Susan McCray talks to fans of Getting to Know You & Little House

Susan McCray and the program director at KSAV.org are opening up the phone lines in February for fans to call in and talk to Susan. Susan was the Casting Director for Michael Landon's Little House on the Prairie and many other popular shows from the 70's and 80's.





Date: Tuesday, Feb 19th, 2008
When: Live at 6:30 p.m. pacific and 9:30 p.m. eastern.
Call toll free at (1-800-407-KSAV)

Once again, Susan will field questions about Little House, Michael Landon, guests on Getting to Know You, the shows she's worked on, and other great topics that you'll want to know all about.

So, mark your calendar for Tuesday, February 19th and call in and talk to Susan McCray. For more information about Susan McCray and her show visit http://www.susanmccray.com You'll find KSAV on the Internet at http://www.ksav.org




And coming soon to Getting to Know You -- interviews with Ruth Foster on February 26th and March 4th. Ruth played Mrs. Melinda Foster the popular Post Mistress of Walnut Grove. And also look for Susan's interviews with Gil Gerard (a.k.a Chris Nelson from "The Handyman")often remembered as Buck Rogers from "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century". Gil's interviews will air after Ruth's.

Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura Trailer on YouTube

As promised, Dean Butler and Legacy Documentaries has made available for viewers a trailer of the upcoming documentary, Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura.

Here is the link to this amazing trailer, which will have you anxiously awaiting the March 2008 release of this documentary about Almanzo Wilder's childhood: http://youtube.com/watch?v=o3XbX6qBIEc Dean encourages you to leave comments about this trailer at the Legacy Documentaries blog, which can be found at http://legacydocumentaries.com/blog/

Many years before he met Laura Ingalls in De Smet, South Dakota, Almanzo Wilder grew up on a farm in New York. His childhood was first brought to life when Laura penned the book Farmer Boy for the fans of her first Little House book, Little House in the Big Woods. Curiosity about Almanzo's life before he met and married the now famous children's author has continued to grow over the years. This documentary will compliment anyone's Laura Ingalls Wilder or Little House on the Prairie collection.











Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura will be available exclusively through The Wilder Homestead. You can preorder your copy of Almanzo: Life Before Laura by:

Email: info@almanzowilderfarm.com

Phone: 1-866-438-FARM

US Mail: The Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder Association (ALIWA)
P.O. Box 283
Malone, NY 12953

For more information about the Wilder Homestead, visit them on the web at http://www.almanzowilderfarm.com/ To find out more about Dean Butler and Legacy Documentaries, visit http://www.legacydocumentaries.com/


Photo of Wilder Homestead found at http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/archive.php?id=10028

New project for Little House on the Prairie fans from Dean Butler and Legacy Documentaries

Actor Dean Butler, who portrayed Almanzo Wilder on the classic TV show, Little House on the Prairie, is now busy behind the camera these days as Executive Producer and Founder of Legacy Documentaries. Dean has already filmed some of the bonus features found on the Little House on the Prairie DVDs which were released by Imavision http://www.imavision.com/en/ and he has recently been working on other film projects which seek to preserve the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

His latest project seeks to focus the attention on the fans of Michael Landon's Little House on the Prairie. Dean is looking for input from fans of the show to "tell me how old you were and what was happening in your lives when you discovered Little House on the Prairie and what was it about your life experiences and aspirations that bonded you to our program."

If you are interested in contributing to this project, please visit the Legacy Documentaries blog, which can be found at http://legacydocumentaries.com/blog/

Coming in 2008 From Dean Butler and Legacy Documentaries

LEGACY DOCUMENTARIES PRESENTS - ALMANZO WILDER: LIFE BEFORE LAURA, AN ALL NEW DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ALMANZO'S CHILDHOOD. A SHORT TRAILER WILL BE AVAILABLE IN NOVEMBER 2007 AND A SPRING 2008 RELEASE IS PLANNED FOR THIS DOCUMENTARY, WHICH WILL BE SOLD EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH THE ALMANZO & LAURA INGALLS WILDER HOMESTEAD SITE.

