Barbara Overby (Blasch)

As many of you have surmised, my recent flurry of old photo postings was my attempt to process the death of a dear friend and to return to the days before the hard truth was true.  It sounds too cliché, but in many ways, Julie was like a sister to me.  I spent as much time in elementary school growing up in her house as in my own.  I slept over so many Friday nights that her mom decided to stop changing the sheets on the rollaway cot that stood behind the wallpapered entry into Julie’s “secret room.”  The room was a crowded, small attic space, but, as with most things Kirkham, it was different and special.  In an era bedazzled by plastic Barbie dolls, we would play “wooden dolls” with a family of carved red-headed dolls that Julie’s mom had created and for whom she’d sewn costumes.  The only television I remember was in her parents’ bedroom.  We watched President Kennedy’s internment there, until Julie and I proved we were too immature to sit inside, inactive for so long.  Her house really had no backyard.  Instead it was surrounded by gardens and a stone wall with spiky pediments that we would hop along until scraped and bruised.  In many ways, it felt like a world somehow separate.  At the first birthday party I attended there, the cake was iced in mocha frosting.  No vanilla or chocolate for those Kirkhams.  Nothing quite so ordinary.  In summers we’d spend every day playing tennis and swimming at the Field Club.  We competed at most things, but the rivalry made us both stronger, and we remained friends through it all. There was a short time when I was better than she at tennis, before Julie discovered the killer two handed backhand that became her trademark weapon.  I accompanied her and her parents on a summer trip to Maine to visit her sister, Sara, at camp.  I later horrified my mother by telling her I’d ordered this new dish called “lobster” at almost every meal.  The memories are legion and are so entwined with my childhood as to be inseparable from myself.

The last time I saw Julie was in her house in Venice Beach almost fourteen years ago when I was visiting Los Angeles with my daughter.  We had a wonderful evening remembering old times, but for many years Julie’s proven elusive.  I wish I’d been more persuasive in getting her to attend our last reunion.  It is shocking and painful to believe she is gone.  I will miss her.

Frank McElroy

Barbara, thank you so much for your lovely comments.  This is crushing news, and I don't need to guess at the immense sadness being suffered by her family for whom she was the brightest light.  I have many wonderful stories about Julie, and I will send them to her husband.  She and I had a truly fun relationship, and one of the best parts of it was sitting in the back row and corner of Chem with Mickey Saltman five rows of desks and a counter away at his magic, moving, green chalk boards.  We constantly traded barbs with him because he was a comedian, kind and infinitely tolerant.  At one point July threw a piece of chalk against the board while was scratching out a formula.  My recollection is that he laughed, then threw it back.  It was an honor to count myself as one of her friends, and intimate like real friendship is.  A couple of weeks ago I sent her an e-mail recalling her mispronunciation of "facetious" in Chem class as "face-tee-us."  Saltman lost it and kindly corrected her - we all had a good laugh though I was close enough to feel the heat from her blush.  She will forever be in my thoughts as are so many of our little class.  Frank McElroy

Dianne McVicar (Orlando)

Julie was a gem.  I am not sure why the best souls must leave this earth too soon.  Not fair; not fair at all. Love goes out from here to Julie's family and friends, and know I hold nothing but lovely memories of her. Thanks to Barb Overby for your pics and post and communication about this. Love to you, too.

love from Dianne McVicar Orlando

Maria Knauth (Sussman)

My heart breaks over the deaths of our class mates...and Julie with her beautiful red hair and kindness to me...prayers and love to her and famy and friends

Dale Hanson (Walker)

How could anyone not be in awe of Julie - her incredible mind, her athletic prowess, her quick wit, her cool house, and those three monster Irish wolfhounds who were so eager to greet you at her door. I'll never forget the first time in her room and one of the birds flew in as if it owned the place ! She and her mom were non-plussed. And that wonderful hidden room over the garage that held so many surprises. I was certain she'd be on the professional tennis circuit or making incredible discoveries in her lab somewhere. But having read so many things about her career in film, her gift of bringing out the best in her writers, her ability to put it all together, to make a difference - what a life well spent. So very sorry she wasn't at our reunion - I would have loved to have gotten to know her "adult" self.  Our Class of '72 is very lucky to still be bonded, even though time and distance may have worked against some of us.  We'll miss you, Julie.

