John Boy remembered by Mary Ellen -- Judy Norton

I have become a fan of YouTube. 

Like millions of other people I have enjoyed YouTubes. I have posted many of them on my own channel. I have found YouTube very interesting. 

Since I am no longer tied to a newspaper I have decided to write more for my blog -- this one that you are reading. The last post was dated three years ago but I hope to those people who have said they enjoyed reading my columns will find this and be able to find more visits that they can enjoy. 

One of the YouTube series I have enjoyed are the channel of Judy Norton, Mary Ellen on The Waltons. She shares some of the behind-the-scenes stories from The Waltons.

For example, did you know the right side of the Waltons' house, which looks like a porch, actually served as the entrance to the area used by the show's makeup people? Did you know the union drivers taught Richard Thomas, John Boy, how to drive so he could get his license? Judy said he grew up in New York and never learned to drive until he moved to California for The Waltons 

I was able to interview Richard when he came to Crawfordsville, Indiana, as the guest of a nursing home company. He was supposed to be the spokesperson, doing radio and television spots. The company was going to buy nursing homes from the family that owned them and later the deal fell through.

But the company seeking to buy the nursing homes brought Richard Thomas to town, and had a luncheon to which they invited all the local dignitaries and the media.

As editor of The Paper of Montgomery County, one of the two daily newspapers in town, I attended and interviewed Richard about his career. Naturally, he mentioned The Waltons. "Oh, were you in that?" I asked, kidding him.

He was good-natured about the joke. Then, he allowed me to take his picture, holding up our paper, which we ran with the story. I think the headline read, "John Boy comes to town" or something like that. He was on "The Americans" at the time and so I became a fan of that show.

My wife has purchased all the seasons of "The Waltons" and I especially like the Thanksgiving show set in 1963 with the Kennedy assassination events.