Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses

Bo Derek vaulted into the national spotlight in 1979 as the perfect fantasy woman in "10," Blake Edwards's sophisticated film comedy. Her otherworldly beauty and voluptuous figure captivated men everywhere, while her cornrow hairstyle launched a fashion trend among women. Bo has always remained intensely private about her personal life, especially with regards to her May-December marriage to director John Derek, creating an intriguing sense of mystery that has led to much speculation. Here, for the first time, she reveals the truth about the woman behind the glossy image.Born Mary Cathleen Collins and known as Cathy, she grew up in southern California, the horse-crazy oldest daughter of four. Her father, a public relations executive for the boat manufacturer Hobie Cat, and her mother, a hairstylist and makeup artist for a number of Hollywood figures, separated permanently while Bo was in her teens. During this time her mother was working for Ann-Margret, and it was backstage at one of the entertainer's Las Vegas shows that a theatrical agent approached Bo about pursuing a movie career. At one of her very first auditions the sixteen-year-old Bo met John Derek, a man thirty years her senior, with whom she would spend the next twenty-five years of her life.Theirs was a love affair of epic proportions, but it was one that was widely misunderstood by the press and public alike. John was dubbed a Svengali, and his influence over the young Bo was thought to beDerek, Bo is the author of 'Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses' with ISBN 9780060394370 and ISBN 0060394374.