I'll Be Seeing You

 

This is going to be a different sort of post than what you usually read here at Heroes, Heroines, and History. It'll be my last post on the blog (unless I stop by for a visit), so I want to leave everyone with some nostalgia and a song.

Authors often mention particular songs in their stories to help create the feeling of the time when the story is set. In my novel Season of My Enemy (2022), farm workers--including German prisoners of war--sang along to Don't Fence Me In while they worked the Wisconsin harvest. It suited the story so well, I couldn't resist, expressing the desire for freedom and peace while showing a camaraderie among the workers even during war.

We're probably all familiar with the swoony number I'll Be Seeing You, another  song written about missing a loved one across space and time. It's an historically popular song written in 1938 by lyricist Irving Kahal with music by Sammy Fain, and was first recorded by Dick Todd on the Bluebird music label. But the haunting melody and simple yet heartfelt lyrics have been picked up by a myriad of singers through the decades. The song still finds its way into current popular culture with fresh performances and in film. 

The tune became a WWII wartime hit when it was crooned by Bing Crosby, making it's way to number one on the charts in 1944. It's popularity continued with renditions by Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Durante, Dinah Shore, and even Barbara Streisand. 

While probably not as popular as some of the other recordings by artists like the above or Billie Holiday or Peggy Lee, I particularly like this smooth 1959 version by Tommy Sands:

Never seeming to grow old, I'll Be Seeing You was used in various films also, a couple popular ones being The Notebook and, surprisingly, Deadpool and Wolverine. One movie even carried the title. At the height of the song's popularity in 1944, I'll Be Seeing You--the film--starred Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotton, and a teenage Shirley Temple. Add it to your list of classics to watch. You'll be glad you did.

Anyway, why am I writing today about this perennially popular piece of culture? After all, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of songs that have stood the test of time or suggest certain periods specifically. Glad you asked! 

The tune began to play through my mind as I reflected on the many posts I've written and the historical treasure trove I discovered along the way here on the HHH blog. I've covered topics ranging from the preservation of historic barns to the adventuresome history of the fur traders and voyageurs of the Great Lakes; and from Wisconsin's prisoner of war camps to the stories that inspired many of our favorite hymns. There are dozens of topics I've written about in between these. I always enjoyed finding tidbits of wonder in these historical posts, and the research for these posts continues to feed my imagination and my stories.

Research is fun for an historical author. Just last week, I took a road trip to delve deeper into the setting of my fall 2026 release, Cinder Smudged, a 1930s realistic retelling of Cinderella. I can almost imagine my heroine humming this tune (if only it had been written by then).

This is the main reason why I am stepping back from writing for HHH. With writing and family life (I'm now a grandma to TWENTY, twelve girls, eight boys!), I've simply had to make decisions about what to set aside. I'm also trying some new ventures, like reviving my YouTube channel. Besides that, I'm soon to release a new 2-story compilation called A Haven for Love, I'm making edits to a Revolutionary War story, and The Girl from Tomorrow's Town will release next spring from Barbour's Enduring Hope series. 

All told, I have four books scheduled for release over the next fourteen months! So, yes, of course, I'll continue to write fiction as long as God gives me the opportunity.

I hope you'll stop by my channel, visit me on social media, and follow along with all of my adventures and updates in my newsletter, which you can sign up for on my site. But for now. . .

I'll Be Seeing You,

Here, There, or In the Air,

Naomi

www.naomimusch.com

Amazon Author Page

The Women of Hollywood – Famous Firsts

By Kathy Kovach

In honor of Mother’s Day, this month we’re celebrating the women of Hollywood, and who better to start off with than Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens, 1888-1973).

From 1915 to 1934, Frances Marion was the highest paid screenwriter—among both men and women—of the silent era. For a time, she earned $50K a year (over $1.5 million today). For three years, she wrote exclusively for Mary Pickford.

She continued to write into the 1940s, with some scripts uncredited, according to IMDb.

Her additional venture in Hollywood included those of actress, director, and producer, although she was most successful in writing. Outside of Hollywood, she worked as a journalist becoming a war correspondent during WWI.

A two-time Academy Award winner, and one-time nominee, she put her stamp on Hollywood as the most influential woman of the silent film era.

Gladys Louise Smith, better known as “America’s Sweetheart” Mary Pickford, rode the tide with her best friend Frances Marion and officially became Hollywood’s first millionaire at the age of 24. Starting out in her homeland of Canada, she performed child roles on stage. She soon moved to New York for parts on Broadway. However, across the nation, Hollywood was beginning an exciting new way for thespians to exercise their chops. She abandoned the live stage at age 17 and joined thousands of pioneers determined to launch the film industry.

