In a four room rental house in 1907 the wife of a Winterset IA pharmacist gave birth to a 13 pound baby boy. By age three Marion and his parents had moved on and by the time he was seven they lived in California. A surfing accident led to a part time job at Fox Studios which led to the legendary career of none other than John Wayne. We learned about the only museum in the world dedicated to this iconic movie star in an episode of the Smithsonian’s  Aerial America and wanted to visit. John Wayne was contracted to Republic Pictures in the era when Steve’s mother was employed by them in their Cincinnati distribution center and the two of them met briefly on one of his publicity tours!  Through the years the two of us have enjoyed many of his movies and have a number of them in our library but picked up one more at the gift shop today and will watch The Quiet Man this evening!
Republic Puctures on the same page of his personal phone book as Ronald & Nancy Reagan and his washer and dryer repairman!
Maureen O’Hara’s Connemara shawl and the jaunting car from The Quiet Man donated by her to the museum.
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