REMEMBERING THE LAST FAREWELL--A LEGACY DOCUMENTARIES PRODUCTION. MELISSA GILBERT AND DEAN BUTLER RETURN TO WALNUT GROVE TO REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE DURING THE FINAL DAYS OF LHOP. INCLUDES NEVER BEFORE SEEN PICTURES THAT MAKE THIS DOCUMENTARY A MUST HAVE FOR ALL LITTLE HOUSE FANS.

Dean keeps everyone abreast of new releases and shares some great LHOP moments at his Legacy Documentaries blog, which can be found at http://legacydocumentaries.com/blog/

Getting to Know You with Susan McCray Live Show Tomorrow

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: COMING IN OCTOBER - SUSAN MCCRAY WILL HOST A LIVE CALL IN SHOW ON KSAV.ORG INTERNET RADIO.

On Tuesday, October 23rd, Susan will have a live version of "Getting to Know You" where listeners can call in and ask her questions about the shows she has cast, Michael Landon, past guests on "Getting to Know You", and about her father--Academy Award-winning composer, Harry Sukman. Susan Sukman McCray is the former Casting Director for Little House on the Prairie and the wife of Executive Producer Kent McCray.

Call 1-800-407-5728 starting at 6:30PM Pacific and 9:30PM Eastern. Susan will also accept questions about her past guests on "Getting to Know You" via email at susan@ksav.org.

Susan has also written a charming children's book titled, Harry's Piano, which is about the young life of her father and would make a fine holiday gift for young musicians. For more information about Harry's Piano and to order your autographed copy, go to http://www.harryspiano.com/

Little House on the Prairie star launches website & blog

Dean Butler, who played Almanzo Wilder on the hit family show, Little House on the Prairie, has launched a website and blog for Peak Moore Productions' Legacy Documentaries.

While Little House on the Prairie was the highlight of Butler's career, he also has many other memorable TV spots to his credit, including starring in The New Gidget and playing the recurring role of Buffy's often absent father, Hank Summers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Butler also appeared in the big screen movie Desert Hearts and spent some time on Broadway performing in various musicals.

Butler--now an Executive Producer--founded Peak Mooore Productions in 1981. Fifteen years later the Legacy Documentaries brand was born. Legacy Documentaries focuses on "capturing life's defining moments."

For more information about Legacy Documentaries, you many visit their site at http://www.legacydocumentaries.com/ and check out the Legacy Documentaries blog at http://legacydocumentaries.com/blog/.

Getting to Know You with Susan McCray

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: COMING IN OCTOBER - SUSAN MCCRAY WILL HOST A LIVE CALL IN SHOW ON KSAV.ORG INTERNET RADIO.

One of my great loves is the television show Little House on the Prairie (LHOP). The former Casting Director, Susan McCray--wife of LHOP executive producer, Kent McCray--now hosts her own talk radio program on KSAV.ORG.

On October 23rd, Susan will have a live version of "Getting to Know You" where listeners can call in and ask her questions about the shows she has cast, Michael Landon, past guests on "Getting to Know You", and about her father--Academy Award-winning composer, Harry Sukman.

Call 1-800-407-5728 starting at 6:30PM Pacific and 9:30PM Eastern. Susan will also accept questions about her past guests on "Getting to Know You" via email at susan@ksav.org.

Susan has also written a charming children's book titled, Harry's Piano which is about the young life of her father, which would make a fine holiday gift for young musicians. For more information about Harry's Piano and to order your autographed copy, go to http://www.harryspiano.com/

Oh man! I guess I'm it.

Vicki M. Taylor, who is the author of the wonderful book Trust in the Wind (I reviewed this book here in May), tagged me, and now I have to come up with 8 unique things to tell you about myself. I'm not sure if these things will help you understand me or give you reasons to avoid me, but it's who I am.

