My friend Ione Skye

The icon and author of 'Say Everything'

Dearest Readers,

You know when you get older and realize that your parents have had a whole life before you and are actually really cool?

That’s how I can articulate reading ‘Say Everything’ for the first time.

Last week I attended the Sydney launch for my friend Ione’s memoir and it was everything I’ve come to expect from a Skye-Lee event. I felt so elated and proud of my friend for writing the book that she has. I also cried when both her daughters stood up to speak about their mum.

Photo by Jess Mac

Let’s rewind a little….

When I met Ben and Ione we had just become neighbors in LA. My husband had known them for years and in a weird, spooky twist of fate we found a house on the same street as them.

I was like ‘Ben Lee? The …Catch my disease guy? He’s Australian royalty!!!’. I grew up with Ben’s songs on the radio and they were also the backing track to every TV commercial ever.

What can I say? I was born in 1993. I had no idea who Ione was (sorry Ione).

Our initial interactions were frequent and happy making. Their daughters, Goldie and Kate, were obsessed with my eldest son Lennon who was, at the time, only very little. I’d walk along our street in the canyon and sometimes pass Ione. She was quiet and never performatively nice to me (as a lot of actresses can be).

People would drop into Ben and Ione’s place in a very Laurel Canyon kind of way: musicians, actors, directors, artists. It didn’t take long for me to realise, lying out with them on the hot stone around their pool, that their warmth wasn’t just reserved for us, or famous people. They are kind and welcoming to just about everyone.

That quality inspired me then, and still does, every time I watch their gift for connection in action.

Ione and I looking like tradwives at Easter

Her randomness and creative bursts of energy are what made me fall in love with Ione. Every now and then she’ll tell a story from her early years but really she’s usually whimsical lady in the corner of a party treading over stepping stones with the kids. She’ll drop the most random things into conversations like ‘I’d love to direct you in like an English period drama’, making us all laugh like crazy. If you need an example of this just listen to her and Ben’s podcast ‘Weirder Together’ - you’re in for a treat.

I was one of the first people to read ‘Say Everything’ . Ione sent me a PDF of the book and I sat at my computer laughing and crying. I must admit I had been a little nervous that I would have to lie about liking it. You never know how people will present on paper or if they are able to tell a story.

Lucky for me, and for everyone who has since bought the book, I had no need to worry.

To categorize Ione’s book as a celebrity memoir would be doing it a disservice. It is about way more than Ione’s previous relationships with famous men (Keanu Reeves, River Phoenix, Anthony Kiedis, Matthew Perry and Adam Horovitz). Although it’s a bit fun to read about your friend getting sexy with some of the most famous men on earth . Must be nice lol.

What I found most moving about ‘Say Everything’ were the constant breadcrumbs we were given about her father, Donovan, and how his absence, has shaped so much of Ione’s life.

This quote in particular broke me.

Mama, I’m jealous

you had my father,
the phantom, the bottle lost at sea

—From my journal

If you aren’t familiar with Ione’s glittering bio then I’ll give you a quick rundown (this is a Wikipedia job by the way) :

Ione Skye is a British-American actress, author, and artist, best known for her role as Diane Court in the 1989 cult classic Say Anything…, where she starred opposite John Cusack. Born on September 4, 1970, in London, she is the daughter of Scottish folk singer Donovan and American model Enid Karl. Skye made her film debut in River’s Edge (1986) and went on to appear in notable films throughout the 1990s, including Gas Food Lodging (1992), Wayne’s World (1992), and One Night Stand (1997).

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Ione is a product of her Hollywood childhood when reading the above - a nepo baby if you will. When in fact it is the opposite. I have experienced every kind of social interaction with Ione. We’ve been on holidays together, I’ve spent passover at her table and we’ve lived within walking distance from one another for years now. She is the least pretentious person I know.

Ben and Ione are the kind of friends who want me to bring my kids over to hang. They are the people I call when I need a judgementless chat. The more that life carries on the more I see their collective experience as a gift that is something they delight in giving.

As someone who has literally spent her entire life in the spotlight Ione is unassumingly brilliant. A quiet observer who has more power in saying less and listening to everything. It’s ironic the title of her memoir is ‘Say Everything’. Ione’s power lies in her observation and quiet care of others. Her deep feeling. It’s why people keep her close.

This photo looks like we’re on the set of The White Lotus

I didn’t realise how much I needed an anchor like Ione in my life until everything started to fall apart. There’s something comforting about having a beacon to look toward, to feel warmth reflected in the happiness someone else has found.

Perhaps it is easy to write about your exes in such a profound and balanced way when you are in a comfortable relationship, like the one that Ione shares with Ben. Their love and support for one another has long been the benchmark for me.

Watching their creative collaboration and the way they genuinely support each other’s pursuits, not just in words but in action is something pretty special to witness.

Say Everything is a cultural moment, a time capsule of what Los Angeles and New York once were, and the key players who shaped the ’80s and ’90s. It’s sexy, thoughtful, and deeply moving. Ione weaves song lyrics throughout the chapters, guiding the reader through beautiful vignettes of a life both well lived and keenly observed.

I hope you will buy it and immerse yourself in the sexy, dazzling and sometimes messy world of Hollywood in the 80s and 90s. When it’s recommended by Sofia Coppola, Lena Dunham and Miranda July you kinda can’t refuse.

Happy Reading !

Jessie

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