Maria Knauth (Sussman)

Barbara Overby (Blasch)

Tom Swift sent me Julie's memorial from the Princeton class of '76:

In Memoriam: Julie Ellen Kirkham (June 3, 1954 - June 10, 2015)

"It is with great sadness that the Class of 1976 Officers report the death of Julie E. Kirkham at home in Santa Monica, California in her sleep following a brief battle with multiple melanoma. Her husband Elliott Lewitt, daughter Izzy (Isabelle), son Theo and many friends had been enjoying conversations with her just hours before.

Julie came to Princeton from Bronxville High School where she was a nationally ranked tennis player. She continued her strong game at Princeton capturing numerous singles and doubles titles. Former teammate and Princeton women’s tennis coach Louise Gengler Thomas ’75 said, “I knew her as a fellow competitor on the Eastern and National tennis tournament circuit, and then as a teammate. Visibly she may have appeared as a more artsy type, delicate, free spirit, ethereal…but on court she was a fierce fighter, relentless, determined. Off court she was funny, fun, elegant, so smart.”

An English major at Princeton, Julie pursued a love of story-telling that was the foundation of her later success in the film industry. A member of Cap and Gown Club while at Princeton, Julie was particularly close friends with roommate Cathy Brown Peinhardt, tennis teammate Maureen Curran, Jeanne Spinner LaMar, Nancy Peretsman, and Steve Bogardus. Always a stickler for excellence in language, Julie was not satisfied with her senior year thesis. She convinced the university to permit her to return the following year to complete it “properly” and officially earn her degree at that time.

Turning her penchant for writing excellence westward, Julie moved to Los Angeles to become a script reader/development executive for Ray Stark Productions/ Columbia Pictures. She rose through the industry to vice president of production at Orion Pictures, working on the Melanie Griffith science-fiction film Cherry 2000 and then as Senior Vice President at Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender‘s production company, A Band Apart. She was a producer on Ridley Scott’s thriller Black Rain, Jodie Foster’s Anna and the King, Havana Nights: Dirty Dancing 2, 1,2,3-- Frankie Go Boom, Around the Bend, and many more. Julie and her husband also operated their own production company, Kirkham/Lewitt Productions.

Julie’s personal creative magic was apparent to her Princeton friends. Classmate Peter Brock '76 recalled, “Such a fine spirit burning bright…a light so strong. She was a wonderful person”. Tennis teammate Amie Knox ’77 remembered, “There was also a certain mystery about her. I was initially quite intimidated by her persona, but …she was solid as a rock.” Mimi Murley ’76 recollected, “ she was a beautiful graceful player. She was very gracious.” And Paul Dionne, ’76, said, “We should all rest in the beingness of Julie that will never leave us.”

Her range of interests was something that was always part of Julie, recalled tennis team member Amie Knox, ’77: “Julie was one of those wonderfully idiosyncratic, memorable people on campus in the mid-seventies. With her abundance of unruly red hair and a dancer's lithe body, she carried herself with a casual, yet confident grace which was hard not to notice. She had a bohemian air about her and I was kind of shocked when I discovered she was a very accomplished tennis player - she looked like she'd rather be attending or participating in a poetry reading in lower Manhattan than belting tennis balls in the hot sun.”

As a professional, Julie was happiest when cultivating the roots of creativity she saw in others, bringing talent to life. Several successful screenwriters owe a small part of their success to her unwavering high standards and light touch, always encouraging them to keep reaching-- even when they thought they were satisfied. ”I’ve always enjoyed working with young writers,” she said. “Finding new talent thrills me.” Known as a script consultant who nurtured screenwriters, she recently recalled giving writers Craig Bolotin (The Longest Ride), Jordan Roberts (Big Hero 6), and Ron Shelton (Bull Durham) their first deals. In recent years, Julie applied this gift as a professor of screenwriting at both Chapman University (Orange, California) and University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Perhaps one secret of her success as mentor and story advisor was her broad range of sensibilities and understanding---something, according to roommate Cathy Brown Peinhardt ‘76, Julie demonstrated even at Princeton: “her somewhat cryptic (letters to me during school breaks show ) what a skilled strategist/actress/commentator Julie was with respect to the social situation at Princeton, an aspect of student life that seemed to be of very great importance to us in those days”.

