August was a very busy month for me and my precious mother, my traveling buddy. We had just returned back home on Sunday evening, August 30th, after a wonderful time in Memphis, Tennessee at The Orpheum Theater and at the Southern Magnolia Gift Shop in Jackson, Tennessee. The next day I took my husband, Frank, to a doctor's appointment as he'd been running fever for almost two weeks. When we arrived back home, my mother met us at the door and looked very pale and couldn't catch her breath. After Frank took her blood pressure and had her chew an aspirin, I immediately called 911 and an ambulance transported her to a nearby hospital. They determined that she had a heart attack. That was the scariest ride while following that ambulance. She was life flighted to a larger hospital. This has been a very stressful week. I have stayed by her side at the hospital. After a stent procedure, she is now doing better. It was very scary for a while. How fragile life is! She should be released from the hospital by around Wednesday to go into a rehab facility to help strengthen her. I appreciate all my dear friends and family who have had us in your prayers. Thank you ever so much! This photo of my dear Mama and me was taken in Jackson, Tennessee on August 30, 2015. She is my "bestest" traveling buddy!
0 Comments
After fifteen years from conception to publishing and all the blood, sweat and tears that I went through, (the longest labor any woman could ever imagine), FIDDLE DEE DEE RECIPES: A TASTE OF "GONE WITH THE WIND" is now affectionately called "the baby".
My pre-sale orders were tremendous and I am most thankful to God for its success. The whole process taught me that it's not in OUR time, but in God's perfect timing. I had to learn about patience the hard way. (And patience is not one of my virtues!) There was a time when I wondered if I would ever see the book in print and actually hold "the baby". So, what I would like to say to anyone who has a goal and a dream, don't ever give up. Everything happens for a purpose. I very much believe in visualization as I reflect back to 1999 and the first time Fred and I had talked of, perhaps, owning our own Gone With The Wind-themed bed and breakfast. We had such an awesome b&b experience on our honeymoon at The Fort Scriven Inn on Tybee Island in Georgia. We had an intimate, romantic wedding ceremony on the beach on Tybee complete with a horse and carriage which transported us to and from the inn. The innkeepers were so welcoming and hosted a beautiful reception there in its elegant dining room! It was absolutely beautiful. I remember how special they made Fred and me feel. Since Fred and I both love people, we could visualize ourselves owning a bed and breakfast whereby we could give our guests a true "Gone With The Wind" experience. We began perusing the internet for homes suitable for such a dream and the first one that caught our eye was an antebellum, Georgian Revival home in Barnesville, Georgia (the buggy capital of the south "back in the day"). The history of this beautiful home was so intriguing to us and went hand in hand with the story and time frame of "Gone With The Wind". It had served as a hospital and a Confederate Headquarters during The War Between The States, was built in 1849. Originally, it had been the main house on a large cotton plantation much like Tara. We set up an appointment to see the home which had been used previously as a b&b under the name of The Rose Inn. As soon as we walked through the double front doors into the foyer, Fred and I knew we were home. We were visualizing ourselves living in the home and having our very own b&b. We looked at each other and then quietly said to each other, "Should we go ahead and make an offer? This is perfect for us!" So, we did just that. Having written all of this, I want to reiterate that one should visualize their goal or dream. See yourself physically being at that place where you want to be in your life or creating or whatever or wherever that dream takes you. Never ever give up. Saturday, June 20th, marked another dream realized---it was my first book signing event. The fine folks at the Kroger Store in Danville, Kentucky hosted the event and provided balloons and cakes from their bakery. It was pouring "cats and dogs" when my dear mother, (my companion and helper) and I arrived at the store. A young man who worked there was so nice to assist us in toting the various items, e.g. table, chairs, tablecloth, box of books, photos and, of course, Miz Scarlett, into the store. I was very thankful for his help! I met so many nice folks and quite a few aficionados of "Gone With The Wind" there. I heard someone call my name and I looked up to see a friend of mine on Facebook, who I've been friends with for over four years, but had never met face to face, along with her sweetheart (Jen and Ben). They had driven all the way over from Frankfort, Kentucky to meet, visit, purchase a book and support me at my first book signing event! They were certainly the highlight of my day! Wow! That was so special and touched me deeply. Well, tomorrow night, Tuesday, June 23rd, will be another great event where I will make more memories. I will be appearing at The Lights Of Liberty Theater in Liberty, Kentucky, where they will be showing "Gone With The Wind" on the big screen for free admission. I will arrive an hour before the showing (about 5:00pm EDT) for a book signing event and then will be speaking briefly before the beginning of the picture about some behind the scene stories and some funny anecdotes about some of the cast members. The actual screening will be at 6:00pm EDT. I will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of FIDDLE DEE DEE RECIPES: A TASTE OF "GONE WITH THE WIND" from this event to a very worthwhile ministry in the area, The Galilean Home Ministries. I am looking forward to seeing lots of familiar faces and meeting some new friends at this event! I hope you will be able to join us! It will be a super fun evening! Signing off for now--- Life is like a book. Each day is a new page. May your book be a bestseller with adventures to tell, lessons to learn and tales of good deeds to remember. Terry Lynn I was in Memphis, Tennessee visiting with my mother, father and step-mother the week before Father's Day due to a conflict in schedule which prevented me from being in Memphis the following week.
