The Search for Eleanor Hatkin
Who She Was by Samuel Freedman is a memoir of the life of his mother, Eleanor Hatkin. The biography delves into and reveals the child Eleanor as she grows up to become to his mother.
Freedman didn’t decide to write this book on whim though. It is 26 years after her death, he realizes that he never actually knew the woman dubbed his mother. Upon her death, he became his father’s son and his father’s son alone. During his childhood he showed indifference to her mother even after learning that she wouldn’t live long. In 2000, he visited his mother’s grave only because he was attending his aunt’s funeral. He finally realized, at the age of 45, that he never knew who she was.
Starting in 2001, Freedman began a meticulous search for evidence of his mother’s childhood. He began his investigation with his mother’s high school and college transcripts, her autograph book, and her many awards. He then searched for those who knew her and her friends. Her high school information was lost in a fire, but he found the roster of her graduating class at Baruch College.
Then the real hunt began. Freedman sent a letter to every person on the roster of her graduating class. Only three people proved to have some knowledge of Eleanor. He set up interviews with those people and gathered scraps of information to try to create an image of her. Freeman also started talking with Eleanor’s brother and sister, his aunt and uncle, and her close friends. He discovered through these sources her many affairs before his father.
Hy Keltz, Eleanor’s first boyfriend, proved to be a vital source of information. Charlie Greco, Eleanor’s true love, had died, but his wife also proved to be a vital source of information in bringing up the real Charlie. Eleanor’s first husband didn’t take part in sharing information about his mother. His next step was to try to re-create her atmosphere. He read newspapers of the time period to get a feel of the “current events”. He listened to the popular songs of the day and watched some of the popular movies to get a feel of her the culture. It was November of 2003; he was now ready to write.
Freeman found time to write the book while he was working. He made a timeline of the many scrape of information he gathered. He connected pictures together to try to gather an idea of her typical day. It took seven to eight months to finally complete the book. In March 2005, the memoir was published
Samuel Freeman reveals the true motive to write the memoir; he needed closure for treating his mother so harshly. After visiting the grave, Freeman was too emotional to write the book. His previous publications were not so personal. He had to split his psyche into two mindsets, into “emotion and craft”. Samuel also says that “his father had trepidations with the book” but eventually he agreed to help out. Even though his book revealed many shocking aspects of Eleanor’s life, his sources agreed that it was the real Eleanor.
Through his research, he was shocked to find that his mother never treated her mother with respect either. Freeman felt that through this shared feeling of apathy, he was able to feel like his mother’s son.
Although Eleanor probably wouldn’t have wanted to Freeman to have probed into her life, Freeman was finally able to find the closure he wanted.