WOODSTOCK

Last one is my favorite beautiful shot. Come film in CT again.

Jane,

This movie looks very interesting. I was just visiting Woodstock a few weeks ago myself, I live in the Albany area. I believe you are an alumni of the Emma Willard School in Troy. Do you ever come up to visit? It is a beautiful campus.

Best,
Julie Davis

hello, Jane
I always think of the political movement of the sixty’s and the Social movement as two separate movements. Both movements were interesting , I was of of the young kids who took off to San Fransisco just as the summer of Love was going to happen.
In 1966, I was a runaway to a cold winter in Berkley , I was waling through the free speech area of the Berkley University Campus, and even stayed in a dorm room for a few days, anyways I returned back to my parents home. In 1967 the times were interesting, seeing the change from a social movement to more a political one against the war. I worked in was was a headshop near a number of stores , like Mothers for Peace and anti-war groups.I was one of the strange ones who wanted to find understanding through education, in someways I did. Bye the time Woodstock was on I was almost burnedout, the the headshop had closed and I was working my way through college. A interesting time to live, I was lucky to have met some interesting people of that time.

Hi Jane,
Thank you for sharing the photos, and memories of days gone by. I’ve followed your career for a long time now. You were brilliant in Julia, Barefoot in the Park, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They, Fun With Dick and Jane, and 9-5 to mention a few that I loved and watched again and again. I’ve always admired how you’ll say what’s on your mind, and are completely honest about who you are and what you do.

Thank you so much for making movies and living your life to the fullest.

Much love,
Munsel

Wow, I like you with the hippie look, Jane! You may want to keep it. 🙂

Jen in TX

post script :
this was a interesting letters I found your might find of interest.

Familiar letters on sacraments : addressed to the people of his charge (1824) Author: Fonda, Jesse, 1786-1827 http://www.archive.org/details/familiarletterso00fond

This film looks like it’s going to be amazing. The cast, the textures, everything!

Hi Jane

I was wondering about your heritage. Ah Dutch! But there must be Italian in there too because of the name, isn’t there? I don’t have your book here with me at the moment, I’m sure you wrote about it. I’ve just been to Sicily to learn Italian and I know that ‘fondo’ means a lot of things, like ‘at the base’ or ‘end’ of something. Not sure about ‘fonda’, though. Maybe it changes to the feminine form when using words that take the feminine article ‘la’. Not sure.

I’ve been reading your blogs since I returned and you have such a tight schedule, I can hardly breathe. How do you stay in France for weeks, then fly back to the US to do promotional work for your videos then leave home again to start another film. OMG. Don’t you get homesick or tired of being away all the time? And in doing all that you look so fantastic and make it look like a breeze.
And grey actually suits you. Sorry about that, but it really does in my humble opinion! IN 33 Variations you were grey and it looked great too.

BTW I’ve just decided to start doing your original workout again. After so many years, I still can’t find a workout that’s so thorough and I still think it’s the best one ever.

Take care and enjoy the filming (can’t wait to see the two movies!)
Jason

Dear Jane,

I met you for the first time yesterday as we were sitting at the table for lunch in the Church basement. We spoke briefly about our mutual friend Elizabeth and the upcoming Women In Power Conference. Last night I read your blog for the first time. Up again this morning reading it. I have been reflecting on the unusual and first-time experience of being a “photo double” on a film, as well as meeting you in person.

When you came into the church basement for lunch we who had been sitting there all morning waiting for our “call” were shocked. We hadn’t expected it. While in my mind I had looked forward to meeting you and connecting, I (and we other “photo doubles” — a strange occupation indeed)were waiting to be told when and where to go, including when/where to have lunch. I really appreciated your sensitivity in wondering why we, sitting all around you, weren’t eating. All of us were newbies to the film situation and were, it seems, “stuck” in waiting. Then it occurred to me that we just needed to get up and go get food like everyone else piling in with plates. We were hungry!

I was thinking at the time how odd a situation it is for a famous person who has revealed so much in an autobiography to be in a situation where people know her and but you don’t really know them. A number of us confessed later to feeling tongue-tied. First of all, you looked so different from the Jane we have come to “know”. For me, I felt embarassed because I was wearing what you called your shirt! Yes, the photo doubles wear the same clothes as the actors they are doubling for and it is all-around strange indeed, especially when we are all trying so hard (in real life)to be genuinely ourselves.

What’s really wierd is that we don’t look alike, but the casting director (and the location director who found me just a few days ago browsing in that wonderful Readers Quarry bookstore by the covered bridge — you’d love it! Great children’s books!) both said that we had a similar “look” — I have very grey hair (much grayer than yours — all white in the front) and am 5′ 6 1/2. Brian (casting) said that half inch was, evidentally, very important. (This is all first-time and odd for me who works as a Pathwork counselor and goes to graduate school for Mental Health.)