Julie’s great observational talents made her very comfortable in many worlds. “Julie was ‘uptown’, yet never elitist,” recalled Jeanne Spinner ’76, a close friend at Princeton and in Los Angeles. “Competitive and exacting for herself, but accepting of those less capable. Razor sharp smart, but entertainingly innocent about anyone’s dishonorable motives. Part New York sophisticate, part California free spirit. We were inseparable our last years at Princeton. We’ve recently enjoyed weekly Mexican dinners while she was teaching and it’s been wonderful to see her give students a combination of inspiration and reality about a tough industry.”


Her physical presence caught eyes off court as well. Steve Bogardus ’76 remembered, “Julie has been my best friend for decades. As a sophomore, I remember looking out of my room in Lockhart and seeing Julie slinking along on the main thoroughfare leading up to the steps at Blair Arch dressed in her tennis dress and sneakers doing her quick almost geisha-like walk, head slightly down, distinctive red hair flowing down her shoulders. In the fall of our senior year, Julie, Peter Brock ’76 and I left Cap and Gown, and with Tom Hartshorne ’76 created the precursor to cable TV’s ‘TOP CHEF.’ Each week we took turns crafting dinners on the new kitchens springing up in the common areas of dormitories around campus. Who would make the most yummy pasta dish for the least amount of money each week? Who knew just how long to boil the pouch of Green Giant Niblet Corn and Butter Sauce to unlock its savory aroma…


After Princeton, we watched each other's kids grow up...shared triumphs and foibles, stories of love and heartache. She lived just steps from the Venice boardwalk and always had her door open for friends to walk in as they visited or departed the beach. Julie enjoyed her life. Dinners were joyous occasions comprised of a varied collection of friends. Fun and laughter ricocheted off the walls of her home punctuated by the barks and tweets of her two dogs and two parakeets. We have lost a beautiful soul. “

Bob Fisher '76 summed it up: “Her powerful will to win, her strength of character, her good nature always, and her hair, of course."

Following in their mother’s footsteps, but to their own beat, Julie’s children became accomplished athletes. Isabelle competed as an elegant but fierce varsity gymnast while at Brown University and Theo lassoed trophies up and down the California coast as a nationally ranked surfer graduating from University of California Santa Barbara. Julie was never happier, nor more nervous, than watching her children train and compete in their disciplines and it was no secret that she delighted in her days as ‘surfer mom.’


The Class extends deepest sympathy to Julie’s husband of thirty years Elliott Lewitt, their children, extended family and many friends. A memorial service is planned for July 18, 2015 in Malibu, California. Two classmates Steve Bogardus (bogoore@gmail.com) and Jeanne Spinner (jspinnerlamar@yahoo.com) have kindly agreed to serve as Class representatives and are assisting with memorial remembrances. Condolences may be sent to elewitt@gmail.com or the Kirkham-Lewitt Family, 231 West Channel Road, Santa Monica, California 90402.

The Princeton Class of 1976 always will hold, in honor and affection, the name of Julie E. Kirkham.


Respectfully submitted by Steve Bogardus and Jeanne Spinner."


 

Dianne McVicar (Orlando)

Wow, Princeton . . . what an amazing tribute to Julie.  Inspiring, and comforting.  (and yes, just a tad intimidating!  We should all live such rich lives!) love to her loved ones and friends through the years. 

Barbara Overby (Blasch)

Thinking of you today on what would have been your 66th birthday. You are missing a very bizarre time when no one would give you a hard time about skipping a reunion. Would you have been relieved or saddened? I, for one, am saddened.