Porizkova talks ‘No Filter’

MILLBROOK — Paulina Porizkova was a supermodel; she was also the wife of the Cars singer Ric Ocasek for more than 30 years.  An actress, model and writer, she would seem to have had it all. Coming from an anti-Soviet dissident parent, born in Russia, raised mostly in Sweden, Porizkova has had a life of ups and downs emotionally and, as she tells it in her book, “No Filter,” financially.

Porizkova arrived at Merritt Bookstore on Friday, Dec. 23, at about the same time that some very nasty weather took hold. But she showed the same perseverance she’s shown all of her life: She showed up and she conquered.

People braved the elements to meet her, talk with her and buy her new book, which has gotten some very good reviews. Kira Wizner, owner of the bookstore, said: “We had a really nice time with Paulina and posed for some photos. It was very nice to have her here signing books. She’s generous and sweet, and we had about 30 to 35 people here just for her.” At 57, Porizkova is still a beautiful woman.

Porizkova was married for over 30 years to Ric Ocasek, lead singer of the Cars, with whom she had two sons, Jonathan and Oliver. Although they were estranged at the time of his death, they remained close, and it was she who found him dead in his apartment in New York City on Sept. 15, 2019. He died following surgery.

Author Ann Patchett called No Filter “a book about a rare life, profound love, profound grief, anxiety, self-assurance, empowerment, aging, loss, and joy. It is nuanced, complex, insightful, helpful, and constantly surprising.”

The book is the story of Porizkova, and it touches the heart. It also shows the strength and resolve that is a very deep part of this woman. It’s the story of the peaks and valleys of a life, the fame and fortune but also the story of a woman who loved, a mother, and a survivor.

Appearing twice on the cover of Sports Illustrated, in 1984 and 1985, Porizkova is an also an actress, having been in over 33 movies, videos and television series, and she has directed as well.

The author of two previous books, the juvenile fiction tome “The Adventures of Ralphie the Roach,” written with Joanne Russell, and the novel “A Model Summer” in 2007, which was well-received and said by Amazon to be “beautifully written, exploring the world of the supermodel and the life that results from that experience.”

Meeting Ocasek in 1984 while making a music video for the Cars, Porizkova was 19 and he was around 40, married with children, which he neglected to mention when they started dating. They later married and were one of the more glamorous couples of the entertainment world during the 1980s.

She filed for divorce in 2018, feeling that he didn’t value her, didn’t listen to her, and made her feel worthless. Yet they were still living together when he died, although he had cut her out of his will because he said she had abandoned him.

After his death, she found herself in a strange place. As she described it in an interview with Jada Pinkett, she said: “I was a woman with assets. I had two mortgaged houses. And I had a pension plan that I can access in 10 years and zero cash, and no way to pay for anything. So, I was in a really, really peculiar position of being a woman with assets and no money.”

Porizkova’s financial situation worsened when the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020. She remarked: “Property values in New York had just fallen off the cliff, and I had to sell my house immediately because I couldn’t pay. … I was asking my friends to buy our groceries for a little while.”

People who have read the book, and those who have met her, say very nice things about Porizkova. Now there are several more who met her at Merritt Books on a cold and nasty Friday afternoon in December, who bought her book, heard her story, and have become fans of the woman herself — not the supermodel or Ocasek’s wife — and wish her only the very best.