So what is a photo-double? I had to have it explained to me: There’s a scene where Grace is driving a car with her two grandchildren up Neher Street (where I drive all the time) down Hillcrest Ave., to a swimming hole. Evidentally, the scene is shot at a distance so they needed a body to play the character of Grace wearing your same costume shirt, similar hair and height, and driving the car. My concern these last few days has been that I’ll be able to drive an old Volkswagen Beetle with a stick shift! I keep saying to people: “They give you a few minutes to get the hang of it, don’t they??!!!” People roll their eyes sympathetically and say: “An OLD VW BEETLE??? Good luck!” I keep hearing gears crunching.) However, I’m looking forward to it. I try to venture courageously into the unknown, especially when life presents it to me serendipitously.

Anyway, I had hoped to get a little more time to be around you because — and this I think may be the odd part for you — I, like so many other women, identify with and have been encouraged by your consciousness and values. These last days I have anticipated telling you and the other women in the cast about the cool yoga and exercise classes in Woodstock, inviting you to come to swim in my pool, talking together as women do, etc. What a fantasy! Again, that odd situation where you as a famous person are known, or rather you reveal yourself to be known quite intimately, so people get a sense of being “close” to you, and then in real life we all have our own experience, as we did when sitting at the same table. For example, I saw that you were really hungry and eating and so all my thoughts of chatting about all the things of mutual interest and involvement receded to the background as I wanted to respect the fact that you were trying to eat your lunch! So I sat with the other “doubles” wondering if/when we should/could go get some lunch too.

So, a few things unsaid: I, and others I am sure, really appreciate the fact that you are playing a woman with gray hair(s). A lot of us in Woodstock don’t dye our hair. I just let mine grow out a few years ago as a way of saying: This is who I am and how I am and I’m going to thrive in this reality and not be afraid of how I “appear”. I’m going to enliven my life as I appear (“old”) with my inner vibrance that is fully engaged, excited, forward-looking, creative, and still meeting and making new friends. Somehow this attitude of looking at a woman with gray hair (actually just partially white)as an attitude of LACK was one I had internalized. I realized that I bought it, and then that I didn’t have to. My favorite phrase is: “This is an INSIDE JOB.” It’s not how I appear to others but how I am within myself that I want to be my focus, and creates my experience. You have written about this and I along with many women friends live it. And my men friends too, who I and my women friends love.

A few local things (really fun to see your photos of Woodstock): A really great Pilates/Yoga teacher is Jessica Bartoletti in Studio One on Hillcrest Avenue, right on the way to the swimming hole in Woodstock where I think you might be filming. You would love her. She teaches Zumba too (amazing — have you done it?). A little studio, in a little yellow house, a “little” person with a BIG talent and heart. I love my private Pilates with her — I feel in such safe, knowledgeable, and warm-hearted hands.

My sister turned my on to your Autobiography which we both so appreciated for your depth, insight, and courage. We felt that you were a new friend. Woodstock too has fabulous women. I love my friends. I am so grateful for the ever- expanding experience of sharing the breadth and depths of life with my women friends. Just now reading a book called “Stiffed” by Susan Faludi, a sensitive and compassionate exploration of the ways in which men have been formed and limited by so-called “patriarchy” as well. I am committed to not separating anyone out. A great resource and inspiration is the Buddhist Inspiration for the Day emails I get every morning from BigHappyBuddha.com. I think you would like them. They bring the human experience into the framework of spiritual awareness and growth. Also wonderful is the Poem For The Day which I get from [email protected]. Beautiful, soul-stirring, mostly-famous poems arrive with breathtaking photos every morning.

I am a student and teacher of The Pathwork Lectures, which you probably have some exposure to, so I have a wider view of this experience for men and for women: I see this human journey is a path of the evolving spirit, each in our own way, challenged and tenderized through joy and pain to face our ego fears and grow through and beyond them. I too share your reverence for the path and presence offered by the person and spirit of Jesus and the Christ-consciousness. One of the many things wonderful about Woodstock is the openness to “other” which includes sincere religious views when they manifest in behaviors and attitudes whch inform love, not separation.

Well, enough for now. I just knew I had things in my heart I wanted to say and whether or not you can/will read this I wanted to allow what was in my heart and mind to flow out rather than be held in. Today at lunch I felt held in and a mix of wanting to respect your private space for eating and talking with people you knew, and at the same time wanting to connect and share a space that I felt grateful for. In reading your blog I have continued to feel grateful for your transparency as a human being. Maybe I will see you again if my sudden job as a “photo double” is on the schedule again. We really aren’t “doubles” — no one is. People just type others and isn’t it our task to outgrow our type and be true to our individual self?

All best wishes to you in your work and in your life. I’m thinking this is probably unusually long (too long?)for a blog — my first time to read or respond to one. Hopefully you’ll find something nourishing in it.

Sincerely,
MargaretMary

MM Cliggett Reynolds
Woodstock, NY.

Hi Jane,
I LOVE the hair! It totally works! Also love the updo you had the other day! Hope you’re having fun and a terrific Summer to you!
Love,
Joe

Great wig Jane.

