It's In Their Blood

Lee Needham Scott

Description

This Memoir is written through the eyes, interviews, research and experiences of the author. It is a gift to his family; a verification of genetic history once lost, now found, resulting in discovery that had no memory, and memories that made a 70-year reunion possible. It is also a story for all, starting within this family and its consistent success in the professions that helped corroborate the passion and need to communicate. From printers, writers and publishers to vaudevillians and Hollywood actors, this true story reminds all of us about the wonders of inheritance, and how its relevancy revealed the seemingly miraculous. This family, once together and thriving, then separated for decades, now united and forever recorded within their memories and the contents of this book.

Informations

• Publié par: First Edition Design Publishing
• Date de parution: 05 décembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781506902029
• Langue: English

Extrait

It'sIn Their Blood

A Memoir ofSiblings Reunited and Their Showbiz Legacy
First EditionDesign Publishing
Sarasota,Florida USA
It’s In Their Blood
Copyright ©2016 Scott LeeNeedham

ISBN978-1506-902-01-2 HC/Jacket
ISBN978-1506-902-00-5 PRINT
ISBN978-1506-902-02-9 EBOOK

LCCN2016939157

August2016

Publishedand Distributed by
FirstEdition Design Publishing, Inc.
P.O.Box 20217, Sarasota, FL 34276-3217
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com



ALL R I G H T S R E S E R V E D. No p a r t o f t h i s b oo k pub li ca t i o n m a y b e r e p r o du ce d, s t o r e d i n a r e t r i e v a l s y s t e m , o r t r a n s mit t e d i n a ny f o r m o r by a ny m e a ns─ e l e c t r o n i c , m e c h a n i c a l , p h o t o - c o p y , r ec o r d i n g, or a ny o t h e r ─ e x ce pt b r i e f qu ot a t i o n i n r e v i e w s , w i t h o ut t h e p r i o r p e r mi ss i on o f t h e a u t h o r or publisher .
Acknowledgements

Whena person decides to start writing, the logical course would be to start smallthen work up to larger projects. Normally, poetry is my choice. I have writtenpoetry off and on for the past twenty years, but have never taken it seriously,even though I enjoyed it immensely. Because this story happens to be true, and aboutour life and our family, the logical course in this case did not have a chanceto present itself. My transition from writing an hour or so every week towriting an hour or more every day compromised the time I spent with my family. Therefore,it is my family that I would like to acknowledge first.
Myimmediate family is small. It’s just my wife, Michelle, and daughter Elizabeth.Because we are small and live in a small house, we are tight knit and are usedto being around one another. It is hard for any family to get used to such anadjustment, but my two gals did exactly that, supporting me in the deepest ofways, even listening patiently to my latest paragraph or chapter in the mostinopportune moments. They, of course, are the loves of my life. They are giftsfrom the One I owe everything to. They are gifts that, in all honesty, rescuedme from what I don't want to be, and introduced me to what I should be.
Iwould also like to thank Alex Asher and Christine Riehman. Without a doubt, ifit were not for them the chance of this story ever being told would be zero.There is no way anyone could convince me of an alternative scenario. Thecircumstances surrounding all of us at the time seemed daunting to say theleast, and if it were not for Alex, the quest for finding Mom’s brother couldhave been a tedious and rocky road. As for Christine, it is her passionateloyalty to friendship that has taught all of us a lesson in what love reallyis. Her enthusiasm for the pursuit of truth and the revelation thereof havebeen contagious at the least, and is responsible for these words coming tofruition. She has been with us in body and spirit from this story's inceptionto its birth, and will always be family. For these two, this book is as muchtheirs as it is ours.
Asthey say, last but not least, my love and appreciation goes to the siblings whoexperienced the gift of a lifetime. Though Mom is no longer with us in body,her spirit is felt, and her image is here living through the eyes of herbrother, a man I will always love and will always be proud to call my Uncle.
It'sIn Their Blood

A Memoir ofSiblings Reunited and Their Showbiz Legacy
Scott LeeNeedham
Table of Contents



PREFACE . i
CHAPTER ONE
Dire Circumstances 1
CHAPTER TWO
The Need to Communicate 11
CHAPTER THREE
Dark Devastation . 54
CHAPTER FOUR
Pain and Coincidence 61
CHAPTER FIVE
Diane and Hollywood . 87
CHAPTER SIX
Family Years 110
CHAPTER SEVEN
Baby Love 117
CHAPTER EIGHT
Another Chapter 123
CHAPTER NINE
Roger 131
CHAPTER TEN
Hands Together…Again. 148
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“I Don't Mean To BugYa...” 183
PREFACE

