When Sarah was a kid, the number of movie stars who came to stay at their house was exactly

one, and was kind of a disaster. Robert Redford ended up at their house because he had heard

about a book that Sarah's stepfather was writing, about Leonard Peltier of the American

Indian movement. It was still just a manuscript, and the stepfather didn't want to send copies

of it around, so he told Redford that the only way that Redford could read it is if he would do it at their house in Long Island. Redford agreed.

Sarah says the atmosphere in the house when he arrived was completely different from any other

time in her childhood. I remember mostly my mother, like consciously trying to be very charming

and being very charming and talking to him a

lot and asking all sorts of questions and laughing a lot at what he said and kind of flitting about

the house in a way that I hadn't remembered her doing before.

What Robert Redford told stories, even the simplest story about his trip to the house.

Her parents nodded and smiled along with an enthusiasm.

The stories did not necessarily seem to merit to 11-year-old Sarah.

I was really, I was sullen, and I think I was making a really concerted effort not to be impressed.

You know, now, 20 years later, I think I was jealous that he was suddenly the star of the house,

whereas I was used to being the star of the house.

I was the youngest kid, and I was sort of the one who amused my parents,

and here was this stranger coming in who had usurped my role.

And I remember when he came in, poor guy, the first night, my mother made this special dinner.

And we ate in the kitchen.

We had this big wooden table.

And it was definitely fancier than usual or like one more course than we usually had. Maybe we had an appetizer or something, which we never normally had.

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