I worked for Jerry Brown campiagn for President in Boston where you and Tom came to promote Jerry I was there at the 1st Primary in Manchester NH. My quest for truth began in 1970. Thought we were getting somewhere why I joined Jerry’s campaign. Oh Well What’s 30 yrs in the scheme of things! FB/Twitter etc is allowing real time info globally to outdue the media control version. Finally “Something is Happening Here”! Finally the Dawning of the New Age~ Jane Fonda goes back to where we started: WOODSTOCK http://bit.ly/dCSTpd on her blog . Us Babyboomers need to be reminded of the integrity we started out with. Our beliefs in the dawning of New Age !! What it was really about.. We as Adults can MAKE THAT HAPPEN NOW… We are the Powerful group ~~ The WWII gengeration thinking has to be thrown out. New paradigms, new systems can be easily built with the help of our offspring and their perceptions as they will be taking over soon… Right now we stuck in a time of Heirachy that is not working and killing us… The Revolution starts NOW !! Let’s show our kids it is not about sex, drugs and rock and roll but about CHANGE and Evolution for Peace and Love/Not WAR. Glad you are in Real Time Jane ! Thanks ! CR

Wow…these photos really succeed in giving us the ‘flavor’ of Woodstock plus the art of filming! Sure want to see this movie!

Bonsoir Jane,

Je vois que votre nouveau film démarre très bien, j’adore votre “look”. Les photos de Woodstock m’ont beaucoup amusée ! je vous souhaite bonne chance pour ce film, quant à moi je commence à travailler lundi à Paris, sur le film de Martin SCORSESE pour 4 semaines, j’en suis très heureuse.

Sincèrement

FAB

I admire your enthusiasm,energy,drive.
Thank you for showing us Woodstock.
The look of your character is great.
“read”you soon.

bitizia

Jane,

So glad to see that you have come to our small town with so much life to film this movie! I was born and raised here, left twice and have always returned. Enjoy your time in Woodstock!

Danielle Bonesteel
FreeStyle Realty

You look really cool in the long hair!

Cool!!!!!

you look happier then ever in your whole life.
I have exercised with you in the past and watched your life unfold.
I send you a smile and continued good journey.

Dear Jane,
Thank you so much for your appreciation of the shop (Legends)in my house, an appreciation made evident by the number of photos of it which you included in your blog. And thank you also for your graciousness in posing in front of the shop for a photo of you and me together. That photo appeared in the July 22, 2010, edition of our local weekly newspaper, the Woodstock Times.

The film crew kept such a tight lock on the perimeter of the shooting that the picture of you and me was the most interesting photo in the newspaper’s coverage of your visit. I would love to send you a copy of the photo but I don’t think it can be attached to this “comments” box. If you provide me with an email address, I would be able to send it to you. Or, while the crew is still in the area, someone could pick up a copy of the Woodstock Times.

You can refresh your memory of who I am because I appear in one of the photos here on your blog, dressed in black, white hair, coming down the steps of my front porch with all the tee shirts and Woodstock banners hanging all around me and the Blues Brothers sitting silently nearby.

I speak for all Woodstockers when I say that your visit was a lot of fun for all of us, you were very gracious and approachable, and we are all looking forward with happy anticipation to the film’s release.

Best regards,
Joan Schwartzberg

You are one gorgeous hippie Jane!! Hope you are enjoying the area! Looking forward for the films release.

Peace, Love and Happiness!!

-Evon

i just watched a film about joni mitchell’s bio on netflix instant view and she missed woodstock too as she had to prepare for dick cavet show but overnight she wrote the defining song for it…she was/is the opposite of an actor — being the true poet of this generation revealing the depths of not only herself but all the others, the generation as given by the art and the culture of sorts…but now that culture is hyped a bit in memorabilia… glamorized…becomes its own romanticized commercial reality…but the thing i like about joni in particular is her noncommercial authenticity…that you can understand her from her invented guitar chords and poetic verse..

looking back…i remember when the film Woodstock came out and it seemed important then…and i felt sad about not having been able to go… however going to that kind of event was really a bit more of a blur than anything else for the attendees, where time sort of gets lost in weed and music…not really so much enlightenment as that takes more sober reflection in quietude…this historic event is mostly famous for how many people were there as well as for the rain, muck, and chaos…it represented an idea more so than anything else…the idea of peace and love is still mostly just that…like having a dream…or maybe being part of a dream — when you listen to joni mitchell…

Thank you for sharing so many great shots of Woodstock! Lived there for a few years and hope to visit next month!
Is the shop with the ongoing giant candle still there?

Jane,

My relative, Hendrick Meese Vrooman, lived next to Jellis Fonda in the Stockade area of Schnectady, NY. I have a plot map from 1690 drawn prior to the 1690 Massacre that shows where everyone’s home was located. If I can find the link to it, I’ll post it.

Can’t wait for the movie. Woodstock is usually in our weekend travel rotations along with Rosendale. So much creative energy in our NY towns and hamlets.

Gary
High Falls, NY

Jane

Se ve genial este nuevo trabajo espero pronto verlo en Sur America

Adios…