Sheherazade Goldsmith

Sheherazade Bentley Goldsmith (born 14 March 1974) is an English environmentalist, best-selling author, and socialite.cite news |last=Pike |first=Francesca |publisher=NZ Listener |url=http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3516/columnists/9698/buying_into_it.html;jsessionid=E8F2085625BD04C45E8B0DBAE8E72FDA |date=2007-10-05 |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=Buying into it?] She frequently contributes as a columnist to various national newspapers in the UK, and was formerly a businesswoman and fashion model. As an organic farmer and activist, Goldsmith has been repeatedly identified by the British media as "the Poster Girl for the Green Generation" and a "Green Goddess."cite news |last=Fairley |first=Josephine |publisher="The Daily Mail" |url= http://www.dailymail.co.uk/you/article-457651/The-new-green-goddess-Sheherezade-Goldsmith.html |date=2007-05-26 |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=The new green goddess: Sheherezade Goldsmith] She is married to Zac Goldsmith, the prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park.

Early life and education

Born out of wedlock as Sheherazade Ventura-Bentley at King's College Hospital, London, Goldsmith is the daughter of Colombian-born actress Viviane Ventura and British financier John Bentley. Her paternity was established on 13 March 1975 in the West London Domestic Court.cite web |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |title=Person Page 20305:Sheherazade Ventura-Bentley |publisher=thePeerage.com |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p20305.htm#i203044
accessdate=2008-05-28] Goldsmith grew up in England (near King’s Road in Chelsea) and Spain with her older half-sister, JasmineJoanna Duggan, her mother's child with first husband and film producer Frank Duggan. Goldsmith's mother raised the family by establishing an International Promotions company called the Ventura Promotions, which later became Francolin Promotions Ltd.cite web |last= |first= |title=Official website: Viviane Ventura |publisher=Viviane Ventura |url=http://vivianeventura.com/home.php |date= |accessdate=2008-05-28]

Goldsmith was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in London and later graduated from Aiglon College in Switzerland, where she was captain of the ski-team.cite news |last=Roberts |first=Glenys |publisher="The Daily Mail" |url= |date=1999-01-29 |accessdate=2008-05-29 |title=Sheherazade and Zac's relationship] She earned A- levels in English Literature, Art, Spanish and French. Having inherited the linguistic talent of her mother, who speaks 6 languages, Goldsmith is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian besides her native English.cite book | last = Goldsmith | first = Annabel |year = 2004 | title = Annabel: An Unconventional Life: The Memoirs of Lady Annabel Goldsmith | publisher = Weidenfeld & Nicolson | location = London
id = ISBN 0-297-82966-1] In 2007, she completed a three-year course in practical horticulture at the English Gardening School, with classes held in the world-famous Chelsea Physic Garden.

Professional life

Goldsmith followed her studies with a career in modeling and fashion marketing. At 17, she was spotted by Richard Branson in South Africa and signed up with Sarah Doukas at Storm Model Management. She modeled for catalogues such as Littlewoods but found the Milan fashion week to be "really seedy" and "the last straw", cementing her decision to leave the catwalk.cite news |last=Siegle |first=Lucy |publisher="The Observer" |url= http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1343227,00.html |date=2004-11-04 |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=Green Goddess] She then moved to the marketing sector of fashion and worked for Armani, Prada, Calvin Klein and Donna Karan.cite news |last=Deakin |first=Annie |publisher="The Resident" |url=http://www.theresident.co.uk/profiles-good-as-gold--15715 |date= |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=Good as gold] cite news |last=Lee |first=Vinny |publisher="The Times" |url= |date=2001-09-22 |accessdate=2008-05-28 |title=Small is beautiful] During this time, Goldsmith also portrayed the lead role in Italian director Franco Zeffirelli's 1993 film "The Sparrow", which was shot in Sicily.

In 2000, while pregnant with her first child, she and her friend Serena Cook opened Deli'Organic, an organic delicatessen in Battersea’s so-called "Nappy Valley". The cafe also soon became one of the first of its kind to set up what "W magazine" called a "thriving business delivering fresh, organic baby food" to interested mothers.cite news |last=Fallon |first=James |publisher="W Magazine" |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-27215030_ITM |date=2001-12-01 |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=Sheherazade Goldsmith & Serena Cook] Goldsmith cooked children's food from the shop's kitchen and served customers for almost two years. She later said, "I wasn’t spending any time with my baby and felt utterly miserable about it." After the birth of her second child, Goldsmith closed the shop.

