In this week’s edition of Closer Weekly, Eartha Kitt’s daughter, Kitt McDonald Shapiro, pens a touching first-person essay about her late mother. Scroll down to read Kitt’s heartfelt words about Eartha, the legendary icon who left an indelible mark on her life and the world.
Eartha Kitt: A Mother Shaped by Nature
It’s been nearly a decade since my mother, Eartha Kitt, left us, but the void she left behind is still as profound as ever. I still yearn for her voice, her laughter, her presence. But even though she’s gone, I carry her spirit in my heart. Growing up, Eartha didn’t have it easy. She never knew her father, and as a child, she was passed from home to home, enduring physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. She had no one to lean on, so she found solace in nature. It’s poetic, isn’t it? Her name, Eartha, was her birthright, and she truly embodied that connection to the earth. As a child, she spent hours in the fields picking cotton, watching animals, and observing how nature nurtured itself. These lessons shaped not only her worldview but also her parenting skills. Eartha taught me so much about compassion, resilience, and the interconnectedness of all living things.
Lessons from a Slug: Eartha’s Philosophy on Life
I remember one vivid moment from my childhood that perfectly encapsulates my mother’s approach to life. I must have been around five years old when I saw a slug and exclaimed, “Eww! That’s gross. Kill it!” My mother simply looked at me with that calm, wise gaze of hers and said, “You don’t have to like it, and you don’t have to think it’s pretty, but that slug has just as much right to exist as you do.” That lesson stayed with me forever. Eartha had a way of applying the lessons she learned from nature to her interactions with people. She believed in treating every living being with respect, no matter how small or insignificant they might seem. It’s one of the many reasons she was such a remarkable human being.
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Eartha Kitt and her daughter Kitt Shapiro.
Eartha’s Voice: A Beacon of Strength and Intelligence
As a teenager, I once told my mother, “You need to let go of the pain and hurt from your past.” But she was firm in her response. “I’m not letting this go. This is who I am. This is what made me.” That resilience was a defining part of her character. She took every hardship she faced and turned it into something powerful, something transformative. She often said, “I’ve taken all the manure that’s been thrown at me and used it as fertilizer.” Eartha had a voice that commanded attention. When she spoke, people listened—not just because of her unique tone but because of the wisdom behind her words. Diction and knowledge were incredibly important to her. She was a sponge, soaking up everything she could from the world around her. Her relationship with Orson Welles was particularly influential. Though some speculated about a romance, it was more of a mentorship. She admired his intensity and his vast knowledge. Similarly, her friendship with James Dean, whom she called Jamie, was deeply meaningful. She saw his vulnerability and cherished their connection. His passing was something she never fully recovered from.