On June 12, 1999, after a lovely breakfast and time of togetherness, I asked my step-mother if she’d like to go searching for Civil War items with me. I had been chosen to chair The Shirley Temple Collectors Convention so I decided to have it in Atlanta, Georgia with the theme of “Shirley In The South” which concentrated on her two films, “The Littlest Rebel” and “The Little Colonel”. Well, my step-mother agreed to go with me on my quest. We headed over to the Pink Palace Museum Gift Shop, but they didn’t have any reproductions of Confederate Money or Confederate flags or anything like that. I was looking for something Civil Warish to put on our guest tables at the convention. The manager of the gift shop suggested that we go the Hunt-Phelan House Gift Shop and said that I would, more than likely, find what I was looking for in that regard. So, my step-mother and I headed to Beale Street at his suggestion. We didn’t bother going into the beautiful, antebellum mansion. We went straight into the gift shop. I went through the front door and there was a man sitting on a chair just inside. He greeted me with “Hello.” I said, “Hello”. He said, “Wasn’t it wonderful?” I said, “Wasn’t what wonderful?” He said, “The house!” I said, “Oh, we haven’t been inside the house. I’m just in here looking for Civil War stuff.” He looked a little taken aback, but smiled. I assumed that the man I was speaking with was the gift shop owner because he was so friendly. We small-talked for a little while. Then some people came over to the gentleman that I’d been talking with, so I excused myself and went on with my quest. I thought they were asking him something about the gift shop. A little later, while perusing in the shop, I came across a marquis which read, “MEET GONE WITH THE WIND'S BRENT TARLETON”. I turned to the cashier and said, “What?” She said, “You were just talking to him.” I said, ‘No way.” She said, “Way.” Fred was there for a personal appearance and had some photos on hand in case people wanted to get his autograph. He was also going to be making an appearance at the Orpheum Theatre and was cross-plugging to enhance their attendance. They were going to be showing “Gone With The Wind”. After folks cleared away from him after obtaining his autograph, I decided to go over and talk to him again since “Gone With The Wind” was my most favorite movie. I said, “So you were in the movie?” Fred replied, “Yes, m’am.” I said, “Of course! You were one of the Tarleton Twins on the front porch at Tara.” He said, “Yes, that’s right.” We talked about various things. He told me that his wife had died in November of the previous year of Cancer and that it had been very difficult for him. He said that this was his first “junket” since his wife had passed. I asked him, “Have you ever been to Atlanta?”. He said, “Yes, and if Turner has a gala for the 60th anniversary of GWTW, I will probably be there again.” Immediately, I went into “Yente, the Matchmaker” mode. I was going to “fix him up” with my former mother-in-law, who was an actress in Hollywood for many years. She was widowed and I thought they would probably know some of the same people in the business and hit it off.” I told him that if he came to Atlanta, I would get him a date. He asked if I had an email address. I answered with an affirmative; so, we exchanged e-mail addresses. When I went to shake his hand, he kissed me. I said, “I don’t know if "Mumsey" will go for you or not. She likes singers.” (“Mumsey” had been married to a famous singer during the Big Band Era.) All of a sudden, Fred began singing a song to me in German, “Dein Ist Mein Ganzes Herz” translated to “Mine Is Your Heart Alone.” I said, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you!” We had a good laugh. When I arrived back to Georgia where I was living, I called “Mumsey” and told her that I had a date for her. She said, “What?!” I began telling her about how nice Fred was and, after talking to her about 20 minutes, I told her that I was sure she’d have a great time. I told her, “My goodness, you don’t have to marry him, just go out with him to the gala event if Turner has it in Atlanta.” She reluctantly agreed. I then typed an e-mail to Fred with the heading, “When are you coming to Atlanta?! You've got a date!” I began sending Fred pictures of "Mumsey" and telling him all about her. She was