Edge of Night (EON) (No spoilers please)

[edgeofnight]

My remarks at Linda Cook's memorial service this afternoon.

I am a Presidential Historian. Looking at Linda's birth and death dates on the cover of today's program, I see that Linda was born on June 8, 1948, the anniversary of President Andrew Jackson's death in 1845, and Linda left us on April 12, the day in 1945 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt died. Both Linda and FDR were 63 years old at the time of their deaths and had battled serious illnesses for over 20 years. I sure hope that Linda is having a good time conversing with these presidents.

I also find it very appropriate that today, April 28, is the chosen day for Linda's Memorial service, because, as our history books will tell you, today is President James Monroe's birthday (in 1758). His administration from 1817 - 1825 is known as 'The Era of Good Feelings.' It is obvious, by listening to Linda's two sisters and brother that whoever encountered Linda was always left with good feelings. She exuded it, in abundance.

My second passions in life have been 'As the World Turns' and 'The Edge of Night,' both of which premiered on the CBS television network on April 2, 1956, three weeks before I was born. They hold the distinctions of not having been the first 30 minut daytime dramas, but also the last to go from being broadcast 'live' to tape. 'Edge' was moved to the ABC television network on December 1, 1975, when ATWT was expanded to an hour. Linda remained with the show until 1977, when her character was written out.

Sadly, 'Edge' ended it's 28 1/2 year run on December 28, 1984. But, her character of Laurie Ann was such a pivotal role in the history of the show, that she was the only actress tobe invited back to reprise her role during the show's final week. I was one of only two fans invited to the show's final taping.

I find it only fitting and proper to attend Linda, our beloved Laurie Ann Karr's, memorial service because nearly 40 years ago, I attended her TV step-grandfather Walter Greaza (who played Winston Grimsley)'s funeral, as well. I have come full circle. Through her character, I had the older sister I never had.

Recently, I have had the pleasure and honor to share my memories of 'The Edge of Night,' in a new book 'Survival of Soap Opera: Transformations for a New Media Era,' published by the University of Mississippi Press. Hardcover edition: Dec. 2010. Paperback edition: March 2012.

As the years passed, I rejoiced to see Linda continue in her successful daytime television career with her memorable stint as 'Egypt Jones' on ABC's 'Loving,' and as Lucy Hunter on ATWT in 1981 and as adoption agency rep Ann Reynolds in 2007 (who turned down Will and Jen's application to adopt a baby).

My sympathies go out to Linda's husband, siblings and to her extended circle of family and friends, at this sad time. Linda will always have a special place in my heart.

Edited April 30, 2012 by edgeofnight

[DRW50]

Here's your May calendar, at least if you're reading this from 1983.

[edgeofnight]

Wonderful picture of Joel Crothers...it is such a tragedy that he was taken from us far too soon. We all miss him.

[Matt]

I'm in mourning. FortuneCity ditched all their free webpages and switched to being a paid dotster. Lost in the wipe out is the legendary Edge of Night Homepage as well as Daytime Soap Opera Theme Song & Main Titles site. Although neither one had been updated in YEARS, I still found them to be a deep treasure trove of information and both are a GREAT loss to soap opera history.

[DRW50]

That sucks I still went to the EON page. It was where I learned so much about the show, years before I watched an episode. I remember trying my best on dial up to watch a few of the clips and listen to some of the audio. I loved the character biographies, especially the sections like "ten best villainesses." And all the synopses are gone now too. That's just awful. I have gotten some people hooked on the show lately and went to the site a lot to look up dates and details. What a waste.

[soapfave06]

That's horrible! I love the EON homepage. I learned a lot there, it is hands down the best website for any soap opera. They had so much information.

[balozier]

Go to http://archive.org/web/web.php In the search bar on-screen, enter http://lavender.fortunecity.com/casino/403/. This will give you backed-up copies of the site, pretty much fully-functioning... all is NOT lost!

[soapfave06]

Thanks balozier. I appreciate your sharing that link. That would have been a lot to lose.

Edited May 3, 2012 by soapfave06

[balozier]

No problem... I also am a game show fan, and I've used the Wayback Machine to find archived copies of sites from the late 90s and early 00s, in particular stuff that pretty much disappeared when GeoCities went down the tubes...

[DRW50]

Thanks! How long does that usually stay up?

[~bl~]

The wayback machine at archive.org has been around for ages (I've been using it for at least 10 years...) so you should be okay...

[FrenchFan]

I tried to reach wost.org and it works ! But I don't remember at all my username and password to access the forums which were gold mine. Dammit

[ghfan89]

Wow, they even have some old .ram files stored from wost

http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://wost.org/*

[FrenchFan]

Are the links working?

[DRW50]

From Daytime TV. This refers to 1971.

Sam Gray joined on October 22, as Frank Sloane.