1) I am a Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House on the Prairie (LHOP) fanatic. I have an entire bookshelf dedicated to books by and about Wilder and her family. I've reviewed books about and by her daughter Rose Wilder Lane here at my blog. I watched Michael Landon's adaptation of these books when it originally aired in the 1970's and 80's. It remains my all time favorite show. I own a Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder, LHOP) Yahoo Group, administrate a LHOP forum, and have written many LHOP fan fiction stories. I have two Laura Ingalls Wilder writing projects in mind if I ever find the time to put them together.

2) I taught catechism in the Catholic Church for ten years and ran the elementary age program for five years, which garnered me the Pope Pious X award.

3) I have a Christmas fetish. Christmas is my favorite time of year. Of course, around here it's almost an all year round event. I finally put my oldest daughter's tree down in the cellar tonight. From Thanksgiving until some time in January, I have 8 trees inside my home and 7 trees outside. My goal is to have every room of my house decorated during the season (even the bathrooms). I'm pretty close now, but my mother-in-law says she hopes she's gone home to meet her Maker before I achieve my goal.

4) I worked fourteen years in retail; I was a bank teller for two different credit unions; I worked as an office manager for a manufacturing firm, and was a data management analyst for a Fortune 100 company before I left the workforce in 2004 to stay home with my kids.

5) Speaking of my children, I have a son who turned 20 last month and two daughters who are 5 and 3. It is strange having a child in college and one in Kindergarten, but I figure it could make for some interesting story ideas.

6) I ran for public office in 2003. I lost, but I still got 40% of the vote against a person who had lived in town for over twenty years.

7) I danced for over nine years. I had dreams of touring with a ballet company. When my mother became ill, I quit. It is one of my biggest regrets.

8) I can spread my toes out so much that it looks like I have bird feet. I don't know how I discovered this trait, but I loved grossing out my middle sister with it when we were younger.

Now that you know more about me than you ever cared to, I'll tag the following people: Sadie, Amber, Candela, JoElle, Peg, Rhett, Karina, and Joyce.

Celebrating the life of Dabbs Greer

Dabbs Greer, who is most remembered for his role as Reverend Robert Alden on the show Little House on the Prairie, passed away on April 28th. Some of the fans wrote sympathy letters to his family and were encouraged to share their memories on Lennon Parker's Prairie Talk forum (http://www.pioneerontheprairie.com/prairie_forums/index.php).

This is my letter, part of which was read on Getting to Know You with Susan McCray (http://www.susanmccray.com/) on KSAV Radio (http://www.ksav.org/). Susan McCray was the Casting Director for LHOP.

What a sad time for the world of TV. Dabbs had such a wonderful career, and I could never see anyone else playing our beloved Reverend Alden.

Kind, understanding, and full of wisdom, Reverend Alden embodied all that we laymen might seek in a spiritual leader. Remember the time he thanked the children for getting him a box to carry his Bible in. Mary and Laura had taken the Sunday School money and bought patent medicine with it so that they could get him a better gift, but it didn't turn out the way they had planned, and the only thing they had left was the box that held the medicine.

Another great Reverend Alden memory was when he spoke to Charles about Mary right before she went blind. He admitted that his human mind could not comprehend why God was allowing this to happen to Mary, but that he was sure God had chosen her for a very special purpose. Charles could not accept that at the time, but Reverend Alden was right--Mary helped Adam open up a new blind school in Dakota Territory.

And like someone else mentioned, his scene in The Last Farewell where Reverend Alden walks around the blown up town of Walnut Grove crying at the destruction--if I live to be 100, I will never get the pain-filled face of Reverend Alden out of my mind as he looks upon the town he has called home for so many years.

Dabbs Greer brought Reverend Alden to life for me, and while he was talented in so many other shows and films, my fondest memories will be from his role as the spiritual minister of Walnut Grove.

May God bless the Greer family at this time and comfort them in their loss.

Cheryl

My interview with Little House Historian Lennon Parker

Today I have the awesome opportunity of interviewing Little House Historian and Web site Designer, Lennon Parker. Lennon has created a Little House Web site, a Little House fan forum, a blog, and a MySpace to honor the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I also have the distinct pleasure of calling Lennon—a good friend. Thanks for letting me interview you for my blog. I’m thrilled you’re here!

