Book Excerpt: My Life So Far

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"I don't know much about you, see, so ... ahhh ... I got CNN to do a printout of your archives and I read through it. The stack was about a foot tall. So ... ahhh ... then I had them do a printout of my files and mine is about three feet tall." Pause. "Mine's bigger than yours! Pretty cute, huh?"

I was astonished--by his comparing our files, by his telling me about it and by his favorable editorializing ... Pretty cute, huh? All I could do was shake my head and laugh, telling him that I hadn't known much about him, either, and had done my own, far less extensive research. He was bowling me over and my whole body was abuzz.

To read about Fonda's memories of making On Golden Pond with her father Henry and Katharine Hepburn, go to time.com/fonda