Life and Times in Cross Creek: Memories and Reflections
17,267
Published 2020-08-07
Cross Creek, nestled between Orange and Lochloosa Lakes in North Central Florida, has long been a fishing community. In the documentary you will hear from the families who catfished for a living, including the Townsend family, who Marjorie wrote about in Chapter 4 entitled, “The Pound Party.” You’ll meet Marjorie’s grove man, “Snow Slater” and hear from relatives of the late Berney Bass who also worked for Marjorie. The documentary includes audio from J. T. Glisson, the late author and artist from Evinston, as well as the late actor "Rip Torn," just to name a few.
Here's an outline of the various segments in the documentary:
Segment 1: Friends and Neighbors of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings- runs 10:37
Segment 2: Visiting "Snow" & Ella Mae Slater- runs 5:41
Segment 3: Catfishing Days in Cross Creek- runs: 23:13
Segment 4: The Movie Business Comes to Cross Creek- runs 4:26
Segment 5: Memories of Marjorie- runs: 8:35
Segment 6: Reflections & Credits- runs: 5:10
Music included in the documentary was used with written permission. Musicians included:
Paul Garfinkel, Jim Hurst, Mike Jurgensen, Danny O'Keefe, Mark Smith, George Tortorelli and Lisa Lynne.
Donna Green-Townsend has more than 45 years of reporting experience in radio and television. She received her B.J. from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She spent 30 years at the University of Florida where she worked as a Multimedia News Manager at WUFT and taught the advanced radio reporting class for several years. She was a regular contributor to Florida Public Radio, NPR and a variety of other national programs. To see more videos and reports by Donna Green-Townsend go to her website: donnagreentownsend.com
All Comments (21)
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indeed, the movie CROSS CREEK is legendary and awesome.
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I am a 6th generation Floridian and was born in 1943. Thank you making this wonderful video. I love my Old Florida.
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I got to go "through the gate" in 1994 with my son & my husband after visiting our daughter in Sanford.I did not want to leave. Her writings are so evocative, as was the movie, which Ive watched many times. Many thanks.
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Thank you for making this. Louise P. (Peper) Tarter/Carl - Gifford was my great grandmother. She was born in Altoona in 1904 to Eliza C (Hinson) Peper, who was the daughter of Andrew Jackson Hinson. Most of my family that remembers these stories and people have long since passed, and while I have the family archive of pictures, articles, letters and other documentation of this time (which are what I consider to be some of the most valuable items I own) - this provides a lot more context of what life was like back then in Florida. Appreciate the labor of love - and I would be happy to share what I have with you should you ever be interested.
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We went to Cross Creek in April, because our daughter had read "The Yearling." We fell in love with it! What a beautiful place! ~
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That was beautiful, thank you. I am a seventh generation Floridian. I love reading M. K. Rawlings works because I feel that she is writing about my ancestors. When I watched this video, I felt these people could easily be related to me. Many of my ancestors are buried in Antioch cemetery. So if not by blood relation, perhaps by our love for Florida.
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My family has been in central Florida for many generations too. Love these kind of people. I am 73 and it will never be quite the same again. Especially loved the part about fishing. Every male in my family fished. I was the only girl that went with them. great video.
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Every once in awhile I get to thinking about the movie Cross Creek, and then find myself searching online for 'all things regarding Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings'. I found this lovely video of yours and am so heartwarmed by the accounts and the stories of the people of the land. Thank you profoundly, Donna. I'm only half way through the video but had to stop and sat 'Hey". Much love to you. Am now in search of Marjorie's cookbook!!
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Growing up in Florida in the 40's and 50's things looked just like this wonderful documentary. People were very friendly and neighborly always willing to help out or share what they had. I remember on my grandparents farm we had chickens and the neighbors had cows and over behind us was plenty of corn and other vegetables that we all traded back and forth. Milk, eggs, corn and fishin' in the lake. Those were good times for us kids, but lots of work too. Thank you very much for sharing all these wonderful memories with this new generation of young people. This is a true treasure for us all.
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I just love the movie Cross Creek, I can watch it over and over. Marjorie seemed like such a very strong-willed woman, admirable. Such beautiful scenery! It's wonderful to hear about the family's all coming together to make ends meet. This was wonderful to watch, I loved it! Thank you for sharing❤✌
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What a beautiful video. Well done. Such a touching story told through the eyes and experiences of actual residents and relatives. Thank you for sharing this.
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We made our first visit to Cross Creek and Antioch Cemetery this week. Thank you so much for this video! We can see how special Cross Creek was and is today. We did notice part of Antioch Cemetery is highly neglected and appears to be abandoned for care. Would love to know the history of Antioch Cemetery. Thank you again for a wonderful video!
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My grandmother Amy Nelson lived in Worthington Springs. The house she and my father and uncle built from another disassembled house they hauled by horse and wagon still stands today.
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What a great video, thank you!
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FANTASTIC! , i went to grammar school in Eustis Fla in the early 60's,we had a grapefruits grove and lived on East Crooked lake, i now live in Milton Fla.
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Ocelot in Florida? I thought they only ranged in the South west of the Mississippi! Amazing to think of all the wildlife back then—Ms. Rawlings did a good job describing it! 54:42
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Wow, Donna, this is so cool! I did not know about this--my friends from Atlanta had to tell me about it! I listened a while back to our Heart of Florida CD, and Shelly Frasier Mickle reading the story about your Mother's Day magnolia is one of the highlights for me! I love that story. Congratulations on this wonderful release!
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You do awesome work Aunt Donna. Thanks for what you do. We love you.
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Great footage, stories, soundtrack, video....love it!
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I remember soem of the catfishing piece got used in the Heart of Florida CD we put out with Florida's Eden.
