Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Guest Blogger: Piper Denna

If you’ve watched the trailer for my new book, All Fore Revenge, or heard about it all, you probably know it’s about adultery. And ultimately, the demise of a marriage.

We’ve all heard the statistics about marriage and divorce. They’re sobering. Every day, we see headlines about celebrities and their fly-by-night marriages. But what about the famous folks who’ve spent decades upholding their wedding vows? Here are some couples who prove true love is forever:

  • Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have been married all of 22 years. Hey, it’s not an eternity, but to survive Hollywood hype and politics, they’ve got my admiration!
  • Bono and his wife Ali have been married since 1982, which means they’ll be celebrating 26 years, along with music’s most revered (insert grin here) couple – Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne.
  • Jay and Mavis Leno are celebrating 28 years together, Dr. Phil and Robin have hit the 32 year mark, and one of my all time favorites – Mr. George Forever-the-Cowboy-Next-Door Strait and his wife have managed over 37 years.
  • America’s most famous dad based his TV show on his own family and marriage. If he handles himself like he did on his show, Mr. Bill Cosby has been a real handful for his wife of 44 years.

We’re getting up there…

  • Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward celebrated their golden anniversary this January. Yep. 50 years. In Hollywood!
  • George and Barbara Bush had an anniversary in January, too. They’ve made it to 63. Lots of people don’t even live that long. Way to go, “41”!
  • Last – but not least – for our celebrity marriage attaboys (and attagirls), Bob Hope was married nearly 70 years when he died. Wow. 70 years. What’s the gift for that anniversary, anyhow? Space dust and moon rocks? Most houses don’t even last that long.


A few numbers I found heartening:
82% of marriages make it to 5 years
52% make it to 15 years
and a whopping 5% make it to their 50th anniversary. For those of you who aren’t impressed, just think: one out of 20 couples survives the seven-year-itch more than 7 times!

The longest marriage on record? 86 years. And it lasted “til death did them part”.

So the next time you’re reading a romance, believe the couple stays together forever. Some do!

Piper Denna
Romance is sexy!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very interesting blog. Made me really think about how precious a lasting marriage is. All Fore Revenge tackles a difficult topic for sure. Congratulations on an amazing release!

Anonymous said...

Some amazing stats there, Piper. I'm thinking Arnie must be doing something right, ey?? But seriously, adultery is so rampant now, it takes guts to deal with it and do something about it, rather than turning a blind eye. You've got guts to tackle it in a book, and I'm so thrilled I'm getting to read it. Much kudos to you.