Friday, July 27,

Life After TV: Taylor and Eickenberry Find and Love Italy

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Michael Taylor and Jill Eickenberry on- and off-screen mates of “L.A. Law" have done what seems to becoming a "rite of passage", for Hollywood stars, and purchased a 350-year-old stone cottage in Italy, more precisely in Umbria in the Spoleto valley.

Tucker says that in Italy, food functions as metaphor for the good life, but its superior quality also is tangible. He contrasts Italian food, which is always fresh and local, to the long hauled food in a U.S. supermarket. Tucker's cooking has become simpler since he moved to Italy. "I don't fuss too much, I buy something good and cook it right. Cooking is 90 percent shopping -- or picking, if you have a good garden."

The Italians have much to teach Americans. They tell how they returned to Italy from one of their jaunts to find they had neither phone nor Internet service. They had missed a bill and Telecom Italia had ceased all service. They fumed for a few days and complained to their friends in Italy, who replied, "So what? Where are we going for lunch?"

Italy has seeped into the "Tuckerberry's" lives, in a most important manner, for the family has come together for the first time in a long while. Lora lives across the hall, and their children are nearby. Alison, who is a chef, cooks all of Lora's meals.

 

Life after TV: 'L.A. Law' Stars Share their Passion for Italy with Readers

Seattle Post - Intelligencer 

By Lisa Albers

July 26, 2007

You may remember him as Stuart Markowitz, the distinguished lawyer and counterpart to Ann Kelsey, played by Jill Eickenberry, his on- and off-screen mate. But "L.A. Law" star Michael Tucker is signing more books than autographs these days, as he and Eickenberry follow a national book tour schedule they say is more intense than any work they've done.

Tucker, 62, and Eickenberry, 60, have done a lot: movies, TV, stage, a documentary film, and a previous book for Tucker.

"Living in a Foreign Language: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Love in Italy" (Grove Atlantic, 252 pages, $24) is part treatise on how to have a life after TV. The narrative begins with the moment when they realize their highly successful "L.A. Law" stint is coming to a close. As Tucker explained on the phone during the Chicago leg of their book tour, "There's nothing deader than an ex-TV star."

But this couple knows how to reinvent themselves. They lived high-octane lives as celebrities -- both receiving Emmy nominations -- and much of their energy went into their careers and children. So when the lights of Hollywood dimmed, they focused on their relationship, a tactic that has held this 35-year marriage in good stead. "If you're with someone you're going all the way with, you can't lose," Tucker said. And Eickenberry, also on the phone from Chicago, agreed: "That's when life seemed to be the best, when we turned to each other."

But it wasn't until they stumbled onto their dream house in Italy's Spoleto Valley that they found what they were looking for: home.

The two purchased a 350-year-old stone cottage in Umbria. They met and became fast friends with the neighbors: a brash former New York agent, the previous owners of their cottage, and a German architect, among others. And they ate well -- Tucker is a food aficionado, so the book is full of mouthwatering descriptions. Tucker's friendly, honest writing style made this reader feel like a guest at one of their dinner parties.

Tucker says that in Italy, food functions as metaphor for the good life, but its superior quality also is tangible. He contrasts Italian food, which is always fresh and local, to the food in a U.S. supermarket. Even organic food in a specialty store has traveled many miles from its point of origin. Tucker's cooking has become simpler since he moved to Italy. "I don't fuss too much," he said. "I buy something good and cook it right. Cooking is 90 percent shopping -- or picking, if you have a good garden."

The Italians have much to teach Americans, he said. He and Eickenberry tell how they returned to Italy from one of their jaunts to the states to find they had neither phone nor Internet service. They had made arrangements, but one bill had slipped through, and Telecom Italia had ceased all service. The couple fumed for a few days and complained to their friends in Italy, who replied, "So what? Where are we going for lunch?"

It has been exciting for Eickenberry to see readers' responses to the book. "Mike has such an effortless way of writing," she said. "He's not a tortured writer; he loves the process. He even loves to go back to rewrite, as it's not a painful experience for him. He seems to revel in it."

The enthusiastic response to Tucker's book makes Eickenberry think there is a need for a different kind of lifestyle in America. "At our readings, people love talking about Italy," she said. "And so do we."

For now, however, all of their family has gathered in New York. The two actors have found gratifying work on the Broadway stage, and their children -- Alison and Max -- live in New York, along with Eickenberry's mother, Lora, who needs their care.

Not that they will abandon their Umbrian home; they plan to return as often as they can. Predating the cottage itself is a stone oven where the entire community would come together to bake bread. It's a fitting metaphor for the way Italy has seeped into the "Tuckerberry's" lives, for the family has come together for the first time in a long while. Lora lives across the hall, and their children are nearby. Alison, who is a chef, cooks all of Lora's meals.

This turn of events, said Tucker, is a fitting subject for his next book.

Lisa Albers is a Seattle-based freelance writer and editor who can be reached at lisaalbers@comcast.net

 

 

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