Thanks Cheryl, it’s my pleasure!

Q: Where did your love of Little House begin?

My love for Little House began while I was in third grade. I remember my teacher would read us chapters out of the books after lunch recess. I grew fond of the books and started to read them more by myself as the years went on. I was addicted to the Michael Landon series after watching it one afternoon after school. I didn’t know it was Little House at the time, but recognized several characters from the books I had read, and the western time period. I remember thinking to myself is this a Little House TV show? I wasn’t sure because Charles had no beard and the story was nothing like I had read. After the episode ended another one came on and I saw the theme song and thought it was really cool that there was a TV show for Little House. I have been a fan of the show since and love it as much as the books.

Q: Why have you dedicated so much of your time to promoting the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder?

I have always been into history, and one part of history I love is the Wild West. I admire the pioneers of our country and most of all how they lived. After studying Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family, and reading her books, I really find her work amazing. Usually your work is a reflection of you, so I could really just imagine what type of person Laura might have been. But I enjoy promoting her legacy through prairiefans.com and other publications I have been involved in to share with fans how much her work has become since writing her books. I also provide on my Web site a separate page about pioneer life. I think it’s important for generations to know about that part of history. I have viewed many K-12 history books and very little is said about pioneer life. My goal is to help fill in those gaps for students like me when I was in third grade so they will have something to learn from.

Q: Have you ever met any of Laura’s relatives?

I have never met any of Laura’s relatives, but have swapped emails and interviewed Beth Ingalls who is one of the finest ladies I have encountered.

Interviewer’s note: Beth Ingalls is the great-granddaughter of Hiram Ingalls.

Q: You give presentations to school-aged children where you dress up in authentic pioneer clothing and read from Laura’s famous books. How would a school get in touch with you to request information on these presentations?

I enjoy doing these presentations because it was something I didn’t get to see as a youngster. All I had was a teacher with big glasses reading Half-pint’s stories to me. So, being a former professional actor and in love with Laura’s work it’s awesome to get to put the love into one and making children happy. I can be contacted at lennon@prairiefans.com for booking.

Q: You are a former model and actor. Are there any memories you would be willing to share with us from that time in your life? Do your experiences as an actor help you appreciate what it took to make a series such as Little House on the Prairie so successful?

Like I mentioned a second ago, acting is something I loved to do and it was a big part of my life. I was a commercial actor from 1983-1990 and appeared in over 70 commercials around the USA for numerous products. I also did print modeling. I auditioned for several TV roles, but found more work in commercials. A memory I will never forget is my experience with autographs. In Los Angeles I was the cute kid trying to sell cars for this car company, so they would hire me to be cute for their commercials. So, I did and got paid. The small print… I had to do shows! When the car company had a big show, they wanted me to attend for publicity and to sign pictures. I hated the hot sun and hated signing my name over and over again. I always tell people if they have a signed picture from me I would pay them for it! LOL!!!! For many years I hated it because I couldn’t do stuff kids do--for example, playing outside or going to parties or yes, fighting. I couldn’t get dirty or scratched. I remember if I had a big shoot I would have to stand by a fence while my friends played at recess so I wouldn’t get dirty. Usually the bad kids had to stand by the fence. I also would get teased by kids when my teachers would hang my ads up in class or talk about commercials.

I was happy to have had another acting job since leaving the business in 1992, but with a twist. Instead of just me, all that was needed was my voice. I did a voice over job in 2006 for a Laura Ingalls Wilder event in Independence, Kansas. What better way to come back than with something related to Laura! I’m also working on a comedy CD. Release date should be this summer. Hopefully…

As for my experience as an actor, yeah I appreciate what those kids did on the show. It’s hard work, I know! It’s not all play. I think this is why I get along with many of the kids from the show today because I know what it is like. Who knows…

Q: Back to the Future is one of your favorite movies. Did you ever meet Michael J. Fox?

