When people say “There will never be another — ,” they’re right, but that’s because there’ll never be another anybody or anything. People are unique, even if we all conform to certain basic patterns.
The University of Alabama’s Center for Public Television and Radio is making a documentary on the Bankhead family. I’m so glad, because the first time I was in their once home-seat of Jasper, most people on the street hadn’t heard of them. Unbelievable. I was looking for the old Bankhead home. I eventually found it, and the next time I was there I was driven by a wonderful woman from the University who most definitely knew where she was going.
The Bankheads lived in a big house in what I call the town’s Gold Coast near downtown, with a yard that was an entire city block. Population was 3,000. You stand in front of that house and think. . . and this little girl went on from here to become the toast of London and New York. But not directly. She and her sister went to schools in the Washington D.C. area, while her father and grandfather served in the Senate and House. Her uncle John would join them.
The deep South + DC + plus so many other elements…no, you can’t repeat Tallulah, but fortunately, you can commemorate her family’s achievements.