One Of Country's Greats Is Gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                       To lose Lynn Anderson at the age of 67 seems so premature.  Nevertheless, she left us Thursday, following a heart attack, after a bout of pneumonia.  I don't know what her health situation was, but her constitution did not sound strong.

                         But her voice was, and for awhile, Lynn was it.  She covered, like many singers, "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia," but the song that put her on the map was a title that was familiar, albeit differently, to many of us--"(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden."

                          When I was a sophomore in high school, working myself into hysterics over high school Biology--which is how I approached much of my school work--my parents came home, and alleviated my distress with a present--a 45 RPM of Lynn's then current hit, which I was fond of, as it played incessantly on the radio.

                              There was also, at the time, a book of the same title, that was very popular in my teen years. It was written under the pseudonym of Hannah Green, who was really Joanne Greenberg. It was the author's most successful work, dealing with a teen aged girl battling schizophrenia, and several years later, became a relatively successful movie, with Kathleen Quinlan and Sylvia Sidney.

                                      Here is the famous paperback and cover I grew up on.  Of course, at the time, I read it, convinced I was Deborah, had schizophrenia, and was ready for a mental institution!!!!!  Maybe I need to read it again!!!!!!!!! But is is still in print?  You don't hear about it, as you once did.

There is a tenuous connection between the book and song.  The book has a scene where the psychiatrist says the title phrase to Deborah, stating that while recovery may be possible, it is not going to be easy.  Lynn's song has the woman saying to her lover to enjoy what they have, as things may not always go so smoothly.  Whether the book influenced the song, or if the creators, or Lynn, were aware of it, I cannot be sure.

                                      But Lynn's voice soared, made her a hit, and she became a star of that sphere--the country scene!

                                       Here is Lynn singing her classic song now!  It will always be her legacy!!!!!!!!!

                                        Rest In Peace, Lynn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!