In Touch magazine recently featured “Anna Nicole Smith: Portrait of an Icon, Signature Edition”, a coffee table sized book by Anna’s two best friends, featuring never before published photos and stories.
Anna Nicole Smith captivated audiences around the world with her glamorous appearance, unpredictable antics, family tragedy and her untimely death on February 8, 2007. From her love life to her battle with the bulge to the questions surrounding the paternity of her newborn daughter, Anna Nicole was constantly making headlines.
Anna’s couture designer Pol’ Atteu and partner Patrik Simpson wrote this book as a tribute to Anna, making sure to capture the beauty and the heartfelt memories, stories and beautiful, candid photos that will be new to readers.
The book will also include some personal moments and details about some of Anna’s innermost thoughts and feelings, though nothing contained in the book will be of a salacious nature.
“She was funny, beautiful, sexy, naughty, a wonderful mother, a true confidant, but most of all…a friend.” They share some of Anna’s private thoughts which included: Was Larry Birkhead “family”? Was Howard K. Stern her true love? What kind of monster was Anna’s mother, Virgie Arthur? The world suffered a great loss when she died on February 8, 2007 and the enormous outpouring of grief made it clear that Anna Nicole Smith was more than just a celebrity…she was an icon.
The Signature Edition of Anna Nicole Smith – Portrait of an Icon is published by Kings Road Publishing and was released on Febraury 8, 2008. Coming soon to bookstores nationwide, it is currently available at www.portraitofanicon.com for $24.95.
About the Authors:
As Anna’s friend and designer, audiences may remember Pol’ Atteu from Anna Nicole’s reality show. He had a helping hand in landing Anna on Star Magazine’s Best Dressed list for the gown she wore to VH1’s Big in ’04. In addition to his work with Anna, he has worked as a celebrity fashion designer on Dr. Phil and created the Inaugural ball gown work by Sharon Davis, California’s former First Lady. www.polatteu.com.
Patrick Simpson is the President and founder of Network International Models and Talent, overseeing models’ placements in markets worldwide. In addition, he is an accomplished photographer, having had his work published in several nationwide publications including the prestigious cover of People Magazine. His work has also been published in Star Magazine, Us Weekly, National Enquirer, In Touch as well as the Los Angeles Times. www.networkinternationalmodels.com
Patrick and Pol were kind enough to share their thoughts and personal insight with us:
LATP: Why did you write this book?
POL & PATRICK: Two reasons:
#1: For a year, we have listened to people say so many bad things about our friend. We have heard that she was a drug addict, an unfit mother, a person who deserved what she got, everyone predicted this would happen. It was no surprise..etc etc. We know differently. We wanted to show the world what a kind, loving fun, sincere & beautiful person she was. She was a special person who we deeply cared for and will always miss.
#2: It was a healing process for myself to finally put closure to such a horrific tragedy that completely affected my life. Putting my words on paper and putting together our collection of never-before-seen and fun photos was a way for us to memorialize my friend.
LATP: What is it that you want the public to learn about Anna from this book?
P & P: We want the public to know that Anna Nicole was special. She was beautiful person both inside & out. The images that people saw on TV was her TV/Celebrity Persona. That wasn¹t her life 24 hours a day. Most of it was indulged and exaggerated for TV. She was a great mother, a smart woman and an incredible soul that I am blessed to have known. We want everyone to see how special her bond was with her children, and that she had good people (us) in her life.
LATP: What is that you want the public to learn FROM Anna and her life ex
perience?
P & P: We want the public to learn that no matter how famous you are, or how much money you have we are all the same. To always be true to yourself, and never waver from your convictions. Anna fought so much in the media to obtain what was rightfully hers & she never gave up. She had enormous strength and
determination. She took what she knew & made an international name for herself, and still managed to remain humble.
LATP: What does ‘friend’ mean to you? Do you think that celebrities are surrounded by ‘friends’ or not. Please explain.
P & P: A friend is someone who is there for you no matter what. Through thick and thin. Through the lean times & the prosperous times. Someone that will love you unconditionally and stand by you without judgment.
LATP: In your opinion, do you see Britney following the same path as Anna?
P & P: We think Britney is following the same path as Anna because she is being
stalked by the media everyday, and they never let up. We think Anna numbed a lot of her pain with prescription drugs. Britney is doing the same thing. It may seem like a celeb has it all, but Anna had many issues with trusting people, especially the hangers-on who came and went in her life frequently. We were always just there and supported her through it all. Even if we didn¹t agree with her, she still had our support.
LATP: Do you think that Britney has ‘friends’?
P & P: From the outside looking into Britney’s life we don¹t think she has the kind of friends Pol and I were to Anna. It seems like she has more of the ‘leeches’ and ‘hangers on’. Anna had many people that used her to make a name for themselves, so does Britney. Pol and I never took that route, as we already have our own name in our prospective fields.
LATP: In your opinion, do some celebrities lose perspective as to who are really their friends, and why?
P & P: Yes. Many celebs lose that perspective. We think its very easy to fall into losing who you were & 
who was with you before you became a name, because as a celeb it’s the “who you know” club. One thing we can say about Anna is she never fell into that celeb trap. She treated you the same whether you cleaned her house, were a A-lister or a noboby. If she liked you and respected you (and there were NOT many she respected) she made no special allowances for anyone. And, she wasn¹t dazzled by someone else¹s status.
LATP: Do you find any parallels between Anna¹s rise and fall with that of young Hollywood, i.e., Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie?
P & P: We think it can just show you how EASILY someone can fall into the depths of despair. It also is a classic example of how Hollywood will build you up and tear you down all in the same breath. One last thing is evident, Hollywood loves a DRAMA and really doesn¹t hold any grudges. It¹s a quick turnaround being up..being down..etc.
LATP: Did Anna’s celebrity contribute to her death? Was she able to handle her celebrity or did it handle her?
P & P: Yes. Ultimately it did. Anna met Larry Birkhead because of her celebrity status. If she were a nobody he never would have followed her to California and slept on her couch. She never would have fled to the Bahamas in fear of him. I blame Larry for her death.
LATP: In your opinion, could Anna¹s tragic end been avoided?
P & P: No. Because Anna’s death was an end result of losing her son. If Daniel had never died in the Bahamas, Anna would still be alive and living there. She had too much zest and life in her to go so young. But, after Daniel passed away it was evident that she would not continue. We saw her ‘spark’ slowly dissipate. Everyone has this myth that Anna was on drugs 24 hours a day all the time. That was not the case.
“This book combines beautiful never-before-seen candid photos of intimate and memorable moments, stories, private and personal words of Anna Nicole Smith combined with new details about some of her deepest darkest secrets. Brought to you by her best friends Pol’ Atteu and Patrik Simpson. They insisted Anna, who always said “I’m gonna do it my way” was a NOT-SO-DUMB BLONDE but in fact was a smart, shrewd woman who, although lacked a formal education, played the role of the dumb blonde well – it didn’t play her.”
www.portraitofanicon.com
