By
Stacey Morris
Staff Writer
She
was born in Glens Falls to Charles and Anne White and grew up with five younger
brothers. Charles was an insurance salesman for Metropolitan Life and Anne was
a librarian at Queensbury High School. The Whites lived for a short time in
Whitehall but later moved to Glens Falls where the children attended St. Mary's
Academy.
To
hear her mother tell it, magazines were in Kate's blood. Anne decided to encourage
her daughter's passion for writing with the purchase of a typewriter when Kate
was 14. That's when young Kate got the idea -- why stop at writing for herself?
Why not write for others, especially when there was a ready-made audience --
her classmates at St. Mary's Academy.
"She
wrote each story out on that portable typewriter," recalled Anne. "I
would make Kate earn the money for the dittos so she could make her own magazine.
Kate sold one of her first creations, a magazine called 'For Freshmen Only,'
for a nickel apiece."
"The
next year," Anne smiled, "It was called "For Sophomores
Only.""
"She
was pretty studious," Anne recalled. "I don't think she considered
herself within that range of kids who seem to have it all together, you know
the top echelon."
Kate
threw herself into enterprises of her own devising, her mother said. Kate spent
much of her weekend time working, sometimes baby-sitting, sometimes as a dental
assistant for Dr. Edward Farhart on Glen Street.
"Kate
worked very hard," Anne remembered. "Sometimes I think she had to
miss out on certain things because she'd be working."
Jackie
(Sullivan) Mead attended high school with White and remembered her as a fun-loving
classmate.
"Kate
was always willing to be her own person, she wasn't one who had to follow the
crowd," Mead said. "She wasn't afraid to do things differently. Kate
was fun to be around."
Now
that her daughter has become so successful, Anne acts more proud of Kate's ability
to balance her career with motherhood than of Cosmo's staggering sales figures.
She
noted her daughter has already cemented plans for the next family vacation --
an adventure trip to the Galapagos Islands.
"She's
accomplished all she has and has done it without sacrifice ... she's close to
her family, her children, her brothers.
"A
few nights before the party she gave for Helen Gurley Brown, she had a bunch
of fourth-grade parents over. That's just how she is, Kate feels strongly about
her family life."
Although
White adores living in New York City, she and her family make regular visits
to Glens Falls to visit Anne and Charles.
What
is White's advice to young people who might look at her and wonder whether big
dreams are within their grasp, too?
"Who
you are in high school doesn't have to bear any resemblance to who you are afterward,"
she said. "A lot of kids aren't popular ... it's hard when your whole idea
of self-worth revolves around how many boyfriends you have."
But,
she said, it is during those times of youthful insecurity when a dream is likely
to take root.
"I
made my own magazine," she said. "None of what happens when you're
young reflects your ability to nurse those goals ... what really matters is
what dream it is you are nurturing."