Pickford eventually earned the moniker, “Queen of the Movies”, as she not only acted in over 240 productions, but she also wrote, produced, and directed. However, her highest accomplishment would be her success as a businesswoman. In 1916, she created Mary Pickford Studios with the help of Famous Players Production Company, the very same that had offered Frances Marion the five-figure contract. Three years later, she organized the United Artists Corporation along with D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplain, and her soon-to-be husband, Douglas Fairbanks. In 1927, she became one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This paid off as she won the Oscar in 1930 for her role in Coquette.

Other notable actresses carved their own names in the Hollywood tree.

The daughter of a Civil War veteran, Hattie McDaniel (1885-1952) paved the way for African-American actors. Born in Wichita, Kansas, and raised in Denver, Colorado, Hattie could do it all. She sang, danced, and performed comedy wherever she could. In 1911, she organized her own all-women’s minstrel troupe. Then, beginning in the 1920s, she toured in vaudeville for several years, establishing herself as a blues artist, often singing her own original songs.

By 1930, her brother Sam and sister Etta had moved to Los Angeles, finding minor work in movies. They convinced her to follow. In 1934, McDaniel finally had her break upon landing a major on-screen role singing a duet with Will Rogers in John Ford’s Judge Priest. From there, she played in The Little Colonel opposite Shirley Temple. Capturing the attention of major Hollywood players, she found steady work in major productions such as the part of Queenie in the 1936 adaptation of Show Boat, of which she had previously toured in the stage version.

The pinnacle of her career occurred when she accepted the role of Mammy, playing opposite Vivian Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). The movie’s premiere took place in Atlanta, Georgia, as this was where the film was set. Unfortunately, the South still had a prejudicial attitude and all of the black actors were barred from attending. Producer David O. Selznick wanted to take Hattie to the premier as his guest, but MGM warned him not to. This enraged her co-star Clark Gable who threatened to boycott the premiere if this injustice were not rectified. Hattie, having dealt with the racist mindset all her life, convinced him to go. Nevertheless, her lifetime of hard work paid off. She received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first Black American to do so.

Hattie McDaniel went on to honor her country, despite the challenges, and toured with the USO, entertaining the troops and selling war bonds.

One cannot talk about major female stars without discussing the curly-haired moppet, Shirley Temple (1928-2014) who brightened the Great Depression with her sparkling eyes and dimples. She’s later quoted as saying, “People in the Depression wanted something to cheer them up, and they fell in love with a dog—Rin Tin Tin—and a little girl” (via The Music Hall). Her movies saved 20th Century Fox Studios from bankruptcy.

Discovered at the age of three in a dance studio, Temple began her career imitating sultry actresses such as Mae West and Marlena Dietrich in a series of short reels, disturbingly entitled, “Baby Burlesks”. These satirized films were spoofs of the popular movies of the day.

By the age of 6, she’d made her mark on Hollywood to such an extent that she was presented the first Juvenile Award, created just for her, at the 1935 Academy Awards Ceremony. Temple performed in nearly sixty productions before her retirement at age 22. She would win twenty-three awards in various organizations, including the Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.

Her acting career may have come to a halt, but “America’s Little Sweetheart” wasn’t done. In her adult years, Shirley Temple Black ventured into the world of politics, running for the U.S. House of Representatives but lost, and became a delegate in world affairs.

Speaking of outstanding women, one such actress not only contributed to society, but she changed the world as we know it. Guess who was tech savvy enough to help invent Wi-Fi? Here's an article I wrote a few years ago. Hedy Lamarr-More Than A Pretty Face 

These actresses were no doubt among many women who broke through the glass ceiling and set their stars high above the Hollywood sign.

  

Titanic: Legacy of Betrayal

A TIME-SLIP NOVEL

A secret. A key. Much was buried on the Titanic, but now it's time for resurrection.

Follow two intertwining stories a century apart. 1912 - Matriarch Olive Stanford protects a secret after boarding the Titanic that must go to her grave. 2012 - Portland real estate agent Ember Keaton-Jones receives the key that will unlock the mystery of her past... and her distrusting heart.

To buy: Amazon

Kathleen E. Kovach is a Christian romance author published traditionally through Barbour Publishing, Inc. as well as indie. Kathleen and her husband, Jim, raised two sons while living the nomadic lifestyle for over twenty years in the Air Force. Now planted in northeast Colorado, she's a grandmother and a great-grandmother—though much too young for either. Kathleen has been a longstanding member of American Christian Fiction Writers. An award-winning author, she presents spiritual truths with a giggle, proving herself as one of God's peculiar people.

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