Kristi's Favorite Waltons Character
John-Boy
Photo courtesy of this Waltons web site.
At seventeen,John-Boy confided to his mother his deepest ambition. He wanted to be a writer. He explained, that to him, the day wasn't complete until he went upstairs and wrote about the happenings with his family and friends. Other times, he'd sit near the road and watch the cars go by, imagining where the people were destined to, and write his thoughts. He wasn't sure what his father would think of his son as a writer. After high school, he was expected to find some kind of job and help out his family. College was a distant and foolish dream. However, on Christmas Day in 1933, John-Boy received the most wonderful gift from his father--writing tablets.
Those tablets became the window outside of Waltons Mountain. He wrote about his first hunt, the time the carnival came to town, his first love, Jenny Pendleton, when he delivered Sarah Simmons' baby, college days, falling in love (several times), the fire that nearly destroyed their house and family, his newspaper The Blue Ridge Chronicle, worldly events such as Hitler's book burnings, The Hindenburg, World War II, Jim-Bob's yearn to fly in the Air Corp., Mary Ellen's aspiration to become a nurse, Jason and his music, Erin's stuggle to find herself, growing Elizabeth, his grandparents wisdom, and his parents love for one another.
It was his teacher, Mrs. Fordwick, who told him to write a novel about Waltons Mountain. The tablets were pushed aside for time being, as the novel began. His novel became serious, often hiding in his room, writing night after night, just one more paragraph before shutting off the light.
When a fire swept through the upstairs of the Waltons home, John-Boy's tablets and drafts of his novel are destroyed. At first, John-Boy wondered if he could write again. Losing his writings was the death of a family member. It was as if those years of words were meaningless. The day did come when he began to write again, and as time went on, he finished his novel. After his first novel was published, John-Boy soon left Waltons Mountain to write professionally in New York City. He always carried a part of Waltons Mountain with him.
Long ago, when he had shown his first short story to Mrs. Fordwick, who told him that he should try to get it published in a magazine, John-Boy said, "Just like a real writer." And she answered back, "You are a real writer...."
The character of John-Boy (played brilliantly by Richard Thomas), instantly became a favorite for me because I too am a writer. Watching John-Boy's struggles of writer's block and rejection, finding peace and quiet to write, and later the joys of becoming a published author are similar to what I am going through as a writer. Although I have not been published yet, I've also dealt with the above frustrations that are attached to a writer.
I enjoy writing historical fiction. I've written stories that have taken place during the Great Depression, World War II, the 1960s and 1970s. I have only finished a few stories (three are on this website) and I'm currently working on two larger stories that may become novels.
Aside from the writing aspect, some of the day-to-day events John-Boy encounters were similar to things that happened during my own life.
When I was in junior high, high school, and later college, I used to visit my neighbor's grandparents who lived down the street from me. The grandma (Marie) was born in 1917 and the grandpa (Charlie) was born in 1911. They would tell me many stories about what their lives were like growing up in the 1930s and 1940s. For instance, Marie (age 12), along with her sister, Annie (age 16) came to the U.S. from Europe on a oceanliner called the Leviathan in 1929. She told me stories about what it was like on the ship and how she went into the gift shop by herself and bought a handkerchief with the ship's name on it.
When she first arrived to the U.S. she remember how funny the cars looked compared to the ones in Europe. She also told me, that was when she began to read the paper every day and learn what was going on in Europe. She had left aunts, uncles and cousins over there. She had kept in contact with them until September 1, 1939, when Hitler invaded Poland. After the war began, she never heard from them again.
Often I'd go over to Marie's house to visit and borrow her old books. She didn't care for the current books. These visits were fun and enlightening, however, Marie had emphysema and was hooked up to an oxygen machine. As time went on, I went off to college, but there was one Spring day I'll never forget.
It was 1998, and I had come home for the week-long break. Marie was very sick and I went to see her. She lost a lot of weight, only weighing under 70 pounds. At that time, the movie Titanic was out. I had been intrigued by that story and bought a book about the Titanic and other ships from that era. There was one picture that caught my eye, it was of the Leviathan--the ship that brought young Marie and her sister here. I had to show it to her. My neighbor told me she wasn't doing well, but we did go see her. I showed her the picture of her ship and she told me her story again as best as she could, for she was very weak.
Three weeks later, Marie passed away. I'll never forget that last meeting. It must've been so far for her to see that picture and then think back that far. But for a moment, in her mind, the pain and weakness she was feeling was gone as she traveled back in time. She was a little girl again, on that beautiful ocean liner.
When I saw The Waltons episode "The Journey", the above story came to mind. An elderly woman named Maggie McKenzie asks John-Boy to drive her to the ocean one last time before she dies. Her husband died years ago, but that day was what would've been their 50th Anniversary. Every year, on their anniversary, she had traveled to the beach. John-Boy does take her to the ocean (instead of taking pushy Marcia Woollrey to the dance) and in her mind, Maggie relives her wedding. On the way home, she has a heart attack. While lying in bed, she thanks John-Boy for what he had done and shortly thereafter passed away.
I could fill up pages with stories like the one above, but now after writing this, I feel like watching The Journey again.
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Copyright © 2008 by Kristi N. Zanker