Columnist

Goldsmith wrote a regular column for "The Sunday Times" on Organic food and dining from October 2002 to March 2003. She has also written columns for "The Telegraph"cite news |last=Goldsmith |first=Sheherazade |publisher="The Daily Telegraph" |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2001/08/28/efwww28.xml|date=2001-08 |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=I'd rather shop till I drop] and has been a food contributor to "Harpers Bazaar" magazine. All media for Goldsmith is handled by Ian Monk Associates, and the PR agency negotiated a magazine column deal for Goldsmith in 2008.cite web |last= |first= |title=Sheherazade Goldsmith |publisher=Ian Monk Associates |url=http://www.ianmonk.com/clients.asp?id=145 |date=|accessdate=2008-05-28] On 7 May 2008, Goldsmith started writing a weekly Wednesday column for "YOU Magazine" entitled "Green Scene with Sheherazade Goldsmith".cite news |last=Goldsmith |first=Sheherazade |publisher="The Daily Mail" |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Sheherazade%20Goldsmith |accessdate=2008-05-28 |title=Green Scene with Sheherazade Goldsmith]

Books

Sheherazade Goldmith is the editor-in-chief of "A Slice of Organic Life: Get Closer to the Soil Without Going the Whole Hog", which was published by Dorling Kindersley in 2007 and became a best seller.cite web |last= |first= |title=The Feast of Albion |publisher=Soil Association |url=http://www.soilassociation.org/Web/SA/SAWeb.nsf/848d689047cb466780256a6b00298980/2fbf7f9ab52c5b6f802573f00044d76b!OpenDocument
date= |accessdate=2008-05-28] The book offers more than 90 self-contained projects to grow food organically, cook homegrown produce and keep specific livestock, with different applications for city dwellers, suburban populations and homeowners with vast lands. The book's projects range from growing strawberries in a hanging basket to keeping chickens or energy saving tips for home. "BookPage" called the book "an earnest, friendly manual that'll entice you into the kitchen to make jam, even if you've never before successfully boiled water."cite web |last= |first= |title=Amazon reviews |publisher=Amazon.com |url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0756628733/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books|date=|accessdate=2008-05-28] "Publisher's Weekly" pointed out, "This smorgasbord of organic recipes, tips and suggestions has something for everyone, but like a Jack-of-all-trades, it's a master of none."

The book's central aim is to illustrate "that you can live anywhere and still make a contribution to the environment without actually making any sacrifices."cite web |last=Spence |first=Steve |title=Interview with Sheherazade Goldsmith, Editor of “A Slice of Organic Life” |publisher=Green-trust.org |url=http://discuss.green-trust.org/discussion/messages/1442618 |date=|accessdate=2008-05-28] Goldsmith has said:

There is a huge misconception that being green is more labour intensive, more expensive and means giving up all your creature comforts.

Writing in "The Guardian", George Monbiot criticized the book for not discussing issues such as lobbying for policy change and consuming less. Monbiot dismissed its approach as ineffective in meeting the challenge of dangerous climate change, since the book promotes small-scale green consumerism, but not dramatic cuts in consumption.cite news |last=Monbiot |first=George |publisher="The Guardian" |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2133120,00.html|date=2007-07-24 |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=Ethical shopping is just another way of showing how rich you are]

Goldsmith's next book, called "A Greener Christmas", is due to be published, once again by Dorling Kindersley, in September 2008.cite web |last= |first= |title=A Greener Christmas |publisher=DK Publishing |url=http://us.dk.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780756636937,00.html |date=|accessdate=2008-05-28] Goldsmith has also contributed columns and recipes to various publications and brand names including Sophie Grigson's "The Fairtrade Everyday Cookbook" and Waitrose.cite web |last= |first= |title=Organic Drinks |publisher=Waitrose |url=http://www.waitrose.com/drink/softdrinks/softdrinksarticles/0706034.aspx |date= |accessdate=2008-05-28] cite news |last= |first= |publisher="Western Morning News" |url= |date=2008-02-23 |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=Shop ethically - and eat well] cite news |last=Fagan |first=Gabrielle |publisher=Press Association |url= |date=2008-03-19 |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=All the fun of the fair]