Ha, ha, ha you have done your homework! Yes! I LOVE Back to the Future. It’s a great and exciting story. I never got to meet Mike, but had the opportunity to read with his TV sister Justine Bateman in the mid 80s. Small world… Justine’s brother also appeared as one of the Cooper children on Little House.

Q: What is Prairie Fans? How did the Little House fan forum Prairie Talk come about?

Prairie Fans is a Web site based on the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder featuring information on her books, TV shows, and movies. I originally started working on the site in 1998 after meeting several of the cast in Sonora that year. I had written a book about Little House, and for personal reasons I have merged parts of it into the site. Prairie Talk came about in early 2005. It was originally a yahoo group where fans could interact about the show and books, but I hated the style and limitations you had with yahoo groups so I had a friend open me up a mini forum on his classic TV site. Again, the old saying is true… you get what you pay for. This was another freebee and was full of banners and stuff. The content of these banners just didn’t sit well with me. So, in early 2005 I had my own forum built and hosted with prairie fans and launched Prairie Talk, which was everything I wanted in a forum and is still growing today. From time to time members of the old and new Little House stop in to interact with fans. Prairie Talk can be accessed on prairiefans.com or directly at prairietalk.com.

Q: If people check out Prairie Fans, they’ll see pictures of your Little House collection. What are some of your most treasured pieces of memorabilia?

My favorite pieces… I would have to say my used Melissa Gilbert scripts. I have her Journey in the Spring script and on the front of it Melissa wrote, “Please save.” I guess she didn't do a good job, if I have it. LOL!

Another would have to be my signed t-shirt from Kyle Chavarria that she autographed for my birthday. That was a big surprise and to have a photo of her holding it up and signing it. What a treat!

For autographs… my cast signed picture of the Ingalls family is nice, but the icing on the cake is my personalized photo from Melissa Sue Anderson. It was a treat to get that from her and at the same time help her obtain something she needed.

Q: You’ve had the opportunity to meet and interview many of the stars and crew of all of the shows adapted from Laura’s books (NBC’s Little House on the Prairie, CBS’s Beyond the Prairie, and the ABC/Disney version of Little House on the Prairie). Do you have any favorite interviews? What are some of your fondest memories?

I met most of the cast, like I mentioned earlier, in Sonora back in 98. It was a great event and I always tell people that I had never been in a room with such nice people before. I remember talking to Robyn aka Sidney Greenbush about 30 minutes or so about her pin she was wearing. It was of the Ingalls home. I loved it. She was really cool. I have several favorite interviews! I enjoyed my talk with Kent McCray about the making of Little House a year or so ago and Kevin Hagen was another one of my favorites. We had a great interview, and just months before he passed away prairiefans.com did a tribute to Kevin for his work on Little House and film. Fans from all over wrote in what they love about him and his work. Kevin told me he was touched by it all. A lot of people just see Kevin as Doc Baker, and don’t realize he did more. His career was longer than my arm, and I was happy to have been able to do what I did.

Q: You spent a great deal of time promoting the new Little House on the Prairie mini-series. How did you get involved in this project? Do you think there is any hope this cast will be reunited for another Little House project?

I loved the new ABC show and not only was I happy that Little House was back on TV, but some decent family television would be back on TV. I did everything in my power to help keep the show running, but reality kicked in, and not just politics, but reality! People like reality and that’s what we got. Reality shows—reality shows and shows full of vulgarity and insults. People like that stuff now it seems, and it sells, and well the big guy in the suit is happy. I wish we had more family shows, but not in this life. Do I think the cast will be reunited? I seriously doubt it, but you never know. All I recommend is fans write in, and not typed letters but hand written letters. It might not change anything, but it lets networks know you want more than Victoria’s secret.

Q: Let’s talk about Lennon Parker Productions. How long have you been designing Web sites?

Lennon Parker Productions is my Web design company where I create Web sites for clients. My cliental is mostly people in the entertainment industry. However, I have done a few non-entertainment sites.

I have been designing Web sites since 1996. What I did then is totally different from what I am doing now. I always tell people Web sites are like fashion. People don’t dress like they did in the 50s anymore and Web sites don’t look like they did in 1996. It’s hard keeping up with the times because it’s more Web languages you have to learn.