Whatcauses a person to make the decision to take on a project completely out of therealm of his profession? In my case it was passion. I have always enjoyedwriting, but never sought to be published…until a very unlikely but true storybecame a part of my life. I did not think of it as quaint, superficial, or evennormal. It was never something I would have instinctively kept to myself and myfamily. I did not feel there was a decision for me to make. I had no choice.
Thistrue story I speak of was disclosed to me first when young, but only in part,mainly because not all had been known when passed on. There were bits andpieces, yes, but most of the story presented itself through heavy investigationmany years later during very difficult times.
InLatin, one of the definitions of the word passion means to suffer. It is a termapplied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing. It is an expressionof one's love, not just in feeling, but an action, and if I may add in my case,desperation.
Ihad first entertained writing this story when at home, making the decision todo so without giving up until finished. Because of the intensity of the storyand the truth that made it so, my delving into it was sporadic at best and atestament to the emotion concealed within it. Given my direct involvement, Iwas greatly affected.
Afterwhat seemed an eternity, an opportunity presented itself. It opened a door forme to experience the world that normally would be concealed inside the words ofmy writing. Now I would be a witness to the places only read about. Now I had achance to step where others I knew about once were.
AsI was driving toward my destinations, getting closer and closer to truth thathad been told to me when growing up, I began to think on all that I had alreadywritten - all that I could possibly imagine - all that would soon be revealed. Mywriting had turned me into a different person. It had introduced me to what waspatiently dormant. I had regret from the suffering I witnessed. Life was notworried about fairness. This had become abundantly clear.
Mywriting would become a gift - a way of apologizing - a way of introducing thereader to a story that has to be told. This gift was deserved, and whether oneor many witnessed this life through these words, it was going to be told. Thelife I speak of is no longer with us, along with the family before her thatwould have never been discovered, and certainly have not been remembered,without a forum as the one I have chosen to create. She and her family are notsubject to ridicule or criticism. They are not to be analyzed or examined likeso many in the entertainment world. They are to be sympathized, and hopefullyby some, empathized with.
Thisis a true story of the most common results in entertainment. The overwhelmingamount of entertainers who risk everything for just one hopeful discovery. Thisis the story of real life struggles, victories, and defeats. It is a tale ofgenetics, things remembered, things discovered that had no memory, and memoriesthat made a 70-year reunion possible. It tells of siblings longed for, and acareer revealed that existed in front of us all along. It confirms that lovenever ends and never fails, that reunified life continues on as if it alwayshad, and that some revelations in this life can never be explained away.
Afterbeginning to tell the story from my home, I was now going to travel severalthousand miles to live through the eyes of our family. I realized there was aplace, not just a physical place, but a place in time that was waiting for me. Aplace where I would experience their adventures, witness their successes, andfeel the lengths and depths of their pain.
God hathnot promised
Skiesalways blue.
Flower-strewnpathways
All ourlives through.
God hathnot promised
Sunwithout rain,
Joywithout sorrow,
Peacewithout pain.
God hathnot promised
That weshould not know
Toil andtemptation,
Troubleand woe.
He hathnot told us
That weshall not bear
Many aburden, many a care.
But Godhath promised
Strengthfor the day,
Rest forthe laborer,
Light forthe way,
Grace forthe trials,
Help fromabove-
Unfailingsympathy,
Undyinglove.

- ANNIEJOHNSON FLINT
CHAPTER ONE
Dire Circumstances

“Easiersaid than done.” How common the sentence is, and yet, it seems to be the onlything that comes to mind. Nothing original, nothing profound. Simple…but sovery true. How many times have we screamed at the television screen, begging,pleading, and hoping that the writer of the latest horror flick might actuallyinstill some hint of common sense into the main character? But it neverhappens. The main character always freezes when faced with dire circumstances, alwayshesitates in the most annoying fashion, and always makes you convince yourselfof your superior composure when put in similar circumstances. That is, until itactually happens to us, until the sudden shock of reality reminds us of howinferior our composure really is.

****
Shehad to be taken off her medication in order to perform the procedure. Apowerful blood thinner was keeping her from having a stroke and now,ironically, in order to make her well, she had to take the chance and concedeto a test that might indirectly cause the stroke she was trying to avoid. Herblood was too thin, and performing this particular surgical procedure could bedangerous unless the blood would be allowed to thicken. However, the thickerthe blood, the greater chance of a stroke…and therein lied the dilemma. Thedoctor had suspected congestive heart failure to be her problem, but hewouldn’t know for sure until he went further to determine whether that was thecase.
Wehad surmised that Mom’s problem was more than just her heart, more than thephysical part, that is. Her depression had started to slowly take over herstrong, unrelenting will, and it seemed that in her own way she was giving up. Momalways had a dramatic way about her. In times past, Mom often told us shedidn’t care about life, but no one really believed her…I was start