Saturday, June 30, 2012

From My Journals: I Promised My Dad


This weekend marks the 21st anniversary of the death of Michael Landon, star of Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, and Highway to Heaven. This book was written by his step-daughter Cheryl, and is the closest we will ever get to an autobiography since he was taken from us so young. Cheryl was a child when Michael married her mother Lynn, and he instantly became a true father to her. He was with her every step of the way after she was almost killed in a tragic car accident, and her subsequent drug addition that inspired his work with Nancy Reagan and the Just Say No campaign. It covers his divorce of Lynn and marriage to his third wife Cindy, ending with his devastating death at the age of 54 after a 3 month battle with pancreatic cancer. This part of the book was heartwrenching to read.

Michael grew up in a house void of love, but what love he gave to the world. He wasn’t perfect; he was a flawed human being as we all are in spite of his public persona. But he left us a legacy of timeless shows that honor family values, goodness, decency and love…things this country is sorely lacking in today. Michael was a national treasure; there will never be another like him.

Unfortunately this book is out of print, and not available in ebook form. If you ever run across it in a used book store, pick it up and remember a time when we were all a little more innocent.


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