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Okay, here’s how it started. Matt and I were at the Memphis Zoo in July, standing and staring at Mwelu (the male gorilla) while chatting with Brian Carter, the Director of Marketing & Communications, as Matt began gathering info on the apes for a kids news report for Midsouthmoms.com. In passing, Brian mentioned to us that Mwelu likes to watch tv when he’s in his back bedroom area… say what??

Half joking, we asked if Mwelu has a favorite tv show…?… and to our surprise, the answer was yes! By far, apparently the Rachel Ray Show is Mwelu’s favorite! How funny is that?

He likes to watch tv whenever Rachel is on, but he REALLY loves it when she cooks! Her cooking segments are his favorite! Long story short, we called the show and told them that Matt had discovered Rachel’s “biggest” fan… and they loved it! They sent a crew down to shoot the story with Matt (that’s the crew and Matt, and Drew from the Zoo in the photo). And it airs today (Sept 11) at 11am on Channel 5! (you’ll have to check your local listings for your market)We’ve got our DVR set!

Now, after yet another newspaper article yesterday in the Commercial Appeal about the story, and a radio interview this morning on 98.9 KIM FM, wish me luck on managing Matt’s growing little ego!

Here’s a link to the segment online:

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/rachaels-wildest-fan/

Love to you all,
Ann
xo

The answer is: they needed a vehicle to explain Johnny’s drug troubles (what might have driven him to that kind of despair). The truth is… the truth of what really fueled his addiction didn’t fit nicely into the script. They had to come up with something…

Vivian always said she knew exactly what drove Johnny to drugs…. that when the success came and June started pursuing him, he succumbed to her advances, the affair started, and he was riddled with guilt. Completely tortured by what he had done. That began the devastating cycle of him drinking and taking drugs to escape the guilt, and this just made him even more susceptible. “Ego-dystonic” is the psychological term for what she said Johnny suffered from. He had such strong moral convictions against all of the things he was doing.

Anyway, the fact of June having fueled the addiction (as well as supplying his drugs, and having a drug problem of her own) didn’t “fit” into the love story they were trying to tell. That’s why they had to make up the “Daddy doesn’t love me” scenario for the film. I’m the first to agree it was a great film. It just wasn’t true.

Sony Pictures “Walk Hard” Movie Trailer

Dick was asked about supporting Vivian’s decision to write the book, and explained how she always wanted people to know the truth about what happened (as opposed to the stories that were put out there), and he also explained how he came to the realization that Vivian never stopped loving Johnny, though he knows she loved him too. Regarding the book, he said he’s very proud of Vivian for having written it.

Kathy talked about how Vivian kept her silence all those years in order to protect her dad, and then she took a call from someone who served with Johnny in the Air Force in Germany and offered to send her photos of him and Johnny (she was thrilled, naturally!). She was also asked about the movie “Walk the Line” and explained that the script was significantly changed after her dad died, and she also told of being a child and seeing June snuggling up to her dad after a show (right in front of Vivian), and how upset Vivian was upon seeing that. As a child, Kathy said she didn’t really understand what was happening.

Anyway, those are some highlights that come to mind!