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Behind the scenes tales of San Francisco’s legendary Iron Horse restaurant, as told from the horse’s mouth.
To purchase on Amazon click here
To purchase on Kindle click here
Thank you for visiting my website. As a late blooming writer in progress I like what Tristine Rainer wrote: "In midlife you want to gain from the life behind you the wisdom to mold the life still ahead of you. As a not-so-famous person to whom life has given experiences too valuable to fade into oblivion.” - Rainer
I do not harbor illusions of grandeur in the publishing world. Rather I desire to share my story through social media with the admonition It’s never too late. Eight years in the writing, I began “I Found My Tomorrow in Paris” soon after finishing “From the Horse’s Mouth,” the nostalgic and historical memoir of my husband, Leo’s, famous San Francisco restaurant, “The Iron Horse.”
Marilyn Pearsol Giorgetti
Born in a Nebraska Farmhouse I was a member of the greatest generation living the American dream. At midlife it all evaporated. I was left with decisions to be made that seemed unsurmountable. While my escape to France does not define my life it had a profound effect on me. All my thoughts—in fact my life— was laid bare to be painfully examined and redefined. With perseverance and faith I came to understand and accept what I had become and discover a new me with its incumbent peace. Upon my arrival home, to San Francisco, I felt like a flower which has opened up to absorb all that life has to offer.
Sometimes we are the last to realize what our souls are starved for. Or maybe we do know, but we’re too fearful to risk what is safe and dependable for the challenging unknown. Sometimes life needs to turn on us to get us moving and considering risking everything.
Beyond the shores of my reality, where for three decades I faithfully performed my role as wife and mother, another realm awaited me. A realm of ancient history and personal discovery, of architectural grandeur and intellectual broadening. But in the daily patterns of my earlier years such an exploration into who I really was and what all I was capable of accomplishing was not at the forefront of my thoughts.
In the 1950s, my life was simple and grew only to a shelved status culturally determined for girls who married right out of high school. This cup consigned to me kept filled without much ado really; never overflowing, it merely teased at the lip. But life that centered round home and hearth contented me, satisfied as I was deemed to be with what I’d now describe as a homogenized expectation for women in that period of American life. It wasn’t until my divorce and a trip to South America that I was awakened to the possibilities of more. South America had captivated me with its beauty, its exotic bouquets of people and sounds, colors and scents. Returning home then, the grass felt more alive between my bare toes, just as it had in the days of my youth. Clouds were no longer inching overhead. They hastened now, as if dashing for some longed-for destiny. Fog rolled in with determination, shrouding the hillside below my coastal home. It settled so thick beneath my deck I felt I could walk out into forever. If I would just take the step I would come face to face with whatever was out there that beckoned me. And something was beckoning. I yearned for more. But more of what?
For several years more I clung to ‘safe’ and ‘dependable,’ until it all evaporated like a dream at first light. Yet my overturned world did not leave me without options; oddly, it presented me with a persuasive opportunity. A journey, as it would turn out, that would be my true coming of age, my second flowering.
Behind the scenes tales of San Francisco’s legendary Iron Horse restaurant, as told from the horse's mouth.
After her stint in France (I Found My Tomorrow in Paris), Marilyn settles in San Francisco where she eventually meets and marries Leo Giorgetti, the charismatic owner of the Iron Horse from 1954 to 1973. This is the humorous and heartfelt story of Leo and the birth of "The Horse" as seen through "The Horse's" eyes.
"From the Horse's Mouth" is a slice-of-life peek into a bygone era when the martini was the drink of the day and hats and white gloves where de'rigeur for the ladies. We rub elbows with the likes of Joe DiMaggio and the famous sports figures of the day and join in the pulsing energy of the standing-room-only crowds. Spontaneous visits from celebrities such as Liberace, Sammy Davis Jr, Lou Rawls or Maria Callas, as she serves salad to the customers, are the norm.
One beautiful morning, Leo opened the doors at 11:00 as usual when an apparition resembling Popeye’s Olive Oil walked in and headed for the bar. She was a sight to behold, wearing a flimsy bathrobe with slippers on her feet and her stringy hair attempting to escape from a “snood” (a flimsy hair-net popular in the 40s).
Leo approached her with trepidation. He cautiously greeted her and naturally asked her wishes. “I wanna drink,” she said. When told the bar was not open yet she launched into a tirade of profanity so vile it made Leo take a step backward. In her delivery of this litany and while calling Leo every name in the book, her robe was not doing the job it was designed to do and it was obvious to Leo and Pucci, the bartender, that she had nothing on underneath. Leo thought "Uh oh, I'm in trouble..."
On December 11, 1941, four days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II, Leo turned twenty-one… he joined the Coast Guard… So it came to be that he was stationed at Orick, California, situated on the northern coastline. During the war it was common, in fact it was often necessary, for servicemen to hitchhike across the country from base-camp to home when they were on liberty. Leo was no exception. His only means of travel was by standing on the shoulder of the lonely two-lane roads and sticking his thumb out in the direction he wanted to go.
