Publisher Description
On the surface, Victoria Jackson is the American Dream personified: from a troubled childhood and unfinished high school education, she overcame immeasurable odds to create a cosmetics empire valued at more than half a billion dollars. Married to Bill Guthy — self-made principal of infomercial marketing giant Guthy-Renker — Victoria’s most treasured role is mother to three beautiful, beloved children, Evan, Ali, and Jackson. Suddenly, Victoria’s dream life is broken as she begins to battle a mother’s greatest fear. In 2008, her daughter, Ali, began experiencing unusual symptoms of blurred vision and an ache in her eye. Ali’s test results led to the diagnosis of Neuromyelitis Optica. NMO is a little understood, incurable, and often fatal autoimmune disease that can cause blindness, paralysis, and life-threatening seizures, and afflicts as few as 20,000 people in the world. At the age of 14, Ali was given a terrifying prognosis of four to six years to live. Saving Each Other begins just as Victoria and Bill learn of Ali’s disease, starting them on a powerful journey to save their only daughter. They even brought together a team of more than 50 of the world’s leading experts in autoimmune and NMO-related diseases to create the Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation. Told in alternating viewpoints, Victoria and Ali narrate their very different journeys of coming to terms with the lack of control that neither mother nor daughter have over NMO, and their pioneering efforts and courage to take their fight to a global level. Bringing their story to light with raw emotion, humor, warmth, and refreshing candor, Saving Each Other is the extraordinary journey of a mother and daughter who demonstrate how the power of love can transcend our greatest fears, while at the same time battling to find a cure for the incurable.
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"Very inspirational story of a mother and daughter's bond through adversity. I remember Victoria Jackson's makeup line from the 1980's. It was nice to read her story."
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Wendy (4 out of 5 stars)
About the Authors
Victoria Jackson, having achieved success as a Hollywood
makeup artist, cosmetics entrepreneur, and television infomercial pioneer, prefers
to think of herself as a “goodwill ambassador for makeup.” A recognized
trailblazer in the infomercial industry, Jackson altered a global beauty
aesthetic with her “no makeup makeup”—a foundation that was the cornerstone of
her eponymous line Victoria Jackson Cosmetics, which has enjoyed over a half
billion dollars in sales, and continues to grow. Married to Bill Guthy of
infomercial giant Guthy-Renker, Victoria Jackson is the mother of three
children, and together they reside in Los Angeles.
Ali Guthy, a student at the University of California, Santa
Barbara, has kept a journal since she was a young girl. At the Buckley School
in Los Angeles, she served as co–editor-in-chief for her high school’s
award-winning newspaper, The Student Voice. She is also the
managing editor of The Spectrum, the newsletter she created with
the Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation. While at Buckley, she had
record-setting achievements on the tennis court, finishing with an overall
winning record of 165-22. Ali also received Buckley’s coveted Head of School
Award—given to a student who demonstrated leadership, academic achievement,
character, and service on behalf of the school and community. She has also been
honored with numerous awards and in the media for giving a public face to NMO
and for her leadership in reaching out to newly diagnosed patients and their
families.
About the Narrators
Amanda Troop is a Los Angeles–based actress with experience
in film, television, and theater. She has also done extensive voice-over work
for video games, films, and commercials.
Lori Tritel is an acclaimed voiceover artist who has worked with companies such as Whirlpool, Safeway, Buick, Orkin, Toyota, Chevron, Stouffers, Washington Mutual, Sears, Loews, Charter Communications, McDonald’s, and many others.