It was a perfect early spring day
in 1978. I was in the kitchen preparing dinner when my son, who had been on his newspaper
route, came running through the front door screaming "Dad! Dad! Dad!" It gave me
a start, as I figured he must have fallen off his bike, or gotten hurt in some other way,
as that was the only time he would yell like that. As he rounded the corner into the
kitchen I asked what was the matter. He said "I just saw Clint Eastwood in front of
the Nashville West!" I replied, "Sure, and George Washington just walked through
here". After more discussion he said there was a movie crew filming, with several
trucks and a large motor home. I told him we would go look it over after dinner and he
retreated to his room.
No more than fifteen minutes later my oldest daughter
came into the kitchen. She walked up beside me and in a low voice said "Dad,
he’s here". I asked, "Who’s here?" She said, "Clint Eastwood
is in the front yard." I asked if she had been smoking the same thing her brother
had, and she replied "Really dad, he’s right in our front yard". I turned
the stove burner down and walked to the front door with her. Standing at the end of our
sidewalk was Clint Eastwood and another person reviewing a script. There was an older
model Chevrolet pickup parked a few feet from the curb and a police officer at the
intersection to direct traffic.
I, just like the kids, stood at the door in awe. My
camera was on a bookshelf directly behind the front door, but I never gave it thought. We
moved to the yard and watched as the pickup took off up the street and Clint Eastwood ran
and jumped in the passenger door. It was about that time I remembered the camera, and went
into the house and got it. Shortly after, the pickup and returned and made another trip,
but this time Clint Eastwood wasn’t included. The crew picked up, and crew and
officer left.
We shut off the stove, locked the doors, and off we went
to the Nashville West (a country western nightclub a couple of blocks away). As my son had
described, there was a full movie production crew and equipment. I was quite disappointed,
as I figured I had blown my one chance to get a picture of Clint Eastwood. Not so, as
shortly after we arrived he came out of a motor home, which was parked, to the rear of the
location. I set the camera at average settings for the light conditions and shot a whole
roll of film, which included Clint Eastwood, Sandra Loche, and the film crew.
That’s the whole story of the Clint Eastwood
pictures you see here.