Hi everyone,

Lots of mail this week so I won't ramble on as much as usual. At least I'll try not to! :-) Thank you for all of your letters...I really enjoy reading them all and hearing all of your news. A few digests ago there was a letter from someone (sorry but I couldn't find where it was written so I'm not sure who it was) asked about Earl's family and whether they had been on any episodes other than A Decade of the Waltons. Well during the week I received an email from Marion Hamner, Earl's sister, and when I wrote back to her, I asked her about it. You can read her reply below. It's really nice when people like that write and comment on your site. If I was really important I wonder whether I would?

Well over to you now,

Karen.

From Arthur:

Just got Digest 18, the first one you've sent me. Thanks very much. I've got videotapes of all The Waltons except for the latest Special (A Walton Easter) as that hasn't been shown in the UK yet. Oh and there's one other I haven't got, and for the same reason, that's the "flashback" one A Decade of the Waltons (dated as the official Waltons Site reveals, 22 May 1980).

I expect lots of folk will "fill you in" about Riker, but here's mine - Jonathan Frakes plays Lt. Riker in the TV series Star Trek The Next Generation!

Ah, I think "the fake John-Boy who comes back after the war" is a bit hard. I thought Robert Wightman did very well. Personally, while one likes to identify with characters, I think he's nearer "me" than Richard Thomas.

As to Ron Howard, in The Gift, this episode is dated 1974 and Happy Days started also in 1974, so it was just as he would have been starting to get well known in Happy Days.

As to the "gray haired gentleman that pops in every once in a while" I'll look at the tapes and let you know, but it may take a little time to do. Also, would you like - that's when I've the time to do it, a transcript or digest of the 8 minute interview I did around 1990 with Judy Norton (Mary Ellen)? I do have other things to do as well, so that may take a little time to sort out! As usual with filming, although on-screen it lasted only 8 minutes, it took all morning and part of the afternoon to do! It started with me giving an intro. in my kitchen, and then, thanks to color separation overlay, I turn, open my back door and step out into Waltons Mountain where Judy Norton appears from behind a tree....... There was a nice touch at the end of the interview when we say Goodnight to each other, over the high-angle evening shot of the Walton house. Earl Hamner is one guy I would really like to meet and have a chat with.

KAREN'S COMMENT: You were the first of several to tell me that Riker was in Star Trek - The Next Generation. It has played over here, but I'm not really a big science fiction fan (with the exception perhaps of Quantum Leap) and I never saw it.

From Lael:

Well, I guess it's about time for me to stop lurking here in the hallowed pages of the Waltons' Digest and introduce myself. My name is Lael and I am 25. I will be graduating next May with a Bachelor of Social Work and am looking forward to a career in graduate school, geriatrics, and hopefully a professorship someday. I currently work with a local clinic which specializes in dealing with older clients (50+) who are HIV+. There are lot more of them than people realize. I am also the fiancée of a kind man who thinks I am almost perfect - except when I insist on watching my easygoing, family shows (Little House, Waltons, Touched by An Angel, Dukes of Hazzard, etc...) However, when I do sit and watch them while he is "using the computer" - I notice that he asks quite a lot of questions and makes some insightful comments. This is something he would never admit to publicly though. :) :)

I grew up watching the Waltons, but I never really started to appreciate until just a few years ago when our local public TV station started showing reruns, then FAM took over showing them. I, too, enjoyed "The Fastidious Wife" the other day. I also laughed at the one just shown, where the dying school teacher wanted to talk about childbirth. They were in the schoolhouse and she held up a pear and talked about each woman having a womb and Corabeth looked like she was going to die.

Also, the episode where they finally burned the mortgage and then remortgaged to save Ike's store. When John asked if Ike & Corabeth wouldn't do the same and Olivia said a resounding "No they would not!" Yet they went ahead anyway - that is so telling of the strong sense of duty to your neighbors which seems to be so lacking in our world today.

I also have one last, quick, comment/question. The other day I watched a movie I hadn't seen since I was a kid, called "Over The Edge". It's about a bunch of kids who rebel against their parents and cause all sorts of trouble. Anyway, I saw the credits at the end and one of the people starring in the film was Ellen Geer. Could this have possibly been Will Geer's daughter? I find this amusing because it made me think of how Grandpa Walton would have dealt with the stuff in this film. If anybody else has seen this film - what do you think?

From Lael:

I know I already wrote, but your confusion about Riker reminded me of a comment a professor of mine once made. He said "We Americans are privileged to own a culture so vast that we may assume everyone in the world is aware of it. It is no wonder that our communication with others can be so lacking."

Jonathan Frakes plays a character named Riker or #1 on Star Trek:The Next Generation here in the States. I guess it is a name a lot more Americans would recognize than would people from other countries.

KAREN'S COMMENT: Thanks for your letters Lael, it's nice to finally hear from you. :-) The scenes you mention are very funny aren't they and it's moments like these that really make the show so memorable I think. I haven't seen the movie you mentioned but it probably is Will Geer's Ellen. Has anyone else seen it?

From Julie:

I just thought of another guest appearance I particularly liked, but I don't know the name of the actor! It was the episode in which Grandma's old beau (before Grandpa, of course!) wrote her a letter, and then came back to court her. He was a really sweet, mild-mannered old man, and was apparently in "competition" for Esther's heart with Zeb! It was really cute how John worried when the two of them were out late on a date, and touching to watch Esther fret over the whole thing. And I especially liked the scene where the man (what WAS his name??) talked to Elizabeth, telling her an old story about him and Zeb, explaining to her that he was not trying to take her Grandpa's place! Anyone like this one, too?

KAREN'S COMMENT: I don't know the name of this actor, does anyone? It's another great episode though Julie.

From Marion Hamner:

Your message came through today Sunday, thanks for your reply. In answer to your questions about one of the sisters appearing in one of the episodes the answer is yes. I made a brief appearance in the filming of the episode entitled "The Odyssey". It was a very long time ago but proved to be a great experience. I did not speak since I was not a member of the Screen Actors Guild. I was visiting my brother in California at the time and he thought if would be a fun thing for me to do. Earl is such a kind and considerate person always thinking of others and we are all very proud of his accomplishments.

The photographs used in the show are really members of the real family. I do not recall the title of the episode but it was about the old woman who wanted to return to the sea and John Boy drove her there. We have met all the members of the cast and feel that we have an extended family in California. Occasionally members of the cast visit Virginia and its always fun to have them here. I hope you will be able to visit the museum one of these days I am sure you would enjoy it.

Thanks for your interest in the Waltons. Sincerely Marion Hamner

KAREN'S COMMENT: Well there you have it everyone. Marion was in The Odyssey, and the photos shown in The Journey are photos of Hamner family members.

From Trisha (a fellow Aussie!):

Thanks for your Waltons Digest 18, which I am enjoying reading. I noticed you queried William Frakes' character of Riker, thinking we may not get the show here in Australia. Actually, we did -- for 7 years until it finished production. William Frakes played the role of Will Riker, the second in command in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. He was excellent.

From Raeann:

Hi! William Frakes played Capitain William T Riker on Star Trek the Next Generation, one of the only science fiction series I've ever liked. Anyway, even though Riker(that's what everybody called him, I don't remember ever hearing anyone ever call him William, (oh yeah at first it was Will). But anyway, that's where most of us in the States know him from. Like I said didn't even remember he was on the Waltons till I saw him the other week. Anyway, hope that clears it up.