i agree that jemima is the daughter of demeter and macavity. i also 
agree that she's very smart, and i definitely agree that veerle 
casteleyn is great! but here's my description/interpretation of jem 
in my own words:
   
jemima is the daughter of macavity and demeter, but doesn't know 
they're her parents. like one of the others said, demeter freaked out 
when she learned she was pregnant so i think after she was rescued by 
the jellicles, she went directly to old deuteronomy and asked for his 
advice. old d decided to hide the truth from the rest, so he helped 
demeter give birth to jem and afterwards he told the tribe that he 
picked her up on the street. he put dem in charge of jemima, and when 
the others saw their similar colorings, old d said something like 
"what a coincedence!" because of old d and dem's little secret, old d 
grew affectionate of jemima so he took care of her in a special way. 
he taught her to be understanding and helpful, and during the 
jellicle ball when grizabella arrived, jemima used this understanding 
trait along with her natural wiseness to help griz. she helped her by 
setting examples through the moon/dawn/sunflower, three things she 
loves and is connected to. how she is connected to them, i don't 
know. and since she understood old d's long moments of happiness 
speech, she was able to sing memory with grizabella, & her attempt to 
aid her was successful. (sorry if my thoughts seem scattered. i'm in 
a hurry)
     
does anyone know how to contact veerle casteleyn? ever since i watched cats the video i became a major fan of hers and the number one jemima lover in the
world. 

please mail me at jemima_etcetera@hotmail.com
   
- jemima etcetera