Life and Times in Cross Creek: Memories and Reflections

"Life and Times in Cross Creek: Memories and Reflections" was produced by Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist Donna Green-Townsend, a long-time resident of Cross Creek, Florida. The documentary introduces us to the friends and neighbors of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Yearling," Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. The video includes historic photos, audio and video of many of the characters Rawlings wrote about in her book, "Cross Creek.”

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