Beverly Johnson spills the ‘tee’ on golf and writing her memoir

By Souleo
Jul 31, 2014
9:22 am

Beverly Johnson accepts award from Wendell J. Haskins/Courtesy: Margot Jordan

On the “A” w/Souleo…

Beverly Johnson is busy these days. She’s celebrating the 40^th anniversary of becoming the first black woman on the cover of Vogue, overseeing the Beverly Johnson Hair Collection, and completing a memoir. But this past Sunday she made time for one of her favorite hobbies: golf. In Hamburg, New Jersey, Johnson celebrated the 15^th anniversary of The Original Tee Golf Classic, a popular celebrity amateur golf tournament founded by Wendell J. Haskins, where she was also honored with the True Original Golf award.

“Golf really was influential in my career,” she said. “It is a game of mistakes and what you do with failures.”

Lately, Johnson has been reflecting on some of her past mistakes while working on her memoir. At least one of those chapters promises to recount her challenges in finding the right work-family balance.

“I was 18 in New York City trying to handle a career, college and then very early on marriage. In the ‘70s was the idea that you can have it all. And you can have it all but you don’t do it all very well. And I realize that looking back on it.”

In addition to discussing her personal life, Johnson’s memoir is said to also include behind-the-scenes revelations about the fashion industry including dealing with unwanted sexual advances as a young novice.

“I remember my first shoot on Fire Island for Glamour magazine. The photographer asked me to come to his room after the shoot. He was a pervert. I would go to my agent and tell them the photographer made a pass at me and she would say ‘Is he doing that again?’ So it was like you’re on your own kid.”

The currently untitled memoir is slated to be released this January.

Will Gerard Barrett help save Newark one building at a time?

Beverly Johnson is a self-proclaimed “modelpreneur,” so then perhaps you could call Gerard Barrett a “realpreneur” (that is for the real estate sector, of course). Barrett is the founder and managing principal of Newark, New Jersey, private real estate investment and development firm, PrimeLerner Companies.

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