This magazine details the history of our club from its radical beginnings in 1977, when there was shock and fear at the idea to have a fan club for BOTH Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Such an outrageous idea had never been considered, since the Team-Jeanette and Team-Nelson clubs had behind-the-scenes animosity toward the other star. The fact that Jeanette and Nelson were in a relationship was hidden from the club members and loudly denied, with the Nelson club presidents speaking out publicly against Jeanette to where Nelson considered disbanding all of his fan clubs!
Our groundbreaking group broke through this nonsense, beginning with the approval of Jeanette’s sister, Blossom Rock. Elayne Blythe, the founder of the Film Advisory Board, called our Mac/Eddy Today “The most beautiful magazine of its kind”, and Tom Bradley, the Mayor of Los Angeles, proclaimed a Jeanette and Nelson month, honoring our group as well! (The proclamation is reproduced in the magazine.)
The club had a purpose more than just a “fan club.” Ours was a research club, encouraging those who knew or worked with Jeanette and/or Nelson to come forward and go on record with what they knew of the real story. This took a lot of guts on their part, and on ours. The main photo-filled article covers the wins, threats, challenges and triumphs our group has experienced over the decades.
The next article reproduces and annotates the first part of the Sybil Thomas interview notes, written up around 1981. She was one of Nelson’s early mentors and remained a friend over the years, another confidante who spent time with Isabel Eddy as well. Because this woman did not particularly like Jeanette, feeling that Nelson had wasted/ruined his life and career over her, Sybil provided a more candid retelling of what she knew and witnessed. Although biased, her account of events swings to the other extreme of those – like Isabel Eddy – who wrote more mushy and lovey-dovey accounts of events. Sometimes the truth lies somewhere in the middle of these eyewitness accounts.
And finally, perhaps the highlight of the magazine are excerpts from Diane Goodrich’s unpublished memoirs. She was the woman who started our club. She had a relationship with Nelson Eddy in 1951, when he and Jeanette appeared to be permanently broken up. She heard all about Nelson’s years with Jeanette from him; he kept talking about Jeanette and was sometimes in tears about it, admitting that “when you’ve spent a lifetime with someone”, he would never fully get over her. Those excerpts are quoted verbatim, with some original pages reproduced as well. For those of you who read Sweethearts, Diane is the girl Nelson thought had died, this is what he was told at the time.
This issue has received rave reviews, as it answers many questions about Nelson’s life in 1951, plus provides more insight into his life with Jeanette.
You can order it at this link.