I never thought much of Jane Fonda, one way or another, until I watched her on a recent Oprah program. At 72 the lady is lovely, svelte, limber, and even sage. In her younger years she had made the best-selling exercise videos ever and she has kept the exercising up (despite knee and hip surgery.

According to Jane, her first videos are

still the largest selling home video of all time…17 million copies. We had no budget, no hair stylist or makeup artists. We did it all ourselves. I wrote the script on a ski trip in Calgary on the floor of my hotel room. Who knew that that video would launch the video business…literally, people weren’t willing to pay a lot for the hardware, the machinery, when they had nothing they wanted to watch over and over..till my JF Workout.

I’ve been poring over Jane’s blog and truly enjoying  looking into the daily doings of a woman who lives life to the hilt, makes movies, cavorts with rich and famous people, and has sense enough to know that she is still a work in progress, even at 72.    Scenes from from the set of her recently completed film, Peace, Love and Misunderstanding are colorful and fascinating.   She is working on some Prime Time exercise DVD’s to come out soon.   I couldn’t help latching onto the following photo of




92 and still able




a 92 year old yoga teacher getting into position for a shoulder stand.   Not long ago I was able to do that and once my vertigo vanishes I intend to try it again.  She is an inspiration!

Especially endearing is Jane’s willingness to answer questions on her ASK JANE.  Someone asked where she had her hair done for the Oprah show:  Matthew Shields at Sally Herschberger Salon in LA.   What doctor replaced her hip and knee?  Dr. John Moreland, St. John’s Hospital, Santa Monica.  Who did her plastic surgery?  Fat was removed under her eyes and her chin/neck tightened by Dr. Hutcherson and Dr. Groth in Beverly Hills.

When I tried to explain to my good friend, Dolores,  why I admired Jane Fonda and how forthright she is   she exclaimed that Jane has always been a radical feminist and probably still is.   “Ask her, ” she said, “If she is still pro-abortion, now that she’s a Christian.”  I also asked Jane for more information about why she became a Christian.

She actually did reply:

Jane says:

Dottie, sorry. I do not recall getting a prior letter and questions from you. For an in depth description of my journey to Christianity you’ll have to read my memoirs. I am a pro-choice Christian, like many Christian friends I know

dottie says:

Thanks, Jane, for replying. I’ll get your memoirs to see how you came to Christianity. I know it won’t help me understand how you can be a Christian and still permit the killing of unborn human beings. (unborn women, too!) You probably don’t think what Jesus said has any relevance to your life. In the meantime, I will pray that you will pray about your choice to allow the killing of the most innocent of all.

All in all, as I am learning about who Jane Fonda is I am finding a real, alive, searching, finding, very interesting, stand-up woman.  It is a pleasure to make her acquaintance.