, with the unstated understanding that she would like to see him as well.
Hope this rings a bell with someone. :-)
The novel is Perfect Strangers by LouAnn Gaeddert (or occasionally LouAnn Bigge Gaeddert.) It was in the June, 1985 edition. I've now got a copy of the novel coming to me through Inter-Library Loan.
I didn't find the short story so I'm re-asking that. I'm also willing to entertain the idea that I have the author wrong. As I said, it's been 25 years. :-)
Expanding on the short story, the guy lived for hiking. He dreamed of taking off for a good chunk of a year and hiking the entire Appalachian trail in one go. Since hiking didn't pay bills he would work for his uncle in New York City commercial real estate for a few months and then go hike until his money ran out.
The girl came to the agency looking for office space. She had started a computer company in a budding Silicon Valley in the mid 80's. Her business partner was even more shy and liked crowds less than she did so she had come East for the search. She was short and slight and looked to be a teenager though she was near his age (mid twenties).
After looking at every space he had in inventory and coming up blank, he had time to fall halfway in love with her. She meets his parents somehow, not through him, and decides that the company doesn't necessarily need an office but a mail drop would do. His parents offer their house, I think in the 'burbs rather than the boroughs, as a location and the end of the story finds her telling the guy that she'll be back about once a month, with the unstated understanding that she would like to see him as well.
Hope this rings a bell with someone. :-)
5MyriadBooks
Congrats to your diligence paying off so well! That's wonderful!
You might wish to consider starting a new topic thread specifically for your short story. The short story is currently a bit buried behind the 'Romance novel abridged...' topic label, and members whose search forte might be short stories are not always likely to read into a thread with such a different topic label.
You might wish to consider starting a new topic thread specifically for your short story. The short story is currently a bit buried behind the 'Romance novel abridged...' topic label, and members whose search forte might be short stories are not always likely to read into a thread with such a different topic label.
6pjfarm
>5 MyriadBooks: Good idea. I was going to wait a month or so but it makes more sense to end this thread here and start another one. Thanks for the interest. :-)
7bmlg
Have you looked here:
http://www.philsp.com/homeville/ISFAC/s264.htm#A4932
and the next page for Kate Wilhelm's short stories?
There's one called The Winter Beach, published in Redbook Sept 81.
http://www.philsp.com/homeville/ISFAC/s264.htm#A4932
and the next page for Kate Wilhelm's short stories?
There's one called The Winter Beach, published in Redbook Sept 81.
8pjfarm
I'm calling this string finished. Thanks for all the help!
I started a new one, titled "Short story, romance, real estate agent/hiker meets computer geek looking for an office" to handle the short story question. I'll transfer message 7 and a response.
The response is that I am more sure that the story was in Good Housekeeping than I am that it was written by Kate Wilhelm. Since I've had no trouble finding several stories of hers that were published in Redbook but can't find mention of anything in GH I'm starting to think that the author was someone with a name that looked like Wilhelm's at a quick glance.
Thanks again.
I started a new one, titled "Short story, romance, real estate agent/hiker meets computer geek looking for an office" to handle the short story question. I'll transfer message 7 and a response.
The response is that I am more sure that the story was in Good Housekeeping than I am that it was written by Kate Wilhelm. Since I've had no trouble finding several stories of hers that were published in Redbook but can't find mention of anything in GH I'm starting to think that the author was someone with a name that looked like Wilhelm's at a quick glance.
Thanks again.