One bleak day, a weary traveler, he came home to Half Moon Bay, greeted his father and not seeing his mother asked, “Where’s Mama?”
“Oh, she’s on the other side of the highway. She can’t come home.” "What do you mean she can't come home?"...
Her life in chaos after the termination of a 30 year marriage, this adventurous woman chucks it all and escapes to France to find some meaning to the second half of her life. Not knowing a soul or the language, and step by divinely-led (sometimes comical, but always-challenging) step, she re-shapes her life's course despite a letter from home which threatens to disrupt her journey. Not wanting a frivolous life on the Cote d'Azure, she moves to Paris. What she encounters there, after a serendipitous phone call and a chance meeting with an American business man, is far more then her wildest imaginings. She delves into her past to find her tomorrow. Finally, what she sees on television beckons her home.A story of friendship, betrayal, and discovery of self.
"While October brought the beginning of school, it also heralded a change in the weather. The sun softens earlier. Sometimes it completely disappears under low-hanging overcast skies that grow more and more somber, until darkness envelops the city. An eerie mist slithers up then, from the river to the streetlamps, and casts reddish haloes over the boulevards. It’s another world after dark.... Weekly mornings, on the other hand, run on the predictable rhythm of ritual.
Each near-dawn the alarm clock gets me up and about my morning ministrations: a thank-you meditation, a shower, maybe some yogurt and a banana, then off into the pre-dawn darkness for a short walk along the Champs Élysées. After two blocks, I venture down into the truly dark bowels of Paris for the metro, in which several passengers and I sit trance-like until our underground destination. From there we disembark and scurry through dimly lit tunnels past vendors hawking their wares and, eventually, resurface into the still-dark Parisian mist—like rodents venturing out from our holes. My destination? Boulevard St. Michel.
I follow along the bank of the Seine.
The Seine... It reeks of centuries of use, lost lives, and eons of waste. The muddy, unforgiving flow advances along its course, an innocent receptor of untold atrocities. What forbidden secrets it must hold. The river begs forgiveness for its part in receiving spoils of hundreds of decades of abuse. Yet its mindless, soothing surge forgives all and accepts its destiny—a landmark of truth.
From across this flowing dark mass the bells of Notre Dame toll out the hour. One… Two… Three… Eight reverberating bongs. I stop to gaze at its illuminated Gothic towers and listen. I feel heaven’s angels all around me in what feels like timeless, unnatural peace. This spiritual something stays with me for two blocks more. It lingers as I step inside the building of education and clump three flights to my classroom. It lingers, until I fix the ear-phones to my head and hear the first drone of “Maintenant étudients. Répétez.” The exchange of realities is instant, and repetition is my world for the next several hours..."
In 1985, Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the Pont-Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris. The artists' vision for the project was conceived in 1975. It was the last time they had an idea for a wrapping.
Marilyn's afternoon tea group in Paris, her friends Beryl and Monique are pictured.
Marilyn's good friends Ursula and Vally.
Marilyn and Vally
Marilyn and her mini United Nations Group
Marilyn and Marguerite.
Marilyn and Yves Saint Laurent's niece Cecile.
Marilyn and her friend Marji.
Marilyn, her sister Loraine, and friends Monique and Karin.
"The true story of a middle-aged, recently divorced American woman who plans a six month educational visit to Nice. But, she loves France so much, she heads to Paris, studies at the Sorbonne, extends her visa, and lives life to it's fullest. While reading, I pictured Marilyn as Mary Tyler Moore singing "She's going to make it after all," in French while tossing her beret in the air. This book is full of positive thinking and can make even the biggest nay sayers believe they can accomplish anything they want." -Goodreads Reader Patti Wilson
"A wonderful memoir about a plucky middle age woman who, after child rearing and marriage, finds the desire and freedom to seek her own dreams. She sets off on the adventure of a lifetime in France while changing the course of her future. I enjoyed accompanying her as she dined in Bistros, walked the promenades, learned the language, and became a student at the Sorbonne. I admired her determination as she navigated the challenges, setbacks, and joys of establishing herself alone as a French resident and starting anew. A quick and inspiring read!" - Amazon Reader Jill M.
"Absolutely wonderful book. A fun read - hard to put down. A very inspirational book for any woman (particularly older) who wants to adventure out to new experiences and self-discovery. A story of new friendships and characters you would love to have as friends. Highly recommend as a well written, interesting, inspirational and fun account of new beginnings." -Amazon Reader Janice Greene
"A book for all women who want to start over and feel the ambiance of living in France while learning about one's self." -Amazon Reader Gloria Simmons
Email: ifoundmytomorrowinparis@gmail.com