Olivia Hussey, who was immortalized as Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s “Romeo and Juliet,†offers a look at her experiences in the timeless role and her life in “The Girl on the Balcony†(Kensington Books).
The book’s release was timed with the 50th anniversary of the movie, which premiered in the United States on Oct. 8, 1968. Hussey describes her tryout as a teenager for the role (she was late, and Zeffirelli threw paper balls in her face during the balcony scene) and writes candidly of the tensions of her life and her performance of Shakespeare’s century-old words. The “after†of Hussey’s life includes movies, husbands, children, flirty exchanges with David Niven on the set of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile,†her secret crush on Paul McCartney, a friendship with Elizabeth Taylor, and making an impromptu dinner for The Bee Gees.
Also featured in the Books feature of the June print edition of Senior Scene: “Home is Everywhere: The Unbelievably True Story of One Man’s Journey to Map America†(Disruption Books). It chronicles the work of Charles Novak, a former surveyor with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey who documented the last unmapped parts of a nation. His family that accompanied him through 22 states includes the book’s author, son David Novak, the co-founder of Yum! Brands (a fortune 500 corporation with brands such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut).