Jeanne Beker: Heart on My Sleeve

Debbie Travis  0:01  
Hi, I'm Debbie Travis,

Tommy Smythe  0:02  
and I'm Tommy Smythe,

Debbie Travis  0:03  
and this is, trust me, I'm a decorator.

Tommy Smythe  0:07  
Hi, Debbie.

Debbie Travis  0:08  
Hi. Good morning. Good morning.

Tommy Smythe  0:10  
It is quite a good morning. We have an incredibly special guest with us today, one of my favorite people in all of Canada. We're

Debbie Travis  0:17  
little bit intimidated because our guest is an interviewer, and as you will probably all know, Tommy and I are not we just like to check, we just like to chat and have fun, but we have a professional on who is famous for the fashion world. So welcome. Jeannie Becker, you have a new book out which we're going to talk about. We're going to talk about your life, which is absolutely fascinating. And I have read the book all weekend, and love it. So many stories and so many stories, which you probably don't know, but I was there when you did that.

Jeanne Bekker  0:50  
So actually, I'm

Debbie Travis  0:53  
just going to start with one you interviewed Paul McCartney on a movie called Give my regards to Broad Street, yeah,

Jeanne Bekker  1:02  
not a very good movie. But,

Debbie Travis  1:05  
well, probably because I was in it, I was in that, no, oh, I'm

Jeanne Bekker  1:10  
so, I mean, except for your performance, of course, which was stellar. Seriously, Debbie,

Debbie Travis  1:15  
well, all I had to do was snog some boy, which he means kissing pouring down railway station, which was Broad Street Station in London. I think I was probably 19 at the time. It took three days at three o'clock in the morning in the pouring rain. So when you said it was a lackluster movie, which you were absolutely right, I was kind of devastated. I have to say that was my only movie

Jeanne Bekker  1:41  
that is okay. That's mind blowing. That's worth another chapter in the book. I'll have to introduce you about that when this is done. So

Debbie Travis  1:48  
Jeannie, first of all, congratulations. There are so many angles to this book, because you delve into the craziness of the fashion world. And I think all I can say by the time I finish the end of it is wow. That takes chutzpah, because you got into some of those interviews and some of those people became your friends, which is really quite remarkable for such a tough business. But you were the girl battling to the front at the all the Paris collections with your microphone and your and I used to see it with the cameraman being dragged. I think you had him by the throat sometimes, just keep because he was being too polite. And you were like, push, just push your way in. But, but, yeah, it's really great. And you also go into your the story of your partner and your girls, which I thought was lovely. And then, of course, the last chapter, which has been not so pleasant, but you've kind of come out that we have that with flying colors.

Jeanne Bekker  2:41  
Oh, yes, my cancer journey. Yes, that. Well, you know, when I was approached by Simon and Schuster to do a memoir, and it was strange in a way, because I've got two other memoirs, one that came out in 2001 that came out in 2011 so, you know, I thought they must just be wanting me now to tell the story of my cancer journey, because I'd been the public about it. And they said, no, no, no, we just think that you've got some great life lessons. And, you know, we want you to do just another kind of, you know, recollection, but maybe seen through a different lens. I chose the lens of wardrobe, because that's how so many people know me, and that's how so many people remember me. And it ended up being a wonderful exercise in editing, because I didn't have a great see every chapter. These are all stories, and they're not in any chronological order either. It's heart on my sleeve, stories from a life well worn. So every chapter starts with a garment or an accessory or a piece of jewelry, and I use those pieces as springboards into the storytelling. So even though I've got a lot of great stories in me, I couldn't tell all of them because not all had a piece of clothing or a piece of jewelry or an accessory that I could really tie to it, but

Debbie Travis  4:05  
I like that because that relates to the reader, because everybody's got something that you never throw out in your wardrobe, you know, a pair of shoes, or, like in your case, your red boots, and that's Something that has a real memory wrapped around it, and you keep it even though it's 100 sizes too small, you'll never wear it again. I mean, you're lucky. You pass it on to your girls, but, but it's such a great memory, and I think that really relates to everybody, yeah,

Jeanne Bekker  4:35  
and I really am hoping that the book will really make people see their wardrobes new, perhaps for some people, or at least really appreciate the sentimentality behind these incredible pieces that one writer had called them, wordless witnesses to our lives, these garments, these pieces of clothing. I mean, they really, they're they're with us. They're on us. They. They empower us often, sometimes they, sometimes they, I suppose, like disempower us if we're not really feeling good about what we're wearing. But for the most part, these pieces that we treasure and that we cherish and that we remember so vividly, whether we actually physically still have them or not. Because, sadly, I don't have each and every garment that I'm writing about. I do have a lot of them, but some of them, you know, my mom threw out my sweet 16 dress up. That was just so such a sad day. But, but certain things we at least have pictures of ourselves in or at least crystal clear images that are in our memory, in in our hearts that we

Debbie Travis  5:36  
hold on to. What about the maternity dress you had?

Jeanne Bekker  5:39  
Oh, now that's okay. That's a great story, of course, Christian Dino no the maternity dress, although they probably shudder to think that I'm calling it that. This was a gorgeous dress that was gifted to me by Kara Lagerfeld in the first long sit down interview I had with him. The year was 1989 in the summer of 89 I gave birth in the fall of 89 so it was a sweltering hot day in Paris, and we went to the couture Atelier of Chanel on the eve of the big couture show. And I felt like a beached whale. I mean, I probably shouldn't have even been traveling at that point, but I was determined to work up until the very last minute. So there I was sitting there in this drab, olive green maternity outfit, feeling like a bit of a beached whale, and waiting for hours for Carl to arrive, because he was always notoriously late. But you know, whatever it was, Carl, he was worth the wait and Gilles Dufour, who was his assistant at the time, said, oh, you know, maybe you'd like to borrow something from Chanel for the interview. I went, what? What an opportunity like, what a chance. But how could I possibly take advantage of that? Because I had really gained a lot of weight during my pregnancy. You know, I just thought, whatever, three milkshakes a day. Let's go for it. I'm not gonna find anything that's gonna fit me, and he'll come with me. And he took me into this little back room, and there was a glorious stash of couture garments, you know, just mind boggling. And we looked through the rats, and I was just saying, oh, you know, Kell damage, I'm not gonna be able to find anything to fit and all of a sudden, he pulled out a dress, and out a dress that it had this big white satin, kind of Chevron down the front. It was a little black crepe number with cap sleeves and those gorgeous Pearl and gold Chanel trademark buttons and a black organza Camelia at the neck. And easy, you know, this one might fit you because it's, it's a boxy cut, you know, this is just dry, just dry it. And I thought, Okay, fine. How embarrassing. And I went to the dressing room, you know, pulled off my clothes, looked at myself in the mirror, and thought, you know, bear, this is just not going to happen. But I tried to dress on, and voila, miraculously fit. So I was delighted. Gilles was delighted. We waited another hour or two for Carl. Carl finally came in, sat across from him in the interview, and he complimented me, you know, on the dress. Oh, you know, that's fabulous. It looks great on you. And I asked him if he had ever designed maternity clothes before, and he said he once he did for Jerry Hall. But otherwise, no, not really. And at the end of the interview, we got along so famously, he said, You know what Cesar cado poteis, you know that's going to be a present for you. The word Caddo in the fashion trenches, as you can imagine, is like, wow, the best word you can hear, because it means a gift. So they gifted me with this dress, and now I have it to this day so that,

Tommy Smythe  8:46  
yeah, I mean, I can imagine having never been pregnant. Obviously, I can imagine that there isn't any moment other than that, that where, where a dress, a fabulous dress, might be more important than at a time when you're just feeling kind of like boiling hot and bigger than usual, and carrying around all this extra weight, and, you know, like, imagine the transformative, you know, feeling of putting on this now. And,

Debbie Travis  9:14  
yeah, can I ask you a question about Carl? Because you interviewed him once, and I saw this, you know, I think it was on television, and it stuck with me forever. So you stayed in, you stayed friends with him, and then many years later, I think he, he launched a home line or something, something not to do with fashion, like home, or something like that. And you said to him, and you might, you probably don't remember this, but you said to him, how do you find time? And he answered, because I don't think he was the most easy man to deal with, right? I think he was quite, you know, difficult to deal with. But he turned to your camera and he said. Something that stuck with me forever. He said, If you ever want anything done, always ask a busy person. And I love that, because very often, if you're in trouble or you're not well or you need help, the people who don't do a lot are always too busy to help those who are busy spending the time. And I'm sure Tommy agrees with that, you know, it's past his life, and that I don't know that must have been 20 years ago, and that stuck in my head forever. Always ask a busy person for help,

Jeanne Bekker  10:34  
yeah, and that was Carl. Was just a master of busyness. I mean, he was such a creative, prolific spirit, and always was looking ahead, and that's another thing never wasted time looking back. I mean, I'm not look at here. I am saying this. Meanwhile, I've written a memoir which is all about looking back. I mean, you know nothing wrong with looking back, but in terms of really driving your your life forward and yourself forward and and keeping you know positive and and full of hope and and faith. I think we really do have to keep focused on the future. And that was Carl. He really didn't even like talking about what he had just sent down the runway. Every time, you know, I'd grab him for a sound bite after the show. He wanted to talk about, you know, what he was going to create tomorrow. And that's that's really exciting, too. That's a good lesson for all

Tommy Smythe  11:27  
of us. There was an amazing documentary on him called Lagerfeld confidential. And I remember a scene in the documentary where, and this speaks to what you were just talking about, Jeannie. There was a scene in the documentary where they're all in a car, and the camera man's in the back seat, and Carla's in the passenger seat, and they're talking, there's an assistant also present off camera, and you hear the assistant say, like, Oh, I've spoken to so and so, and she's asked for a meeting on such and such a date. And Carl turns around and he looks and he says, what? That's six months from now, we could all be dead by then. I thought to myself, these are words to live by, like, if you have to wait six months for me, yeah, don't

Jeanne Bekker  12:07  
look too far ahead. But tomorrow is pretty safe. Six months down the road is a lot safer than six months.

Debbie Travis  12:15  
Another favorite story in there, which is another kind of connection, because I'm talking to you from Tuscany, from Italy, and 20 minutes up the road, Sting lives in his villa, and in a couple of times, I even have Sting's stove. But how you did this? You have a story where you interviewed him in the bathtub. No, oh, God.

Jeanne Bekker  12:36  
Oh, Debbie, only it was sting. No, darling. And that wasn't sting. That wasn't sting. That was Andy Summers of the police. Yeah, yeah, okay, but it's close enough. And And honestly, I did have a very wonderful, friendly relationship with Sting, and I absolutely adore him. Who doesn't, who wouldn't? There were all kinds of rumors about me and him back in the day too. I wish I loved that. I wish they weren't true. But no, no, no, You never too much of a gentleman. Ever. You know, come on to anybody. Absolutely a gem. But I was lucky enough as a young music Reporter The in the early days of music television, a pre MTV, when I was doing a show called the new music, which really set the ground for, for for music television. And this is like pre MTV. So around in the early 80s, when the police first surfaced, I got to go on the road with them, you know, I went to Saskatchewan with them, and rode the old tour bus with them. And we just had, like, you know, a magical time together. Really, lots of fun with with the police, and Andy and I did an interview in a Toronto hotel room, and he decided to be very, you know, naughty and playful, and he suggested that we do the interview in the bathtub. And I said, Well, I'm not getting into the bathtub, but if you want to get in the bathtub, I'll interview you in the bathtub. So I sat on the edge of the tub and interviewed him, and he had his wee bottle of bubble bath that he sort of put in the tub, and the bubbles began to dissipate after the first, you know, 10 minutes of the interview, which was a little embarrassing. But anyway, so we did this interview. So fast forward, you know, 20 odd years later, and the police had risen to, you know, incredible heights with their success. And I was doing fashion television. And Andy was also like an avid photographer, and he had come out with a book all about photographs backstage stuff. And I thought, well, that would be a cool book to feature on fashion television. So my producer phoned his management people because they heard that he was coming to town to do a concert and promote the book. And they and they said, you know, Jeannie would really love to interview Andy about the book. Is that possible? And they they said, okay, yeah, great. And they said, Well, how could we do this? And, you know. And my producer said, Well, last time she interviewed, Andy was in the bathtub. And then, you know, so then they spoke to Andy, and Andy said, Okay, let's do the interview in a bathtub again, and we'll have Jeannie come into the bathtub this time. And I'm trying. I'm like, really? And by this time, I was, like, a 50 something year old, you know, mother. I'm like, what I'm not, you know, huh? I mean, I try to hang on to my inner teen as much as possible, but this was a wild notion. I suggested it to my mother, and she just about plots, as they say, not happy about the fact that I might be doing this. So the day of the interview, I thought, I don't think I'm going to have the nerve to do this, but I thought, Okay, I'll pack my little I had this little string bikini, like with the leopard trim, it was really cool. I'll pack it anyway and just see what happens when I get there. So got to the hotel room, great reunion with Andy. We loved it. And then Andy said, okay, you know, time to get into the tub. And it was like, oh, okay, I'm going to do it. I went into the bathroom, and I changed into that little bikini, and I just thought of my out of my mind. And Andy came out this time. He was wearing these kind of boxer shorts. So, you know, his his junk was not on display, on display. And we got into the tub, and you know, there was in this tiny hotel a suite bathroom, and there was my cameraman, and we had a photographer with us as well. And got into because I was doing this for I was editing magazine. At the time, I thought I would use the interview for the magazine as well. So great that we have the pictures. Got into the tub, and Andy had he was so charming. He had decorated the bathtub with these little votives all around the edge of the tub, like he wanted it to be romantic and fabulous. And he had ordered Cosmos from room service, and he lit up a big fat joint, you know. And there I was, you know, with microphone in hand, and I had brought a big bottle of Mr. Bubble bubble bath, which, you know, so I wanted to make sure that the tub would be filled with bubbles so no one would see too much of anything. And we got and we and Andy was, he's so brilliant and such an intellect, and started talking about, you know, life and and art and the meaning of it all. And, you know, waxing on about, and he, at one point, took a big drag of his joint, you know, Cosmo in hand, and all of a sudden, ah Andy, your hair is on fire. And it and it was like that, you know, Michael Jackson once had that disaster happen to him during the commercial. I thought, Oh my God. Like, the end of the world. Like, I dropped my mic. I don't know if it landed in the top. We could have all been electrocuted. Scream, and then, and then it was like, oh. And he was just so cool. He was like, Oh, really, you know, sort of like, brushed it off, and, okay, the flames subsided, and he just carried on with the interview. And it was like the most exhilarating experience you could imagine. It's on YouTube. I mean, I think if you, if you Google Andy Summers hair on fire, you can see the the video of it

Tommy Smythe  17:58  
is insane. I mean, there's hardline journalism, and then there's softcore journalism. You've done both Jeannie,

Debbie Travis  18:06  
I did Google, the one of Izzy pop and who was really rude to you that, I think that became quite a famous interview because he was so God, he had bad teeth, and he was quite so. And you said in the book, it's on YouTube. So of course, I looked on YouTube. But what you were wearing then, I don't know how old you were, maybe 23 or something, but you looked so hot. And you were wearing, you could wear that today, suede camel colored jeans and a little kind of tight sweater and everything. And it was like, Oh my God, I want that outfit. And I don't know when that was, like, early 80s or something, yeah,

Jeanne Bekker  18:44  
yeah. Well, I walked into that was an interview, you know, that was a disastrous interview on some levels, and it was a great interview on others, especially now in retrospect, because I really got the nerve to stand up to the guy, and he was just being really creepy, you know. And I, you know, when looking back at that now, I thought, wow, I listen. I've been interviewing people since I started in the media in St John's and Newfoundland at the CBC in 1975 so I've been interviewing people for, like, a lot of years, and even since 1975 to this day, 20 where are we? 2024 I've never walked out of an interview. I've never said, You know what, you got up, didn't you? You got up and walked out that time. It was like he started, you know, just being so disrespectful and so creepy to me. And I couldn't believe it, because just a few months earlier, I had interviewed him at Toronto. It was called Heatwave, I think, a Pop Festival in Toronto, and he was coming on to me, like, hey, you know, you is, you know. And he was like, eyeing me. And I was wearing, at the time, at the festival, I was wearing these vinyl jeans, and I looked like, really hot, yes, you know, I looked at, you know, rock and roll and edgy. And. Think. But the night that I went to interview him for this disastrous interview, I had been at my parents house for a Friday night, kind of Sabbath dinner, and I was dressed very conservatively in these suede, lovely suede trousers and a red cashmere sweater, and I looked kind of straight, I guess, to him. And I think when I walked in and I got called by my producer in the middle of the night, saying, we need you down at the town fourth Music Hall, and right away, Iggy Pop's going to give us an interview. I said, Ah, but I didn't see the performance. I'm here having dinner with my parents, because it doesn't matter, come down here, be here by midnight. I got down there, and I walked into this room, and there were all these guys. I was like, you know, the only girl, the only chick there, and all these guys, and they were, like, really knocking back the whiskey, and just all kind of drunk and high. And, you know, it was the end of the show, and I think he looked at me like, Who is this? He's probably not recognizing me from this past encounter I'd had with him. And he really just looked me up and down, and I wasn't wearing my tight vinyl jeans. I was, you know, dressed quite differently. And I think he just judged me and thought he was this bourgeois chick. I'm going to show her who she is and showing off almost to all the guys standing around. He just wanted to show them how he could put me down. And it was just the simplest thing that triggered him. He told me he was writing a book. And I innocently said, Oh, is that your first attempt at writing? And he goes, Yeah, damned well I could do, you know, I've got more talent in my little finger than you could ever imagine having enough. And then he just started, like, putting me down. And it was terrible.

Debbie Travis  21:36  
Anyway, it was, it was like a train wreck. It was like, and you did, you were so elegant because, like I said, I watched it, and everybody should watch it. I mean, it's just interesting to see a young woman like you having the balls and the elegance, because you didn't shout, you didn't burst into tears, you just said, you know, I think we're done. Thank you very much, because he was like, because you said that one word, you know, is this your first attempt? And he took it wrong, didn't he? And, and he was obviously drunk, and he was drinking, he could see you, he's got a paper cup full of whiskey, yeah, and, but he, how old was he? Then 50 something, 60, and you're like, 20s. You just can't get off his teeth, because nobody has teeth anymore. I mean, bloody hell. And he's like, oh. And you just said, thank you very much. I think, you know, we'll get out of here. And I thought that that took balls. So I think that, you know, young people, if they want to get into this business, just see how to do this. I would have burst into tears.

Jeanne Bekker  22:40  
Nice of you to say, well, you know what? Trust me in subsequently, knowing that my producer, who loved that kind of television, you know, he was going to use that day, he wasn't going to scrap that date. He thought TV gold man like and put that on. And I did cringe a bit seeing it on TV, because people thought, oh, yeah, you know, especially the fans of Iggy, and he's got legions of fans. I mean, he's a very cool guy. On some levels, there's no question of great talent. And, you know, everyone was like, Yeah, Iggy, put Jeannie Becker down. Woohoo, you know. And so that that hurt. I listen, honestly, Debbie, I've, I've shed a lot of tears in this business. You as one would, because on one hand, you must have this very strong suit of armor, you know, to deal with all these, the craziness of the business, and all these big egos and all the, you know, the meme stuff that's going to come your way. However, if you, if you have a suit of armor that's too tough and that's too impenetrable, you will never be sensitive enough to have a wonderful connection with someone, to have a deep conversation with someone to, you know, so you must also remain sensitive. It's, you know, kind of a double edged sword. Very interesting, a line to walk, and I've really tried to do that. But believe me, I'm a sensitive person, and I I believe in crying a lot. And, you know, I mean, listen, the name of the book hard on my sleeve. You know that I'm very much about letting people, you know, sort of know how I feel. I'm not going to be, you know, that much of a phony about stuff. And I think it's great to express our emotions. So even though, you know, I've tried myself to sleep in hotel rooms the world over. You know, it's still been a pretty incredible life. We're

Tommy Smythe  24:27  
just going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

Debbie Travis  24:30  
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Tommy Smythe  24:41  
I remember when you interviewed my sister and Andrea on your podcast. At the end of the podcast, we all cried because, you know, for me and and Andrea and my sister, who are fashion designers, Jeannie, for our listeners, Jeannie was instrumental. In the early success of my sister's label with Andrea lensner, So Christy Smyth and Andrea Leinster lensner have Smythe and Jeannie you were one of their first champions. And then, of course, for me as a young gay kid growing up in Canada, the fashion television was and the new music, in fact, were touch tone connections for me to an outer world that you know was a fantasy place for me. And so when you interviewed us, it was deeply emotional for us, because it was kind of like a career goal. It was milestone for us, and the three of us at the end of the interview, started bawling with you, because we just were so it was so special for us and you and I have known each other for a really long time, Jeanie socially and at events and things like that, but that particular professional moment, being interviewed by you, I think, was emotional. And I think what you just said about being a person who is open to that when you do interviews, I think that that invited that kind of connection. And I think you know, journalism is not easy, true and proper journalism, and you were able to have a career in music and in fashion journalism, proper journalism, that was able to cut through all of that bullshit and actually get to the information and to the heart of the matter. So part on my sleeve, the book being told through the stories of certain garments that were talismans in your life as a person, as a professional person, and as a and as a human being. I think there's something really magical about that because of our connection to clothes. And I just wanted to read to you there's a the book opens with this fabulous quote from Susie Menkes, and it says, clothes, as much as music, have an eerie echo of time and place. And I don't think that there could possibly be a quote that could sum up your career and your life's journey. You

Jeanne Bekker  26:56  
know, I just have to stop you on that for one second. And I adore Susie mankis. I mean, if there ever was, like, a great mentor or someone to look up to, someone who inspired me, and I learned so much from it, sir, um, you got an advanced copy of the book and a true and the advanced copies that, because that was in the galley, I used that quote to open the book, and then we tried to, you know, get the Okay. And because that was a quote that had originally appeared in a, I think it was a Harper's bizarre magazine story that Susie had written, they wanted to charge us an arm and a leg to use that quote, so we had to take it so in the finished copy, you won't see that quote, but I'm glad it resonated with you and you got a chance to talk about it.

Tommy Smythe  27:40  
Well, then it lives here on the podcast. Now, well,

Jeanne Bekker  27:43  
on the podcast you can say whatever, I'm sure. But I mean, it's quite funny, because that is not as sadly, not not in the book at the end of the day. However, it is true, music and fashion really are such markers, in a way, of our times and and our our developments, like socially and just even personally.

Debbie Travis  28:06  
Now, one of the greats that you talk about in the book, who I think you really liked a lot, and again, our lives overlapped we didn't know, was at Kate and Will's wedding. I was there with Entertainment Tonight. You were there, and Alexander McQueen, of course, was the dress. And we were in those green boxes by Buckingham Palace, and we were given an iPad and the information. And again, you know, I'm not an interviewer. Why I was asked to do this, I don't know, but we were all given that second as she came out, because the world did not know who had designed the dress. And of course, we had to kind of look down with our eyes, and as soon as she walked out, just in big letters, the four of us was me and Cheryl Hickey, and it just said Alexander McQueen, but you were the first one to announce it. You got it like a split second before,

Jeanne Bekker  28:57  
yeah, I was reporting for for CTV, actually, and that it was wonderful to be sent to that locale to do the story of fashion behind the royal wedding. And I was standing, you know, at that moment, I remember standing atop a roof overlooking Westminster Abbey when she came out in that gown, but just the second that the car pulled up, just before she stepped out, I blurted out, and she's wearing the Queen, because the night before, I'd been with my dear friend Todd Lynn, who is a London based designer, originally from Toronto, and he gave me a bit of a scoop, because he said he'd been passing By the hotel where Kate and her family were staying, and he saw somebody carrying some big garment bag into the hotel. And I thought, Oh, well, that must be the wedding dress. He says, Yeah. And I said, you have any idea who, where the it was coming from, and what design houses, you know, the bookies were taking bets on this thing. It was like, yeah. Story, what the. Design House is going to be responsible for the gown. And he said, Well, he said, I saw a pair of feet wearing these little black ballet flats that you know, whoever was carrying the bag was wearing these black ballet flats. And my friend Sarah Burton, who was the head designer of the house of McQueen at that time, always wears these black ballet flats, he says, so I think it's, I'm pretty sure it's McQueen. And I thought, yeah, I mean, you know, McQueen had passed earlier that year, and it was just, you know, if anyone was going to be responsible for, you know, a dress for that royal wedding, I thought it should be the house of McQueen, even though, at the time, McQueen was owned by Gucci, that, you know, Italian company, so, but, you know, wow, certainly, I just thought, you know what? I just was convinced that it was going to be a McQueen dress. And I, I think I probably felt, you know, the spirit of Lee McQueen, who I was, you know, quite close to somehow nudging me to say it, yes, it's okay. Go for it. It's me, and I just blurted it out. And did have the scoop, you know, just maybe a second or two before everyone else. But

Debbie Travis  31:07  
I know, because I remember somebody in the in the control room going, so, right, Genie's already told everybody, because it was it the adrenaline was off the chart. I've never in my life done anything like that wedding, because you're thinking on your feet, we started at five in the morning, remember? And then you're talking about, you were probably talking about fashion. You were taught, and you were given the names of everybody going into the Abbey. Because, you know, even I didn't, I mean, Lord and Lady, so and so, of course, you knew people like Elton, John and stuff, but, and they're feeding this information to you, and it's, and then you go outside for a break, and another journalist takes over and, and there's Piers Morgan and, you know, Katie Couric, and all these people sitting on steps, you know, just going, okay, back in. And it was hour after hour. Everybody sees it of the kind of the tight little footage when they came, you know, they they got married, and then the wave from the balcony, but it was all the before that was so fascinating and just so exhilarating. I'm still hyper from that.

Jeanne Bekker  32:15  
Well,

Debbie Travis  32:18  
I never worn a fascinator before, and I know you had yours made, so I went to some rental place in London and got it, and then I called it a fornicator throughout the whole broadcast. And of course, I don't listen terribly well, and they kept waving at me, going, No, no, no fascinator. And I'm like, so my fornicator keeps slipping, because, you know, whatever. So, yeah. I mean, now I think that's when they came in fashion, right? Yeah. Um, Jeannie, I wanted to ask you something else, because the part of the book that moved me a lot, which I really loved, was about your daughter, because I think also a lot of mothers at the moment this time of year have become empty nesters.

Tommy Smythe  32:55  
Yes, all the children are going to university. Yeah, exactly,

Debbie Travis  32:59  
and it's a very hard thing, but your child went to the chose the Yukon, of all places, and then decided she loved it, and hey, Mom, I'm staying and you were like, what? And then you went to visit her, and she didn't. Wasn't just staying in an apartment. She was down in the middle of the woods in a two shack house.

Jeanne Bekker  33:21  
What was that like with a mother?

Debbie Travis  33:23  
I mean, like, must have been terrifying.

Jeanne Bekker  33:25  
Okay, now I'm going to get emotional again, and it's funny because the the audio version of the book, you know, I recorded that, which was a great joy, and I got to this story like they had to stop rolling because I was rolling. I got, like, the old tape recorder days. Oh, that's the way I think of the business. Because I just became, you know, very sad about it, because my daughter had came back. She's been in the Yukon now for 10 years, living off grid in the woods by herself with what with her dog. She's gorgeous young woman, really, much stronger than I could ever imagine being. And she just, really, I think, felt, and maybe still feels, that she wanted to do stuff on her own. You know, really, again, she didn't want to be any kind of Nepo baby. She's a musician, and you can imagine, I've got quite a few contacts in the music world, that no, no, no, no, no, no, no. She never wants me to, you know, use my connections or, you know, she, she said, Mom, you made it on your own. She wanted to make it on her own. And I think she's always been a great nature lover, for sure. So I understood why she had fallen in love with the Yukon. She's only supposed to gone there for one year to go to an art school there that was supposed to be a foundation year for OCAD University, but she fell so in love with the community there, and then decided that she didn't want to be a visual artist. She wanted to be a musician, because she was always a talented singer songwriter, a guitar player as well. And. And she she phoned me, and she said, Mama, you know, I've fallen in love with the community, and I just want to stay here one more year. Well, one year led to another year led to another year. So after 10 years, I went up to visit her several times, and she came back here. But during my cancer journey, she came out here, drove all the way in her you know, wow.

Debbie Travis  35:20  
How long does that take? Yeah, took her.

Jeanne Bekker  35:24  
She's a slow driver, she's very careful, but took her a good couple of weeks, and she got here, and she was with me for a lot of my chemo treatments, and be you know, she was great, great support, and I got very used to having her around. And she's, she's so she's been here for the past couple of years, but just a few weeks ago, she's gone back and it just Yeah, it kind of breaks my heart a little bit, but, but, but, but, but we all have to remember that the best thing we can do for our kids is give them a foundation and wings and to see her, you know, be that Independent. I mean, it really, uh, gives me a lot of pride as well. But, you know, an interesting choice, an interesting you know, this is a kid that, you know, she sat in the front row of the Christian Lacroix show with me when she was, you know, 12. So it's like, this is a kid that you know, has seen the site. So, you know, back to Valentino meeting, you know, Gwyneth Paltrow and Martha Stewart? No, she's really seen so much of my life in that way and then not really wanting to be a part of it. Or what, you know, you think, Oh, your kids, you know, that's great when your kids follow in your footsteps. And I always encourage my kids to blaze their own trails. You know, the same with my daughter, Becky, my older daughter, who is an animator, filmmaker. They very much about doing their own thing.

Debbie Travis  36:47  
Yeah. Now I want to ask you a question, because I was following you when you were going through this very, very hard time and you were wearing and I googled it about this thing because I never heard of it, this cap, this cold cap that, and it's got quite a history, hasn't it? So it's a cap that keeps your skull. They found that if you wear it and you hated it, right? But it, but it stops your hair falling out as much. And I thought that was because I saw you doing it on Instagram. And I thought, God, that's really brave. But I think for people going through that when they're when they're following you, it's a bit like having somebody to hold their hand, because somebody else is is kind of going through it. So I thought that was amazing. And then I started Googling, what do they call cold caps or something? So it's a

Jeanne Bekker  37:37  
cold caps. Yeah. I thought of it like it was like an ice helmet, yeah, like a helmet that's filled with ice. It's like, talk about brain freeze. I mean, very uncomfortable for me. I used to take, you know, I took a couple of extra strengths, Tylenol and a bunch of CBD drops every time before, you have to keep it on for a half an hour before you start your chemo infusions, keep it on the whole time you're getting your chemo, and then afterwards, keep it on for 90 minutes. So wow, sitting there, you know, post chemo with this thing on your head, it's not pleasant, but I think it did help me hang on to some of my hair, not all of my hair. I still lost about 60% of my hair. But, you know, listen, even if I would have lost all my hair, I tell you, I would have worn that bald head like a badge of honor, as so many gorgeous women out there do. But it was a good distraction for me. You know, it's like, okay, I'm not going to worry so much about, you know, my breast cancer in this, this lump that I have to get removed and this, you know, what's growing inside my body. I'm going to worry about my hair. It was a good distraction. It made me laugh

Debbie Travis  38:44  
out loud when you I mean, I think humor is such an important thing. When you're going through something awful, and you wrote about having your hair cut off and wailing on the hairdresser's chair, you cried all the way through the haircut. You know. No, no, no, no, you know. But you like you say, you know, you just have to do it. And this poor hairdresser was like, Oh God, but so I want to finish off on a funny story. I want to take you back to Oh God knows when it's a it was an award show, an exhibition place in Toronto, and you and I were on stage together in ball gowns, and we had to wait backstage and our feet, you had beautiful sexy shoes on. I never wear sexy shoes, but you did, and there was horseshit everywhere. We fell in it twice. You remember? You probably don't lock that out. And we had to wait that some Pimply youth said, wait here 20. You know you see your turns coming up next. And of course, these award shows people talk and talk and talk. And there were flies everywhere. And I don't know if you remember this, but we were swatting huge. Flies, because it was piles of poo everywhere. And there we are in ball gowns, and then we walked on stage, and my ball gown had like in the old days. They call it a boob tube. You know it was no it was strapless, but it was straight across, and you did this enormous SWAT to some enormous fly, and caught my boob tube as we walked out, and I walked on stage with one boob out. I

Jeanne Bekker  40:25  
didn't know. Are you sure you didn't dream this up? This sounds like the nightmare of a set. No,

Debbie Travis  40:31  
you know when I sat there, when I was reading the book and it you know when you when memories start coming back, and then I remembered, well, how did my dress come down. Oh, my God, Jeannie was swatting a fly. Why was she swatting a fly at an award show? Because we were in the stables at the back of that awful building. I don't think they do it there anymore, but, you know, it was all posh behind one curtain, and then behind the other curtain it was, it was a

Jeanne Bekker  40:55  
stable. It sounds like it must have been at the Royal Winter Fair. Perhaps that's it. That's it. Where they got all the horses and the ball gowns. Yeah, interesting. I

Debbie Travis  41:06  
think it was the Geminis or something like that. Oh, anyway, well, listen,

Jeanne Bekker  41:09  
life is all about a high low mix, right? So it's like, you just gotta find your balance, you know, swat a few flies along the way. But, you know, everything to me now, it's such a metaphor for life. You know, you can see and learn the most incredible things from just the small macrocosms of experience and adventure. So, yeah, that's a that's a funny story, but I I can see if I blocked it, speaking

Tommy Smythe  41:38  
of the High, Low mix, there was a moment several years ago when I was scrolling through Instagram, and I've avidly followed you for since we were both first on there, and suddenly there was this photograph of you in a canoe with Kate Moss, and she's smoking and paddling in the canoe. I thought to myself, holy shit, this could only be in Jeanne Becker's Instagram. That's

Jeanne Bekker  42:04  
surreal. I talked about, how did that happen? That was amazing, yeah, well, that was an amazing experience. Like, Well, Kate, I always loved from the very first time I met her. But, you know, as a young model, that was really always, she's quite humble and shy. And you know, then we saw her incredible rise to fame, and didn't see her for quite a while. I'd stopped doing fashion television at the time. I think this maybe was around Ooh, 2016 or something, or I she was representing a Japanese skincare line, Decorte, and she came to Toronto, and I was going to interview her for the Globe and Mail, and we reconnected. And she was like, Oh, wow, Jeannie, how great to see you again. And it was just wonderful. And we started talking about, you know, if we ever got our heads together, God, could we create a great kind of documentary series or a project about that golden age of fashion that we had both lived so we thought, yeah, let's keep in touch. Maybe we can work on something. And anyway, a few, you know, months rolled by, and I somehow wooed her into coming to Toronto that sort of like you'd read the story of the book. But anyway, she ended up coming, but she said she'd only come to Canada if she could have a real Canadian adventure experience. So my dear friend Jeffrey Latimer has this great, you know, family cabin on a lake in Haliburton. And he said, Well, I'll go to my family cottage. I thought, Okay, well, that'll be great. I don't know if she'll see any bears there, but let's take her. And she took a little private plane from Toronto to this cottage. It was Rosh Hashanah weekend, which was very strange, but, you know, all of a sudden I realized, oh, it's Rosh Hashanah. I've got to do my traditional Rosh Hashanah dinner with Kate Moss. And so we, we did that at the cottage. It was fabulous. And and the next day, you know, for the ultimate experience, I thought, we have to take her canoeing. So she, she and I got into a canoe, and she had her little flute of bubbly, or whatever she was drinking, and and a cigarette in hand, of course. And then I was, you know, yeah, I was the one, like, steering the canoe, and it was just, and I thought, how surreal is this? How could this be happening? Like Kate Moss is, you know, she is such an iconic figure, but she glamor girl, sweetest person, the funniest person, the most engaging person. I just absolutely adore her. And it made for a great picture, for sure.

Tommy Smythe  44:32  
I mean, that's very high, low. You

Debbie Travis  44:34  
said in the book, you look like a Vogue shoot, you know, her at one end with this glass of champagne and a cigarette, you know. And you said they could have shot that, you know? Yeah, except

Jeanne Bekker  44:41  
for what I was wearing. I was wearing of them that was, again, I used the piece of clothing as a springboard for the story, because, again, what do you wear when you're going to hang out for a country weekend with Kate Moss? And I had a clothing line at the time, so I wore one of my little polyester print tops. It just and I thought, I'm wearing this. Cheap and cheerful piece, and I'm sitting there with Kate Moss, but it was, it was okay, because she's the most unpretentious person. She's truly a dead jam. Yeah.

Tommy Smythe  45:10  
I mean, it's a story that could only happen in the life of Janie Becker, and I'm so grateful that you came to us today to share some of your stories. The book is hard on my sleeve. It is one of the most anticipated books in Canada, coming out this fall. Everybody's Christmas gift and holiday gift is going to be this book. Certainly, I'm giving it to at least 20 people I know, many of whom are mutual friends. So they'll have two copies, because you're probably giving them out to the same people. So Genie,

Debbie Travis  45:41  
a wonderful life. But what's next? More to come. Always

Jeanne Bekker  45:44  
more to come. The thing I'm most excited about right around now, because it was just announced there's a wonderful museum in Calgary called the Glenbow, and the Glenbow is currently undergoing a $200 million renovation, and the Shaw family has just donated $37 million so when it reopens in June of 2026 it will be free. The The only major uh, cultural institution of that nature in Canada that is going to have free admission. And one of the big shows that they're going to be opening that gallery with in June of 2026 is a show that I'm co curating, and it's a retrospective of my career. Wow, and it's going to be pretty fabulous. I think it's going to be very multi layered, as you can imagine. There's going to be a lot of different stuff going on in the show. I have kept things in my life that you just wouldn't even believe. I've got the first TV set that my parents bought in 1953 and like in a mahogany, kind of wooden cabinet that I grew up with as a kid, I kept that in my basement all these years. I've got the Bakelite radio that they bought when they came off the boat in 1948 and that was, you know, what we listened to, you know, morning shows on when, you know, growing up, my little ballet outfit that I wore, you know, when I was five years old. So a lot of that stuff. But then, of course, even telling the story through the years of studying mime in Paris is a little film of me as a mime artist, if you can believe it, for someone who talks so much now and and there's going to be a lot of fashion, of course, but a lot of rock and roll and music stuff too, lots of video and lots of the clothes that I wore at the time for special occasions. Because, as I say, I hung on to a lot of stuff. So Paul, Paul Hardy and I are co curating this, lots of ephemeral invitations to shows and programs to fashion shows and notes that designers wrote to me, like a lot of personal memorabilia. Yeah, I think it's going to be really, really pretty cool.

Tommy Smythe  47:57  
Congratulations. I'm coming as soon as you have a specific date for the opening, I'm pressing my tux, I'm buying a plane ticket, and I'm getting a hotel and I'm coming, you'll

Jeanne Bekker  48:07  
be at the top of the list. Darling. We'll send out the invites, yeah, should be fun, and it'll be up for a year. So,

Tommy Smythe  48:13  
right, yeah, fabulous news. Brilliant.

Debbie Travis  48:16  
Congrats. That's going to be amazing. Yeah? Amazing. Well, done. We'll all be there.

Jeanne Bekker  48:21  
Yeah, yeah, no, it's gonna be really fun. And I'm just so thrilled to be working with Paul Hardy, because I think I was the first one to cover his, you know, initial collection, when, you know, he launched his label over 20 years ago and remain close friends ever since. And he's, he's such a superstar in Calgary, especially, you know, that's where he resides most of the time. So really fun to be able to to see my life through His eyes as well. This

Tommy Smythe  48:46  
is so special for us, and thank you so much for being here with us today. So

Jeanne Bekker  48:52  
meaningful for me. I just I love the two of you to bits. I think you're just such talents and just such great people.

Debbie Travis  48:58  
Thank you, Jeannie, thank you. Really fun. Book. Really fun.

Jeanne Bekker  49:02  
Thank you so much for having me on.

Tommy Smythe  49:04  
Okay, wait before we go. We have a bit of news. What's a live tape event? Tommy, well, that's when you get to come and be a part of a live audience while Debbie and I record a podcast. We are

Debbie Travis  49:15  
so excited. So this event is Monday, October the 28th at a beautiful space in Toronto called the academy, is part of the record label Universal Music Canada.

Tommy Smythe  49:26  
Tickets are going on sale on Friday, September the 27th so you'll find the link to buy the tickets in a few places on our website, thetrustmepod.com and in the link in bio on our Instagram, at the trust me pod, and we're going to be announcing a very special guest. So

Debbie Travis  49:43  
we can't wait to see you. If you're in or around Toronto, join us to be part of a Live episode.

Tommy Smythe  49:49  
Will there be

Debbie Travis  49:50  
cocktails? Of course, there'll be cocktails. It's the only reason I'm coming you.