‘Gone with the Wind’ consultant featured at show
Published 8:00 am Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Athens will mark the 75th anniversary of the classic “Gone with the Wind” this weekend with a series of special events.
Among the featured speakers will be the neice of Susan Myrick.
Susan Myrick, of “Gone With the Wind” fame, was born Feb. 20, 1893. The fifth child of James and Kate Myrick, the little girl loved the limelight from the time she was 5. Family legend shows that at the age of 5, Myrick told a hilarious rendition of the “Br’er Rabbit” story, and the family knew that she would go on to even more widespread fame. Myrick learned about the Civil War from both her mother and father. Kate Myrick’s mother showed strength and courage when the Yankees and General Sherman infiltrated their home in Wilkinson County. Because of her words, they did not burn their home down. Susan Myrick’s grandfather lost his wealth, as he had invested in Confederate notes to further the Cause of the South. Southern lore was invested into her blood from the time she was old enough to understand it.
Myrick met Margaret Mitchell, the novelist who wrote “Gone With the Wind,” at a Georgia Press Institute inaugural meeting in 1928. From the very beginning, Myrick and Mitchell enjoyed each other’s company and Myrick would later be among the first to know that Mitchell was writing a book. Mitchell never let Myrick read it beforehand, as she said, “She would rather walk naked down Peachtree Street.”
When the novel became a smashing success, Mitchell sold the rights to the novel to the Selznik International Pictures Corporation. Myrick was chair of the casting committee for the Macon Little Theater, as well as a journalist for the Macon Telegraph. Mitchell asked Selznik to hire Myrick to be a technical advisor for the movie. During her time in Hollywood, Myrick penned more than 30 columns for The Telegraph about what the making of “Gone With the Wind” was like, and included interesting anecdotes about the actors and their lives. Myrick helped teach Vivien Leigh (the young British actress cast as Scarlett O’Hara) how to “be Southern” and instructed Selznick on everything from everyday dresses to the correct bloodhound.
After “Gone With the Wind” had finished filming, Myrick returned home to pen a popular and award winning column about farming, as well as write a textbook for third graders entitled, “Our Daily Bread.” The book educated children about where their food came from.
Myrick lived on S. Liberty Street in Milledgeville, and died Sept. 3, 1978. She is buried in Memory Hill Cemetery.
Myrick’s niece, Susan Lindsley, has penned a biography of Myrick, helped along by actual journal entries and tales passed along to her by her aunt. Lindsley will be participating in the University of Georgia Library’s 75th anniversary of the publishing of “Gone With the Wind.” A reception to open “In a Weak Moment I Wrote a Book,” will be held May 6 from 6 until 8 p.m. in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The cost is $35 per person for the reception and Lindsley will speak at 3:15 p.m. on May 7. She will discuss her book, “Susan Myrick of Gone With The Wind.”
Seminars begin May 7 at 9 a.m. in Room 101 of the Miller Learning Center and all of the lectures are free and open to the public. Space is limited however, so reservations are requested. The deadline for reservations to the event has been extended until May 4, and attendees may call Leandra Nessel at (706) 542-3879 to reserve their space and pay by credit card.