River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved
Jeffrey Buckner Ford
In 1942 Ernest Jennings Ford married nineteen-year-old Betty Jean Heminger, whom he had met at Victorville Air Base in California. River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved is the recounting of their life together, of Ernie's spectacular success as an entertainer, of their growing spiral of self-destruction as his career flourished, and of their two sons' despair as they watched the light slowly fade from their parents' eyes and the joy vanish from their lives. For Betty it was vodka, valium, and tranquilizers. For Ernie, it was beer for breakfast, Cutty for lunch at the club, and whatever later in the day.
In 1954 Tennessee Ernie Ford broke into television on I Love Lucy as Lucy Ricardo's cousin Ernie. In 1955 "Sixteen Tons" became the fastest-selling single in the history of the recording business. From 1956 through 1961, NBC's The Ford Show brought Ernie into 30 million homes every week. Among his many honors were three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — for radio, records, and television — the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved, their son Jeffrey remembers when his family's joy of being together was infectious, when the promise of every day and the thrill of being at the center of the spotlight was rapturous. It was a time when the name Ernie Ford was in the air and his fame worldwide.
In the final ten or so years before Tennessee Ernie Ford's death, the press and music industry had referred to him as "legendary." This book is, in part, an accounting of the price the Ford family paid for that title and a record of the cost it ultimately exacted from Jeffrey and his brother, who paid the greatest price. It is also the story of a simple man blessed with an extraordinary talent, whose only dream was to live an ordinary life. He walked away from Hollywood at the peak of his career in the hopes of saving his family, only to see his star shine even brighter.
This book is also a portrait of the complex and beautiful woman Ernie fell in love with and married, a brilliant artist in her own right whom the world would never know, whose star might have eclipsed even Ernie's but, instead, slowly faded with time, paling under the weight of the lengthening shadow cast by the man she loved.
PRAISE FOR River of No Return:
Library Journal - April 15, 2008
Verdict: Tennessee Ernie Ford was loved by millions. Unfortunately, his famed caused overwhelming problems for his wife and two sons. This memoir by Ernie's eldest is recommended for larger libraries with interest in celebrity biographies.
Background: Jeffrey "Buck" Ford, the oldest son of Ernie and Betty Ford, writes about a life of wealth and privilege. He sensitively remembers the good and bad times of a disintegrating family. Tennessee Ernie Ford began his career in radio and soon became an instant hit. From hosting NBC's Ford Show (1956–61) to gold records (he's best known for his recording of "Sixteen Tons") and guest appearances, Tennessee Ernie became a major star. Growing up in a tumultuous environment took a toll of Jeffrey, his brother, and Ernie, whose wife, Betty, had a difficult time adjusting to Ernie's fame. Betty was a gifted artist who buried her pain in alcohol and prescription drugs. Ford's two sons disappointed him; Betty's attempted suicides and a failing career soon caused Ernie to become an alcoholic. Other biographies cannot emit the raw emotion and intimate details that Jeffrey has presented in this well-written and compelling memoir. —Rosalind Dayen, South Regional Lib., Broward Cty., FL
Publishers Weekly - June 16, 2008
"Ernie Ford was never known for having a passion to succeed," his son deadpans in this masterfully rendered biography of the entertainer, best known for his song "Sixteen Tons," whose lifelong alcoholism and chronic depression drove himself and his first wife to their deaths. Ambition notwithstanding, Tennessee Ernie Ford possessed a winning combination of talent and luck that made him one of the biggest stars in the country, with numerous Top Ten hits and, at the height of his popularity, a weekly television show watched by millions. The younger Ford gives readers an in-depth look behind the curtain, painting a multilayered portrait of the man who hid his pain behind a salt-of-the-earth Everyman pose. The heart of the book is Ford's doomed relationship with his first wife Betty, who would, after more than 40 years of marriage, take her own life. Though storm clouds continually threaten, the Fords' life wasn't all dark; Ford includes colorful anecdotes featuring celebrities like Jerry Lewis and Bob Hope, their neighbor, as well as happy family memories like Disneyland on opening day. Though Ernie recorded hundreds of songs, Ford keeps his dad's career manageable with broad strokes, delving into minutiae only when the topic turns to mega-hit "Sixteen Tons" and the beginning of his gospel period. Ford's ability to stay both honest and impartial make this a compulsively readable story, and a fine model for celebrity bios to come. Even readers unfamiliar with Ford's massive body work will find the drama, pain and success that marked his life fascinating.
 | JEFFREY BUCKNER FORD is the eldest son of Ernie and Betty Ford. He is an actor, writer, and voice-over artist with more than twenty feature films and hundreds of radio and television commercials to his credit. Today he manages Tennessee Ernie Ford Enterprises and works as a multimedia writer and producer. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee. |
$26.95, Hardcover
ISBN-10: 1-58182-653-2 (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 978-1-58182-653-1 (Hardcover)
Hardcover Available May 2008
