Happiness is the absence of insecurity…or worry…or fear…or any other human condition or emotion that contributes to insecurity.

Happiness is not secured by religion…or marriage….or career…or external changes…..or any other situation or status achieved.

When Peggy Lee wrote her biography she referred to me as her “happiness guru.” When I asked her why? She replied:

“Think about it Gino, We are considered as stars in the entertainment industry but we are misused, abused, taken advantage of and left stranded in embarrassing situations that have nothing to do with what we really are all about.”

“Along comes baby faced, Gino Empry and he really cares. He understands our concerns, our worries and our needs. Even more important, he doesn’t pander to the vanities we parade to our unsuspecting fans. He seems to know our weaknesses and treats them with love and respect.”

“He really loves us!”

Then the day that Tony Bennett called me out of the blue to meet him in New York and take over his affairs. I was really surprised. When we met I asked why?

“We’ve worked together several times now. I know that you really care for me as a person, Gino. It’s more important to you than my being a celebrity. You’re truth personified. You can’t lie. It shows in your face.

“I need that kind of love!”

Late last year at one of our weekly lunches, the Honest One - Ed Mirvish, I told him about these happenings.

“Well, Gino, it’s true! During the 25 years you worked with me, you were always honest. You always told the truth as you saw it. Even when you knew I wouldn’t like it. I found many times I needed to hear what you had to say.”

“You were my “happiness guru!”

In the last 10 years, I seemed to be getting more and more of my share of young singers, models, musicians and actor/actresses wanting to talk to me about show business, but it seemed to me that the questions they asked had nothing to do with their talent but, “what do you do when you’re not sure of…”“how can I find ways to handle rejection…” “are there ways to hide my shyness at meeting new people at social gatherings…” “what do I do…” “how do I handle…” “what’s the best way…..?” Never questions about their talent. They were always very certain of their performance strengths.

I began to realize that their unhappiness was really insecurity. They wanted ‘life’ answers, methods, procedures about situations and problems that text books don’t cover. What their busy agents and managers did not have time for. They were really busy making sure the right career moves and the fair fees were received.

I seem to be able to give them the security they needed. I told them my stories about the big shot manager being rude to the busboy in a hotel, about unkind interviewers manipulating the truth for a story, about being denied entrance to a trade party to which they had been invited to, and examples of many other “life” problems.

I began to realize that my 25 years and more in show business had me dealing with millionaires, bums, chefs, waiters, stars, prostitutes secretaries, dressers, powerful presidents, drug addicts, stage hands, musicians, publicists, agents, thieves, con men, lawyers, medics, journalists, immigrants, handlers, policemen, religious fanatics... the list goes on and on. I had to deal with so many situations that were painful to me because of my awful shyness which I had learnt to cover up.

I had learnt about ‘‘life” from the high and mighty, the famous and rich, the addict and the wino, people who had nothing and people who had everything, with authorities and liars, every kind of HUMAN being.

I had been storing up all these experiences and learning that life is full of “not quite right - not quite bad” “almost cheating - too honest ” “yes this way - no this way” “I didn’t mean to hurt - Why did you punish” experiences.

After all, I was blessed from childhood with a 50% business – 50% artistic mind arguing both ways and somehow coming up with the correct solution.

I suppose being a Libra who always argues from your point of view has something to do with it. But I’ve always been able to find solutions dealing with people and their problems by understanding their point of view and leaving mine out of it.