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September 17th, 2008

The Spears blame game; where does the fault really lie?

Posted by: Jill Serjeant

lynne-spears.jpgLynne Spears has taken much of the blame for the recent woes of daughters Britney and Jamie Lynn, both in her memoir “Through the Storm” and in a television interview.

“As a mother, don’t we always blame ourselves?” she said. “I took a lot of the blame. I took all the blame. The personality I have, it’s always my fault.”

Lynne has been heavily criticized lately for everything from being a pushy stage mom, profiting from her daughters’ fame, bad parenting when Jamie Lynn got pregnant at 16, and appearing to sit on the sidelines while Britney was shaving her head, attacking paparazzi with umbrellas and making a hash of raising her two young boys.jamie-and-brit.jpg

But is she being too hard on herself?  It wasn’t Lynne who had unprotected sex with her teen boyfriend. Nor did Lynne decide to have two babies within 12 months and then find she had taken on more than she could cope with.

When should kids start taking responsibility for themselves? And what about their fathers? Little has been said about recovering alcoholic Jamie Spears and his role in the phenomenal rise and fall of two daughters.  Jamie Spears, now divorced from Lynne, has stepped up his role this year, taking control of Britney’s business affairs and winning much of the credit for her stunning return to something more like the pop star she was five years ago.

But why do moms always get the blame?

September 3rd, 2008

Delayed Lynne Spears memoir gets Sept. publishing date

Posted by: Jill Serjeant

  lynne-spears.jpg

Lynne Spears’ long-awaited memoir about life in the tabloids is finally getting published this month after being torpedoed when daughter Jamie Lynn got pregnant at age 16.

With a new title — “Through the Storm; A real story of fame and family in a tabloid world ” — the book is due on September 16, according to booksellers Web site Barnes and Noble. The publisher is Thomas Nelson — a Nashville-based publisher of Bibles, Christian and “inspirational” books.  

Lynne Spears is expected to “reveal the heart of a mother who struggles to keep faith at the center of her life” through its unexpected twists and turns following the rocketing to fame first of daughter Britney, and later of Jamie Lynn.jamie-and-brit.jpg

The book, originally titled “Pop Culture Mom”, was postponed indefinitely in January after Jamie Lynn stunned her mom, big sis Britney, and the world, by announcing her pregnancy on the front pages of a celebrity magazine.

Details of the memoir are hard to come by — an earlier synopsis on Christianbook.com that promised it would reveal how Lynne responded to Jamie Lynn’s pregnancy and “her regret in abdicating parental authority to managers, agents, and record companies” has been taken down from the site.

But In Touch magazine says that Spears, 53, makes a staunch defense in the book of criticism that she has failed as a mother.

Sales are expected to be strong. Perhaps Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin should add it to her own wish list, given the media thrashing she’s been getting lately?