Local Movie Stars

Shortly after my mother’s death a last year, a strange thing happened. My sister, who lives here in town, got a package from New York from someone didn’t know. The enclosed note indicated it was some sort of film recording of my mother that this person wanted to give to us. My sister didn’t know what it was and wasn’t prepared at that time to look at it. So she put it in a drawer. This past summer she passed it onto one of my other sisters who did look at it.

It turns out the woman who sent the package was Alice Elliot, the maker of the documentary that features two Springfield women with developmental disabilities. Apparently, my mother was friends with the two women, Kathy Conour and Diana Braun, in “Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy”. Mom met them through her work with the church. Conour and Braun were even at my mother’s funeral where I met them for the first time, but I had not idea they were so famous.

From what I’m told, she was visiting Conour and Braun one day when Elliot showed up with a camera for her film (or maybe Elliot was there and my mother showed up, I’m not sure). Anyway, Elliot wound up interviewing my mother for the film. When she heard that my mother had died, she sent the footage she had.

I have not seen the film, so I don’t know if my mother’s part is even in the final product. However, there is going to be a showing of the film here in Springfield a week from Saturday. I’m going to have to go to see if mom made the cut.

I haven’t even seen the outtake that was sent to my sister, so if she does appear in the film, it will seem very strange, almost like seeing someone speak from the grave. Either way, I’m looking forward to seeing it.