Promises I Made My Mother

The format is approximately 5.625 inches by 8.5 inches. xxiv, 236, [10] pages. Illustrations. DJ has slight wear and soiling. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page. Inscription reads For Linda--Another great mother of two! Enjoy my stories of hope, faith, & Hollywood! Love, Sam Haskell. Foreword by Ray Romano. Selected Poetry. Photo Appendix. Sam Haskell was born on June 24, 1955 in Mobile, Alabama, USA. Haskell spent 26 years of his career at the William Morris Agency, a prominent talent agency where he rose to the rank of Executive Vice President and Worldwide Head of Television. He left in 2004, but not before managing prominent clients such as Bill Cosby. He is a producer, known for Dolly Parton's Heartstrings (2019), Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love (2016) and Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015). He and his wife, Mary Donnelly Haskell, were the only American couple invited by Queen Elizabeth II to attend the royal wedding of His Royal Highness Prince Edward (aka Prince Edward) to Sophie Duchess of Edinburgh. Magnolia Hill Productions is a film and television production company founded by Sam Haskell, former executive vice president and worldwide head of television at the William Morris Agency. Established in 2013, Magnolia Hill was created to bring forth family friendly and inspirational content. The company has produced multiple shows with the country music icon Dolly Parton. Most recently, Magnolia Hill produced Dolly Parton's Heartstrings for Netflix, an eight-episode anthology series based on Parton's songs and stories. What would my mother say? How would she want me to handle this situation? How can I make this tough decision and stay true to myself? Sam Haskell still asks himself these questions every day. When Haskell was young, his devoted mother, Mary, instilled in her son the values of character, faith, and honor by setting an example and asking him to promise to live his life according to her lessons. He did, and those promises have served Haskell consistently from his Mississippi boyhood to his long career at the venerable William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills. In this inspiring memoir full of touching stories and amusing anecdotes, Haskell reveals how he kept his pledge to his mother to live a decent life-even in the shark-infested waters of Hollywood, where he handled the hottest stars and packaged the highest-rated shows-by refusing to become the cliché of an amoral agent. Here is Haskell as a child in Amory, Mississippi (pop. 7,000), discovering the power of hope as he waits for an unlikely visit from the "Cheer Man" (a representative of the detergent company who gave ten dollars to anyone using the brand), learning humility after pursuing an eighth-grade "Good Citizenship" award he cockily assumed he'd win, confronting the complications of human character when a near-fatal car crash exposed his judgmental father's true nature. Years later, in Hollywood, Haskell would rely on his mother's teachings-honesty, self-reliance, and belief in God-as he swiftly rose from the William Morris mailroom to eventually become the company's Worldwide Head of Television. His capacity for friendship and his insistence on living his version of the Golden Rule (being "thoughtfully political") allowed him to handle various client crises and the tense negotiations that nearly scuttled the last years of Everybody Loves Raymond and the entire existence of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Haskell has achieved success through self-respect, and from his story we learn how we, too, can maintain our dignity when faced with life's challenges. This stirring memoir is a testament to mothers everywhere who instill in their sons the lasting values they need to become good men and devoted fathers. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated].…