Q: You’ve created Web sites for several well-known actors: Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady, The Brady Bunch), Brian Part (Carl Sanderson Edwards, NBC’s Little House on the Prairie), Kyle Chavarria (Laura Ingalls, ABC/Disney’s Little House on the Prairie mini-series), and Karen Lynn Gorney (Stephanie Mangano, Saturday Night Fever) to name a few. What do you enjoy most about this business? Where can people contact you about designing a Web site for their individual needs?

Gosh, just reading all those names and like you said just a few makes me want to go, good grief! I enjoy designing Web sites as the skinny guy likes to play golf. I now work at a college doing Web services, so it’s nice to say I can go to work doing what started out as a hobby. If people want a Web site they can go to www.lennonparker.com.

Q: What are some of your other interests and hobbies outside of Little House?

Gosh we would be here all day… I love working out, reading, hanging out with friends and doing something new! You only live once! Life is too short to be pee-oed I say. Live it, Learn It, Do it!

Q: Is there anything you would like to add? Are there upcoming projects we should know about?

Thanks for asking me to do this interview. What could I add? I would like to thank everyone who reads this interview! Gosh! If you made it this far down I should reward you with a check!

As for any upcoming projects… like I mentioned earlier I am working on a comedy CD. I’m also taking on small acting/voice over jobs as they come in, nothing too big just something small here and there.

But for those who know me… things are always changing and I keep my eyes out for the next project.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with me today. I wish you much success and happiness!

Thanks! You too!!!!

Free Land by Rose Wilder Lane

I snagged a copy of Free Land by Rose Wilder Lane from the Worcester Public Library. I thought it might help me to figure out how I felt about Holtz's claims in The Ghost in the Little House and the amount of Rose's involvement in her mother's books.

If I remember right, there are two versions of this novel--the 1938 copy (which I have) and a later version printed as Young Pioneers after a 1976 movie of the same name. The book tells the story of David Beaton, a young man who leaves his father's farm to set out on his own with his new wife Mary. As I had mentioned in other posts on my blog, Rose's father Almanzo is the inspiration behind this book. The curious thing is that many of the names are the same. David's father is named James, David has two sisters named Alice and Eliza, and a brother named Perley. As far as I can tell, the only names that were changed in this novel are Almanzo's (David) and Royal's (Raleigh). David's mother is simply referred to as mother.

I've made it to Chapter 16, which is found on page 83 of this 332-page novel. I wish I could say it's been easy reading. I guess I had this silly thought it would be so much like the Little House books that I would love it. But, this is an adult novel, not fiction for children, so the difference is clear. Lane does provide a good amount of detail so that you can get a picture of what it was like for David and Mary as they suffer through a blizzard while on the way to their claim shanty. They are forced to seek shelter underneath their sleigh because they cannot find the railroad camp--which unknown to them they passed 11 miles back.

Since I only have until April 20th to complete the reading of this novel, I best get moving on it. That's one of the problems with borrowing a book from the Virtual Catalog--there are no renewals. I'm hoping that there will be a moment where I suddenly find myself so interested in the novel that I can't put it down. It hasn't happened yet, but it took me over 600 pages to get into Stephen King's The Stand, and I still think it's the best book I've ever read.

I'll be checking in here as I progress through the novel, giving you my thoughts as I did with The Ghost in the Little House. Perhaps reading Lane's book will help me make up my mind one way or the other about Rose's connection to the Little House series.

And I will close with one little bit of trivia. According to the IMDB, Blanche Hanalis was a writer for the TV movie Young Pioneers. She is also the one credited with adapting Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books for Landon's Little House on the Prairie.

Cheryl

The Ghost in the Little House--it's Getting Better

If I sat down to write this entry a few days ago then the title and this message would have had a very different tone. I came across some of Holtz's comments that infuriated me. I almost abandoned the book on the spot, after spending numerous hours on it and being less than one hundred pages away from the end.

