By Ruby Comer

Tricia Stewart

Life’s not always a naked romp in the park, not even for your Ms. Ruby. (My last romp was stirring, but that’s for another month.) When real life gets too overbearing, I like to pretend I’m in “reel” life. Calendar Girls is one of those flicks I like to “live” in. It’s a sweet, bawdy, passionate, and funny story—and it’s based on real-life events. 

Tricia Stewart and Angela Baker (played by Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, respectively, in the movie) are the two Yorkshire, England, gals who persuaded their friends (an over-forty set) to pose nude for a calendar. Their goal was to raise money for the fight against leukemia after Angela’s husband, John, succumbed to the disease. When the calendar was launched in 1999, the gals expected to sell a few copies, but it sold over 88,000 in the U.K. alone and raised $550,000. Their story reached across the pond and Jay Leno had the girls on The Tonight Show. They became instant international celebrities. In 2001, Tricia’s book, Calendar Girl, was published.

One afternoon this past summer, on a road trip through the English countryside, I arrive in the village of Cracoe (population: 200) in the Yorkshire Dales—what a visual feast—where Tricia Stewart resides. When I cast my eyes on this lass at the door of her charming cottage, I can’t get over her radiance—and what energy! Tricia has two grown kids and is a diagnostic radiographer by trade.

Cozying up in the small colorful garden, overlooking the fields and hills (“very Zen”), we scoff down some fresh homemade crumpets. Yummy. Tricia pours some Earl Grey decaf tea with milk for herself, green tea for moi, and updates me on the calendar.

Ruby Comer: Congratulations to you and your cronies on your humanitarianism. Hear, hear!

Tricia Stewart: Thanks, Ms. Comer.

Ah, Tricia, call me Ruby [these Brits are so proper; what a nice change].

Okay, Ruby. [She grins and reveals those dazzling whites. Her smile is infectious.] We put together a 2005 calendar in conjunction with LRF (Leukemia Research Fund), which was outtakes from our last two calendars plus a new Christmas photo. They were only sold through LRF, but we sold 20,000. For 2006, we are doing an LRF diary, clothed on the cover and unclothed inside.

How exciting! Let me put my order in.

There are only six of us left fundraising. Five of the original eleven retired at the beginning of 2001. 

Are the original calendars still available?

No, but I hear that they sell on eBay!

And to think someone’s death was the start of this all….

Yes, John’s. I don’t have a religion, but I do believe in an afterlife in some form. I don’t think a strong spirit just disappears. I believe in angels. We are sure that John has been guiding and helping us throughout this amazing journey. 

How lovely. Any tips for our HIV/AIDS fundraisers among our readers?

I only know about calendars. We had a winning combination: the humor behind it, older women in the nude, wonderful photographs, the old-fashioned image of the Women’s Institute, and the charity. It worked so well for us because it seemed to touch people’s hearts all over the world and make them laugh.

Tricia, what does AIDS mean to you?

Initially, AIDS meant Africa to me. Now I know that the epidemic is spreading worldwide. This disease kills so many. Fortunately, I have not known anyone who has died from it. But education and research helps, just like what you are doing, Ruby. 

And what you are doing for LRF.

I will continue fundraising for LRF, being a driving force in the whole calendar project. It has been a large part of my life for seven years and it will continue to be. I am also involved with a women speakers Web site now, and travel all over the country to give presentations. It’s a part-time career, alongside teaching Pilates from a studio here at home. 

No wonder you’re in bloody good shape, my dear! I’ve taken a Pilates class once in Miami, but I do yoga regularly back in Los Angeles. In fact, I wouldn’t mind being one of your calendar girls for 2007....Cheers.

Contact Tricia at www.womenspeakers.co.uk and the LRF at www.lrf.org.uk.

Ruby Comer is an independent journalist from the Midwest who is happy to call Hollywood her home away from home. Reach her by e-mail at MsRubyComer@aol.com.

October 2005