Obsession Central: Kate Hepburn

Kate Hepburn was a fearless tomboy child. Beloved by her parents.

This is a great story – and I think a wonderful lesson – for parents who may hover. Hover over every scraped knee, every possible risk, trying to shield child from every single danger.

There was an enormous hemlock tree in the front yard of the Hepburn home in Hartford. Kate loved to climb high up into the branches, and hang out up there. Peacefully. She loved it.

Apparently, a neighbor in the next yard saw Kate perched up high, and called over to Kate’s mother: “Kate is up way too high!”

Kate Hepburn’s mother replied, “Sh. Don’t scare Kate. She doesn’t know it’s dangerous.”

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2 Responses to Obsession Central: Kate Hepburn

  1. Alex says:

    When she was young, Hepburn would put on full length plays in her yard much like her character Jo in “Little Women”. She would delegate parts, do the publicity, set up lawn chairs, and her Mother would pose as a critic. The play would happen, then her Mother would write a review, to which was always fairly critical. Hepburn said no review ever scared her since.

  2. triticale says:

    And she remained a tomboy, as evidenced by the sliding down the bannister when in her sixties which I had mentioned in an earlier comment. This in fact explains why the scene worked as it did.

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