Dear Cary - By Dyan Cannon

I decided to read this book because I am a fan of Cary Grant and I was curious to find out what it is about Dyan Cannon that Mr. Grant fell in love with a woman 33 years younger than he was. I read some reviews where the readers are criticizing Dyan Cannon and I really don't clearly understand why.   As I read the book I could see that Miss Cannon really loved Cary Grant and wanted their marriage to work.  Dyan Cannon was an old fashioned girl and Cary Grant fell in love with her.  Dyan was not easy to pin down and get into bed like so many other women are even in daily life with men who are not famous movies stars. I have to give Miss Cannon kudos for that.  Some readers of this book do not believe that Dyan Cannon was such an innocent back then but that is their problem.  In this book Dyan Cannon came off to me as being very honest about her life and her feelings.  

Once Dyan Cannon realized that she was truly in love with Cary Grant she made some choices that were not the best, such as agreeing to take LSD when in her gut she didn't really want to and knew it was dangerous. When women are madly in love we do stuff like that just to please the man we love.  Miss Cannon did put up great resistance for a long time but then allowed Cary Grant to break her down. One should never allow another person to make us throw away our core values. 

I was really shocked to learn through this book that Cary Grant took LSD and thought it was so wonderful. Mr. Grant believed that taking LSD brought you closer to God. It is important to remember that at the time Cary Grant was taking LSD it was legal. It is also important to remember that Cary Grant had a horrible childhood that affected his entire life. I don't believe that Dyan Cannon wrote about this aspect of Cary to criticize him. It was simply a factor that helped to destroy their relationship. Some readers say that Miss Cannon should not have written about it since Cary Grant is no longer here to defend himself, but Cary Grant never denied that he took LSD so it is not as if she was telling a big secret of his. Mr. Grant even admitted it in an interview that he did for LOOK magazine back in the 1960's when the drug was still legal. 

I was enchanted with the way Cary Grant pursued Miss Cannon. He was very persistent and quite romantic.  Aside from Cary's personal demons he was still a charming and wonderful man and basically a good person.  Cary Grant loved Dyan and loved being in a relationship with her.  There were times when Miss Cannon could be silly and immature but you have to remember that she was 33 years younger than Cary so her behavior often had to do with her age.  I think that Cary Grant really appreciated the vitality of her youth and how she embraced life with such joy.

 Cary Grant was 62 years old when he became a father.

I found Dear Cary a very interesting book to read.  So much so that I read it through in one day.  I think that Cary Grant will always remain the great love of Dyan Cannon's life.

As of this blog post Dyan Cannon is 76 years old. 

3 Stars