a beautiful woman and had been a Vogue model, a dancer and an actress in her youth. Fred and I began exchanging emails with each other and I was filling him up like a sausage with all kinds of information and alluring tidbids about “Mumsey”. But, something totally unexpected happened. We began getting inside each other’s head and then in each other’s heart. Well, to make a long story short, after approximately 1,600 letters, Fred and I got to know each other pretty well. It was 180 degrees from where it had begun and, before we knew what had happened, we discovered that Cupid had pointed his arrow right at us. We married on October 23, 1999 at the beach on Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia. March 22nd was Fred's birthday. I wanted to create a special remembrance for his family who miss him terribly. I began compiling photos and wanted to also include a photo from his 90th Surprise Birthday Bash. As a keepsake for Fred of the day's events, I had created a hardbound book for him. He was absolutely thrilled with it and couldn't believe that I had pulled off the surprise party for him. The look on his face was priceless! Anyway, I took the book off the shelf and carefully unwrapped the cellophane that was around it for protection. When I opened the book, a little note that he had written to me fell out of it. Needless to say, I was totally surprised. It touched me deeply. I have included it at the end of the movie. In the note, Fred wrote a line from lyrics of the song, "I'll Be Seeing You" so I found a lovely piano rendition of the song and used it as the music bed to the movie. Perhaps, somewhere on The Other Side, Fred is giving his seal of approval. I hope you enjoy it. Hello! Welcome to my blog, All Things "Gone With The Wind". I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you. My name is Terry Lynn Crane and I love people. I look forward to interacting with you and, hopefully, get to meet you face to face sometime in the near future. My late husband was actor, Fred Crane, who portrayed "Brent Tarleton" in the classic motion picture, "Gone With The Wind". He was a wonderful, giving, eloquent and erudite southern gentleman and I miss him very much. Let me back up. At the age of nine, my mother and grandmother took me to the Park Theater in Memphis, Tennessee to see "Gone With The Wind". The music started, the credits rolled and then came the opening scene. I have to admit that I had a strange feeling when I saw the Tarleton Twins and Scarlett O'Hara. I can't explain it, but it was a precursor to what would become a very big part of my life. I was totally enthralled with the movie. For a 9 year old to sit still through a 3 and 3/4 hour movie was quite a feat in itself! Ladies, did you imagine yourself as Scarlett O'Hara, too, when you watched the movie? She was beautiful, spunky and a definite survivor. At my grade school, we were offered a list of paperback books that we could purchase. Well, you guessed it! I picked Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell. When the book arrived, I began reading it and could picture the actors and actresses who appeared in the movie. The book was somewhat different than the motion picture, but David Selznick did a fine job paring down Margaret Mitchell's 1,037 page novel to 3 and 3/4 hours! I went on to read the book five more times and also purchased the book on tape. So, I guess you could tell that I was smitten as I'm sure many of you are that are now reading this blog. Well, this has given you a bit of an introduction as to who I am and how I came to adore Gone With The Wind---both the book and the movie. My next blog will be about how Fred Crane and I met. |
AuthorTerry Lynn Crane is the author of Fiddle Dee Dee Recipes---A Taste of "Gone With The Wind", Gone With The Pen---A Journey To The Heart and From Tara to Tarleton Oaks---A Gone With The Wind Scrapbook. Terry is a published author, free-lance writer for newspapers, magazines, poetry anthologies, an award-winning poet, gifted artist, singer, songwriter, broadcast professional and an actress in live theater and civic light operas. She and her husband, Frank, currently have two radio shows with listeners around the world, Feel Good Friday With Frank and Terry and Cruisin' To The Oldies With Frank and Terry at RadioLibertyKY.com Archives
September 2015
Categories |