Part 14 (1/2)

As I left Belleville, I felt parts of myself were starting to make more sense. How I'm drawn to the hills and mountains, how hillbilly music speaks to me in a way that is totally animal, how listening to revivalists (I'm talking foot stompin', speaking in tongues, holy rollers) on the radio (as I did most of the day today) has a deep-rooted sense memory for me. Not sure if it's some genetic cell memory or a past life thing, but I felt so up and excited and happy I started to cry.

Mama, I'd really like to go back to Belleville one day.

After reading Carrie's e-mail about Arkansas, I decided to make the trip there myself. I thought it would be great fun to bring Jody and Erin plus my sister, Chris, with Carrie giving us the ”tour.” I had never been there, and I remembered Nanny telling me all about Belleville (but, of course, no mention of the ”scandal”!) and I wanted to see it all for myself. I mentioned this idea to Carrie and she was all for it. All we had to do was set a date for the following year... .

From: Carrie

To: Mama

Sent: Jan. 11, 2001

Subject: Grants, New Mexico

After Belleville I feel like my trip is truly over. Seeing the house in San Antonio, then meeting the guys in Belleville and hearing all about F.C. and Nanny-anything else could only be anticlimactic. I'm looking forward to our getting back to work again on Hollywood Arms after I get back home. I really love working with you, Mama. It's truly amazing that we can write together ”long distance” the way we do. My excitement about our play and working with Hal Prince is unbridled. I was thrilled when Hal said he couldn't tell which one of us wrote which scene. The fact that we have the same ”voice” proves that this apple didn't fall too far from the tree!

And I enjoy the fact that I'm able to swing back and forth between ”Sunrise” and our project without going into a nosedive. Sure keeps the ol' adrenaline pumping!

Although we've been working on Hollywood Arms for TWO YEARS(!) with pauses along the way, and are very much into the ”structure and problem-solving” of a theatrical piece thanks to Hal's guidance, I never for a moment forget how fortunate I am to ”see” Nanny, your mama, Louise, and your daddy, Jody, come to life. Mama, I'm not writing about them ... I'm writing them!! Of course, it doesn't hurt to visualize your daddy, Jody, as an ”inebriated Jimmy Stewart, and just as sweet” (your description of him).

Jimmy Stewart was to be a Kennedy Center honoree in December 1983, during the Reagan administration. I had the honor of being invited to be a part of the tribute to Jimmy, singing ”You'd Be So Easy to Love” (a song he introduced in the movie Born to Dance). I took Carrie to Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., with me for the weekend festivities, which included a dinner hosted by the secretary of state on Sat.u.r.day night, to be followed by a show and dinner-dancing the next night, December 5, which would be Carrie's twentieth birthday.

The other honorees that year were Frank Sinatra, Katherine Dunham, Elia Kazan, and Virgil Thompson.

At the Sunday-night dinner, Carrie and I had the privilege of sitting at Jimmy's table. He had always been my favorite actor ever since I was a little kid, and here I was with my own ”little kid,” Carrie, enjoying my idol's company. Carrie was just as thrilled as I was because she had been raised on watching Jimmy in It's a Wonderful Life every Christmas, and loved him just as much as I did.

Carrie, Jimmy Stewart, and me at the Kennedy Center Honors on Carrie's twentieth birthday in 1983

The fantastic Joe Williams was up on the bandstand swinging and singing with the Count Basie Orchestra. When Jimmy learned it was Carrie's birthday, he got up on the bandstand, had the orchestra strike up ”Happy Birthday,” and sang to Carrie with Joe Williams chiming in to make it an amazing duet. The entire crowd joined in after a few bars (including Frank Sinatra!).

Carrie and I were both dumbstruck, and when it was over she leaned into me and whispered, ”Wow, Mama. So tell me what's up your sleeve for me next year, when I turn twenty-one?!”

Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle are not the prettiest areas I've seen, but I knew I was getting close to New Mexico because of the dramatic change in terrain. I couldn't live there, but the land sure is spectacular and the sunset tonight was one of the most stunning I've seen in my life.

Grants seems like a very nice little town. I'm wrestling with the idea of calling for delivery. Road food is awful, and I'm malnourished beyond belief. If I have to eat one more Hostess Fruit Pie I think I'll die.

From: Carrie

To: Mama