It started around page 292 when Holtz said it took Rose "more than a year of intermittent work to bring By the Shores of Silver Lake to publishable form." He claims that Laura's letters to her agent George Bye were written with instructions from Rose and that the two women were in cahoots to keep Bye in the dark about them working on the books together.

Then we move to the discussion of "The Hard Winter" manuscript which starts on page 302. Holtz says we can find, "mammoth and defining evidence of Rose's hand in converting her mother's primitive narrative into a lively and publishable manuscript" and he claims she rewrote the entire thing. He goes on to say that Rose did similiar work to all the other books too, but at this point Rose "seems to have abandoned any pretense at instructing her mother." The word "primitive" above is bolded by me because it really irked me when I read it, just like the next passage I will mention.

On page 306, Holtz has moved on to Wilder's next manuscript Little House on the Prairie which he once again says is mostly written by Rose. He cites as an example the chapter entitled "Fourth of July". This is what he had to say: "Nowhere does the story leap more clearly to the eye with Rose's ideological imprimatur than in what she accomplished with Mama Bess's rudimentary chapter "Fourth of July"...the passage (where Pa begins to sing My Country 'tis of Thee and the entire town joins in) is wholly Rose's creation, and in it she has made her mother not merely a romantic but also an ideological heroine." Once again, I have bolded the one word that stuck in my craw.

By this time in Rose's personal life, she was against big government and was more into the writing and sharing of political theory than fiction writing. Holtz says during this time, Rose barely worked on anything of her own, but instead concentrated on rewriting her mother's books. The passage he mentions from "Fourth of July", as well as other passages in Mama Bess's books, he claims shows Rose trying to weave her ideological beliefs into her mother's stories.

Rose's work on Laura's books then takes a back seat to Rose's life--being investigated by the FBI because of a postcard she sent to radio commentator Samuel Grafton which they thought was subversive, her refusals of rationing cards during the WWII, her attempts to avoid income tax by making as little money as possible, and how her ideological beliefs further developed after WWII and into the Cold War.

The most interesting chapter so far is the one entitled "Mother Remembered." Mama Bess has died and Rose finds herself more prosperous than she had been in years thanks to the royalties from her mother's books. Holtz has copied a letter from Laura to Rose which was written five years before her death which Laura signed as Mama Bess with Laura Ingalls Wilder in parenthesis. Holtz claims this is Wilder's last assertion of her independent status as a writer.

The chapter makes a mention of how Rose had to adjust to life without her mother, which seemed very odd to me, unless it was meant to say Rose was finally free of the burden of caring for her elderly parents (Almanzo had died in October of 1949 at the age of 92.)

But the one thing that really sticks out to me is that Rose seems to want to continue the supposed ruse that Laura wrote her famous books all by herself. On pages 349 and 350 we learn that Rose now possessed her mother's manuscripts that had been left at Rocky Ridge Farm. They were discovered by Mr. and Mrs. Litchy who were working to make Rocky Ridge a memorial to their most famous resident. Rose returns the published manuscripts to the Litchys for use at the museum with a letter "cautioning them with the old fiction that they were early drafts not representing her mother's final intentions." Rose even went on to defend her mother when an article sought to claim that Laura "knew she could achieve a more artistic effect by altering the true facts occasionally." She wrote a letter to the author, Louise H. Mortenson in which Rose insists that Laura wrote the literal truth. Rose supposedly even took William T. Anderson to task when a copy of his booklet about the Ingalls family suggested that the Ingalls family had neighbors their first year in De Smet. She wrote, "This is a formal protest against your proposal to publish a statement that my mother was a liar." Holtz claims that Anderson corrected his copy to make it agree with Laura's books.

One has to wonder why Rose would go through all the trouble to protect the memory of a woman she seemed to dislike. If she and her mother battled so much, why would Rose insist on keeping their lie alive? Wouldn't it have made Rose even more famous if she came clean about all the work she did on her mother's books? Could revealing this hidden fact not have been Rose's chance to exact justice for her years of mistreatment?

