Linda Thompson has had some great loves.
In her new memoir, A Little Thing Called Life: From Elvis’ Graceland to Bruce Jenner’s Caitlyn & Songs in Between, the award-winning lyricist appears back on her nearly five-year romance with Elvis Presley and her five-year marriage to Caitlyn Jenner, who was nonetheless known as Bruce at the time. The 66-year-old mother of Brandon and Brody Jenner held not anything again whilst discussing losing her virginity, saving the King of Rock ’n’ Roll’s lifestyles, discovering she married a transgender lady, seeing her husband in a get dressed for the primary time and extra. (Throwback alert! In the video above from 1981, watch a just-married Thompson discuss her ex, Presley, while standing next to new husband Jenner!)
Here, Us Weekly rounds up 10 revelations from the robust guide, out now.
1. She Began Writing More Than a Decade Ago, But Waited Until Caitlyn Was Ready to Finish the Book
Thompson unearths she used to be first approached to jot down her tale nearly Forty years in the past when her ex Elvis Presley died. Refusing to exploit their courting, she decided to carry off till the time was once right to discuss their whirlwind affair.
But, in spite of everything, it was her ex Caitlyn who held her back from telling all faster. When the pair split in 1985, Thompson knew about her gender dysphoria, however, on the time, the arena had no thought. And she knew it wasn’t her position to share. “I shouldn't have been ready to write a decent portrayal of my marriage to Bruce Jenner and the true explanation why we divorced, until now,” she writes. “I might have never been the only to ‘out Bruce.’”
2. She Lost Her Virginity to Elvis
From the moment they met in in Memphis on July 6, 1972, they have been nearly inseparable.
Elvis revered her virginity — and wouldn’t contact her until she was once able. He stated, “‘I want to keep for you as long as you need,’” she writes. “He if truth be told used the word ‘keep.’”
It took place in early September, once they have been living in combination in Las Vegas. “We were in our king-sized mattress on a pedestal, with a reflected ceiling above us, reflecting Elvis and me tangled in a loving entrainment of palms, legs, kissed and deeply felt intimacy,” finds Thompson. “Let’s just say when you’re now not in a position then, you’re by no means going to be able in all of your entire lifetime. … I knew I was ready to make love with this man I absolutely adored with all of my middle and soul.”
3. The King’s High Collars Hid His Biggest Insecurity, But He Was Still Self-Conscious
Before the trend became his trademark, Elvis wore the style to hide his “thin little chicken neck,” writes Thompson.
He used to be also one to crash diet. Before his 1973 Aloha From Hawaii by the use of Satellite special, he allowed himself most effective 500 energy a day for 2 weeks, consistent with Thompson. Years later, as soon as once more to drop weight, he was put under near-constant sedation for 2 weeks. He slept “aside from totally free temporary sessions on a daily basis when he aroused from sleep long enough to visit the toilet and devour a small portion of meals,” she adds. “Then he used to be sedated again and went back to sleep.”
When he hit 40, he had a minor midlife disaster and got a facelift. “There has been speculation through the years that Elvis has his eyes carried out or any other mystery process, however that mini facelift used to be the level of his cosmetic surgery,” unearths Thompson.
4. She Witnessed His Drug Abuse Firsthand
From the beginning, Thompson knew Elvis took drowsing drugs after which any other tablet to get up. At night time, she would lay wide awake, tracking his breathing.
“He used to be taking Placidyl, which used to be a formidable drowsing tablet and tranquilizer,” she writes within the e book. “I used to be gone simply long sufficient to speed through my bedtime regimen, however by the point I came back into the bedroom, he used to be facedown in his big bowl of chicken noodle soup.”
To save him, she picked his head up by way of his hair and started to wash his throat, “literally pulling out chunks of food,” she reveals. “One of the docs had left a shot of Ritalin by means of the bed, in case he ever had too much of some of the sedatives … I picked up the Ritalin and administered it to him.”
5. Caitlyn Wanted to Re-Enter Their Kids’ Lives As a Female Relative
“Bruce advised me he was making an allowance for touring out of the country, possibly to Denmark, to take a look at to have the gender reassignment surgery anonymously after which come back to the United States as a female,” Thompson writes. “He idea maybe he may re-enter [our kids’] lives as a female relative.”
Caitlyn used to be additionally committed to Thompson. “After he transitioned,” she continues, “his wish was to stay married to me and proceed residing in combination as a family.” But, she admits, she didn’t wish to be married to a woman.
6. The Olympian Videotaped Herself As Caitlyn Before Her Transition
After Caitlyn moved out of their house after their 1985 cut up — and into a Malibu home where he may transition privately — Thompson discovered a mysterious VHS tape.
“He’d filmed himself having a manner display for the digital camera. I guess he must have had his own dresser hidden somewhere in the home,” she writes. “As I watched, I felt such unhappiness for him. And then I got indignant that he’d left such concrete proof of his secret around the home, where the men would possibly have discovered it and required a proof. But, most commonly, I used to be simply stunned. … He used to be 35 at the time, and he in fact pulled off cross-dressing convincingly and seemed moderately pretty.”
7. Brody and Brandon Saw Signs Of Caitlyn’s Transition
They just didn’t understand it. Caitlyn began injecting female hormones and casting off her hair thru electrolysis following their divorce. And after a consult with with their dad, the men told their mother, “‘Daddy has boobs,’” she writes.
Still, she saved them at nighttime about their dad’s secret till Brandon was 31 and Brody used to be 29, in 2013.
8. Lionel Richie Knew About Caitlyn for Nearly Three Decades
Besides their therapist, handiest Lionel Richie and his wife, Brenda, knew the real reason at the back of Caitlyn and Thompson’s divorce. (They informed other people travel and distance led to the cut up.) “Bruce had in reality confided in Lionel himself,” says Thompson. “The Richies have been great pals and I knew they were devoted.”
9. Caitlyn Gave Up on Parenting
Though she was by no means the most lively dad, Caitlyn started to withdraw much more when she began relationship Kris Kardashian in 1990, consistent with Thompson. The distance simplest grew after the 2 married.
In reality, a number of years went by way of with out Caitlyn contacting their sons. “No birthday playing cards, or telephone calls, no ‘Merry Christmas,’ no ‘Everything OK?’” Thompson writes. “The disappointment of their candy little faces when he allow them to down, broke my middle much more than our divorce had.”
10. She Partied at the Playboy Mansion — With Brody and Spencer Pratt!
Coolest mother ever? Brody and his BFF Spencer Pratt “took me to the Spider room, above the Avalon bar. Paris Hilton was once there, and we stood on a booth together, dancing,” she writes. “Brody got here by way of and regarded up at us, giving me an encouraging grin. ‘Mom, pass dance with Spencer and get away a few of those ’80s moves,’ he said. ‘OK, I’m within the wrong position here,’ I thought with fun.”
The birthday party endured in the fall of 2005 when Brody invited her to a Halloween celebration on the Playboy Mansion.
Dressed as an old-school Bunny, she asked her son if it was once too much. His reaction, she writes: “‘You’re going to the Playboy Mansion. Those girls will likely be bare. You’re like Mother Teresa dressed like that.’”
Pick up a duplicate of Thompson’s new e book, A Little Thing Called Life: From Elvis’ Graceland to Bruce Jenner’s Caitlyn & Songs in Between, on shelves now.
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