GAZELLE MAGAZINE October 2018 | Page 18

GAZELLE SPECIAL (continued from page 14) “It’s not that I was dreaming about him at night, but my sister, Carrie, and I would watch Letterman in the kitchen after doing our homework. He was just so funny, his sensibility was just so singular. I tried to watch every time it was on,” she said. Years later, Kemper herself was a guest on Letterman’s show. “It was completely surreal,” she said of meeting the talk-show host. “It’s like meeting a hero and a legend. I compare it to seeing Abraham Lincoln - like a ghost, a character who had only existed in another dimension.” Another encounter during which Kemper would find herself “fan- girling,” also involved, strangely enough, a so-called “Lincoln moment.” “I was in L.A. when I saw Doris Kearns Goo dwin at a party,” she recalled. “It was the year the movie, ‘Lincoln,’ was nominated for the Oscar, which was based on her book, ‘Team of Rivals.’ I was very excited. “She’s a very slight woman; she’s delicate, but her presence is imposing. I went to shake her hand, and she smiled at me and acknowledged me. But then I began to lean forward and hug her ... and fell on top of her.” Needless to say, Kemper was mortified. “Just like after any incident of trauma, I remember being sweaty ... it all happened so quickly,” Kemper said, adding that she once again crossed paths with the celebrated historian at a book party. “She said she had no memory of what happened, but I realized she was just too polite to say anything. That was in 2012, iPhones weren’t as prevalent, so there was no video. I fell on her ... at the right time ... in history.” There was also that time when Kemper first met Tina Fey. “I told her she had great hair - really strong and really thick ... I’m not sure that’s the most amazing first thing to say to a national treasure and icon,” she said. Awkward experiences aside, Kemper’s book also gives us a candid glimpse 16 GAZELLE into her flourishing acting career, from star turns as Erin in "The Office," and in movies like “Bridesmaids,” to shows like “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” the acclaimed sitcom (co-created and executive produced by Fey) about a former cult member adjusting to life in New York City. It earned Kemper a 2017 Emmy nomination for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and is now in its fourth and final season on Netflix. “This will sound corny, but I was very impressed by the character of Kimmy Schmidt. This is a woman who has been through an unimaginable ordeal, seeing the very worst of humanity, and yet she emerges from that experience determined to move forward and see the light in the world. She is the very embodiment of optimism,” she said. After the show ends (its second half is expected to premiere in January), Kemper said she has no definite plans, but is excited to see what happens next. Probably high on the agenda will be spending time with her husband of six years, Michael Koman, a screenwriter whose credits include “Saturday Night Live” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” as well as with their 2-year-old, James. “James is a wonder. Even though he’s only 2, I already get the sense that he has seen it all – and is unfazed by anything,” she said. “I don’t get it. I mean, he cries and has tantrums and uses a diaper, but other than that, he’s way beyond me ... so much cooler than I am, too.” On Saturday, Oct. 13, Kemper will appear at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters for a book signing and discussion of “My Squirrel Days.” (Tickets to the event sold out in less than four minutes!) Prior to the library engagement, she’ll attend a private cocktail reception to benefit the St. Louis County Library’s Career Online High School Diploma Program. “My Squirrel Days,” which officially debuts on Oct. 9, is Kemper’s first book.