I have only two chapters left to go and my mind is awash in suppostions. At the end of the book I found an appendix which shows samples of Laura's manuscripts versus what Rose wrote, so I know my research isn't done. I will pull out my 1971 Harper and Row Little House books and maybe even purchase Rose's Let the Hurricane Roar and Free Land to compare them.

Should I do this? Will it further confuse me? Or will it make things crystal clear and leave me wishing I left the whole thing alone? I don't know. I guess I'll have to think on it while. One thing is certain, that Holtz's book when he sticks solely to Rose's life and not to discrediting Laura, is a real page turner. I should know, I've been staying up too late every night to read it.

Cheryl

More thoughts on "The Ghost in the Little House"

Since my last post about approaching this book with an open mind I have gone from loving the book to being disappointed. I have never experienced such joy and sorrow over learning something new.

This is the only biography of Rose Wilder Lane that I am aware of. From what I've read she certainly had an interesting life full of travels and writing. While I had heard about Let the Hurricane Roar and Free Land, I did not know they were written with her Ingalls grandparents and her father respectively as the inspiration behind these two stories. I am overjoyed to learn this much about my favorite family.

I am at a point where Laura's writing career is well underway. She has written and published Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, and On the Banks of Plum Creek. But the success of these novels is all attributed to Rose in Holtz's book. He gives Laura little, if no credit, in the writing of them. Where earlier Rose complained over the clogging details her mother included, now she says Laura has not included enough details. And nowhere does Holtz mention Laura's work for the local newspaper.

It would be difficult to prove his point--Rose is the co-author of the Little House series--if he did not discredit Wilder in some way, but there is one comment that turned me off entirely.

Free Land, which was a great success for Rose, gained her fame and fortune like she had never known. It was an eight-installment series which ran in the Saturday Evening Post over a two-month period. The hero of this series, David Beaton, "pits his courage, skill, and endurance against the Dakota plains in the effort to make a farm for his wife and children." We already know that this story is based upon her father's life. During the writing of Free Land, Rose--who now lived in New York City-- corresponded with her father, asking him all types of questions so that she could authenticate the narrative.

One page 281 of Holtz's book it states, "...Rose had gone to some lengths to avoid a facile optimism. Young David's early marriage, a cliche of romance, turns out to be a mistake of the heart, but one he resigns himself to live with." As a reader who already knows this if the life of Almanzo Wilder, this portion of the text infers Almanzo saw marrying Laura as a mistake.

If I had no prior knowledge of the Wilders this comment would have elicited no response--except perhaps pity. But I have been studying the Wilders and their families for years. Through Laura's own books as well as those written about her, I have learned that while life was never easy for the Wilders, they stuck it out and eventually lived more comfortably. Farming life was hard, especially after Almanzo's stroke; and they suffered the loss of a child, a home, and most of their personal belongings in the early years of their marriage. But this comment seems to add one more loss to all the hardships they endured together.

Perhaps it is the hopeless romantic in me which sees them as madly in love with each other or the glossed over version of their life which I watched as a child every Monday night on Michael Landon's Little House on the Prairie which clouds my judgment. All marriages weren't happy--even back then.

I've tossed it around in my head several times since reading this passage the other night and I can't get away from the feeling that this comment is only there to further substantiate the claims that Laura was not a very nice person. I felt it an unneccessary dig at an icon of children's literature whose abilities have continually been called into question by the author.

Yet still, I have to admire a piece of work which challenges me to think differently about a topic which I am familiar with. Not that I am ready to say I believe Holtz's claims that Rose should be credited as co-author of the Little House books. I am no closer to thinking that than I was when I first started. But I still have over 180 pages left to convince me. I have to admit I can't wait to sit down and read it every night so I can learn more about Rose and her writing career. I can relate to her bouts of insecurity and desire to write something more of substance than articles for Country Gentleman or editing her "mother's damn juvenille" as she often called it. And isn't that what all writers strive for--to keep their readers interested and get them to relate to their characters? I am willing to call Holtz's book a success from that perspective.

Cheryl