=Family and

While at Aiglon College in 1993, at the age of 19, Goldsmith was briefly engaged to the youngest son of an Italian duke, Pio Catemario di Quadri.cite news |last=Dempster |first=Nigel |publisher="The Daily Mail" |url= |date=1995-01-28 |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=Zac names day to tie the knot] The engagement was called off in 1998, after which she met her future husband Zac, son of the late businessman James Goldsmith. Their first meeting was initiated when Zac reportedly sent Goldsmith a bouquet of roses with his telephone number at a pizzeria near his terrace home in Fulham, South-West London. They married four months later, on 5 June 1999, at St Simon Zelotes church in Knightsbridge; the wedding was followed by a reception at The Ritz and a dance at the groom's house, the Ormeley Lodge. Goldsmith gave birth to her oldest child, a daughter named Uma, on 10 April 2000. Her second daughter Thyra was born in 2002, followed a year later by the Goldsmith's youngest child, son James.

The family divides its time between a London home and a farm in Devon. In 2008, the Goldsmiths moved from their house in Chelsea to new one in Richmond, the prospective parliamentary constituency for Zac. Goldsmith and her children take a four-hour trip every weekend to commute to Devon and then return to London for the week. The family owns two dogs: a mongrel called Patch and Emilly, an Irish wolfhound.cite news |last=Beardsall |first=Jonny |publisher="The Daily Telegraph" |url= |date=2007-06-16 |accessdate=2008-05-29 |title= My Perfect Weekend: Sheherazade Goldsmith] Goldsmith and her husband grow all of their seasonal produce on their convert|300|acre|km2|sing=on farm in Devon, where they have a vegetable garden, apple trees, and a wildlife pond, besides which they also keep cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and three herds of Dartmoor ponies.cite news |last= |first= |publisher="The Daily Telegraph" |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2002/08/28/hfruit28.xml|date=2002-08 |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title= Would you like a strawberry with jet lag? ]

Goldsmith has been described as a survivor and a realist by her mother Viviane, while her sister Jasmine has called her "very organized and family-oriented." At dinner parties, she has said, she is conscious of "not being an eco-bore" and discusses her green interests only when asked.cite news |first= William |last= Norwich |title= Season's Greetings |publisher= "Vogue" |pages=396 |id=ISSN|00428000 |date=2007-12-01 |accessdate=2008-05-29 ] In 2007, "The Sunday Times" called Goldsmith a "well-married working women" and branded her a role-model for "daughters of the best families [who] pursue prominent careers of their own" while also marrying "husbands their families will endorse".cite news |last=Edelstein |first=Jean |publisher="The Sunday Times" |url= |date=2007-12-01 |accessdate=2008-05-28 |title=Marriage? Go-getter girls have work to do] Goldsmith and her husband were featured as one of Vanity Fair's Best-Dressed Couples in the magazine's 67th Annual International Best-Dressed List for 2006.cite news |first= |last= |title=Vanity Fair Presents The 67th Annual International Best-Dressed List 2006 |id=ISSN|07338899 |publisher= "Vanity Fair" |page=323 |date=2006-09-01 |accessdate=2008-05-29]

References

Works

*cite news |last=Goldsmith |first=Sheherazade |publisher="The Daily Mail" |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/you/article-1020418/Green-Scene-Sheherazade-Goldsmith.html|date=|accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=Green Scene with Sheherazade Goldsmith
*cite news |last=Goldsmith |first=Sheherazade |title= Christmas 2007: Dreaming of a green Christmas |publisher="The Daily Telegraph" |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/2007/12/17/ftchristmas117.xml |date=2007-12-17 |accessdate=2007-10-08
*cite news |last=Goldsmith |first=Sheherazade |publisher="The Daily Telegraph" |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2001/08/28/efwww28.xml|date=2001-08 |accessdate=2008-05-25 |title=I'd rather shop till I drop
*cite book | last = Goldsmith | first = Sheherazade | year = 2008 | title = A Greener Christmas | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | location = | id =
*cite book | last = Goldsmith | first = Sheherazade | year = 2007 |title = A Slice of Green Life: Get Closer to the Soil Without Going the Whole Hog | others = | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | location = | id =