LIFE AND LILLIAN GISH
“HELENA”
“Tranquilly, Lillian Gish sits, dressed in white organdie, her ashblond hair down her back, relaxed on the window seat, looking out forhours into the depths of the California night.
“‘What are you looking at, Lillian?’ Mrs. Gish has asked for years.
“‘Nothing, Mother, just looking.’”
“She is an extraordinarily difficult person to know, and if I hadn’tgone to live with her ... and been with her through some of themost trying times of her life, I doubt whether our casual contacts atthe studio would have brought me any intimate knowledge of her.There seems to be a wall of reserve between her and the outside world,and very few people ever get through that wall.
“The little things of life simply don’t worry her at all. Gales oftemperament can rage around her—she remains undisturbed.... Ihave seen her at a time when anyone else would have been distraughtwith anxiety, come quietly in from the set, eat her luncheon calmlyand collectedly (for first of all, Lillian believes in keeping fit for herwork), then pick up some little book of philosophy and read itsteadily until they sent for her.
“She refuses to believe that there are people in the world who arejealous of her and want to harm her. I remember someone once remarkingthat a certain person was jealous of her and hated her, andI can still see the look of utter surprise on Lillian’s face. But it nevermade any difference in her treatment of that person. In fact, I doubtwhether she remembered it when she met her again.
“She is intensely loyal