River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved | 
| Author: Jeffrey Buckner Ford
Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $14.74
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Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 101681
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 1581826532
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.421642092
EAN: 9781581826531
ASIN: 1581826532
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: In perfect condition
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Book Description
In 1942 Ernest Jennings Ford married nineteen-year-old Betty Jean Heminger, whom he had met at Victorville Army Air Base in California. River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved is the recounting of their life together, of Ernie's spectacular success as an entertainer, of their growing spiral of self-destruction as his career flourished, and of their two sons' despair as they watched the light slowly fade from their parents' eyes and the joy vanish from their lives. For Betty it was vodka, valium, and tranquilizers. For Ernie, it was beer for breakfast, Cutty for lunch at the club, and whatever later in the day. In 1954 Tennessee Ernie Ford broke into television on I Love Lucy as Lucy Ricardo's cousin Ernie. In 1955 "Sixteen Tons" became the fastest-selling single in the history of the recording business. From 1956 through 1961, NBC's The Ford Show brought Ernie into 30 million homes every week. Among his many honors were three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame -- for radio, records, and television -- the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved, their son Jeffrey remembers when his family's joy of being together was infectious, when the promise of every day and the thrill of being at the center of the spotlight was rapturous. It was a time when the name Ernie Ford was in the air and his fame worldwide. In the final ten or so years before Tennessee Ernie Ford's death, the press and music industry had referred to him as "legendary." This book is, in part, an accounting of the price the Ford family paid for that title and a record of the cost it ultimately exacted from Jeffrey and his brother, who paid the greatest price. It is also the story of a simple man blessed with an extraordinary talent, whose only dream was to live an ordinary life. He walked away from Hollywood at the peak of his career in the hopes of saving his family, only to see his star shine even brighter. This book is also a portrait of the complex and beautiful woman Ernie fell in love with and married, a brilliant artist in her own right whom the world would never known, whose star might have eclipsed even Ernie's but, instead, slowly faded with time, paling under the weight of the lengthening shadow cast by the man she loved.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
A Must Read August 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Reviewed by Carol Hoyer for Reader Views (7/08)
Jeffrey Buckner Ford has written an amazing book on the inside of his family's life from the beginning of his dad's start to fame to the downfall of the family. While most of us think that the rich and famous have no problems, Buck Ford shows us that is not true.
Tennessee Ernie Ford started his career as a radio announcer in Knoxville, Tennessee. As Buck recalls, his father always said he didn't go looking for fame; he just fell into the business. In 1942 he married Betty Ford and had planned on a quiet, simple life. Into the marriage came Buck and Brion Ford, who thought their family was the greatest. Although the boys did not always seem to fit up to their dad's standards, they still loved him greatly.
During the course of the marriage, Betty Ford became very friendly with the bottle; this gave her the courage to say the things she felt she should say without any apologies. Over the years her drinking would increase, she would abuse prescription pills and verbally lash out at anyone who stood in her way. Her behavior was never addressed in private or public. The relationship with her husband turned sour. After many suicide attempts and embarrassing behavior in public, it took its final toll.
Tennessee Ernie Ford was a kind gentleman; he had a style of his own and everyone wanted a piece of the action. Little did he know that his advisors were steering him in the wrong direction. After several failed businesses and selling his property, it finally got the best of him. After his wife died, he married Beverly Wood Smith, three months and ten days after burying Betty Ford. She was not what she portrayed to be. She immediately took over all Ernie Ford's business projects and left his sons without any knowledge of what she was doing. When Tennessee Ernie Ford died, she didn't even let them know where he would be buried.
"River of No Return" by Jeffrey Buckner Ford is a very interesting story if you like to know the personal background of the Ford family. It covers the ups and down's of a stars life. I personally thought it was well-written, easy-to-read and a page-turner. However, I would like to remember Tennessee Ernie Ford as the icon he was.
Sad End for a Great Entertainer July 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ernest Jennings Ford was at heart a family man devoutly devoted to his wife and two sons. At the very peak of his Hollywood success, the man who will forever be known as "Tennessee Ernie" Ford, the radio character he created for himself, decided to walk away from all the glamour because of his concern for what the Hollywood lifestyle was doing to his family. The great irony of his life is that Ernie Ford would die in October 1991 under the care of a second wife who was determined to deny his two sons any part of his legacy, financial or otherwise, a woman who even tried to deny them access to their father's funeral.
In River of No Return, Jeffrey Buckner Ford, eldest of the Ford sons, mixes his fond memories of growing up next door to Bob Hope and of the several successful television series that his father hosted with sad recollections of how alcohol and pills ended up destroying both his parents. He speaks frankly of the addictions and dissatisfaction with her life that resulted in his mother's suicide after several earlier attempts had failed, and he speaks just as honestly of how his father failed to do the things that might have saved her life. Perhaps saddest of all is his disclosure of how Ernie Ford's decision to protect his sons by moving them from Hollywood was doomed to failure because of what the boys witnessed in their own home, wherever it might be located.
Betty Jean Heminger met Ernie Ford when he was stationed at Victorville Army Air Base in California, where she worked as a secretary; she was only nineteen years old when they married. Betty Jean, an avid reader and an accomplished artist, was at first content to be labeled simply an entertainer's wife but, as the years went by, she seemed to grow frustrated with her role, turning to alcohol and drugs to get through her day. Ernie and her sons sensed when she was losing control, but though they did their best to protect her from herself, they were not always successful. As the couple grew farther and farther apart, Ernie turned more often to alcohol to ease his own pain, a decision that would eventually lead to liver disease, severe memory loss, and ultimately his death.
But River of No Return is not just about the bad times. Jeffrey Buckner Ford celebrates the good times as well, and his pride in and love for both his parents are evident. He remembers the times when being around his parents was sheer joy, days spent on the set of his father's television shows, his brief encounter with Bob Hope when he crawled through the hedges dividing their property in order to sneak a picture of Mrs. Hope, whom the neighborhood boys insisted swam in the nude in her backyard, and days spent basking in "celebrity" as only the child of famous parents can.
Ernie Ford was a spectacularly successful entertainer, a man with the voice and talent to sing any style of music but who, almost by default due to his "Tennessee Ernie" image, became best known as a country music singer. At the peak of his career, he was world-famous and played to particularly large audiences in England. As so often happens to a singer, today he is probably best-known for a single recording, "Sixteen Tons," which in 1955 became the fastest selling single in the history of the record business. Ernie Ford received numerous honors during his career, but four of them particularly stand out because they reward his decades as an entertainer: the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984, induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1994, and three stars on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame (one each for television, recordings and radio).
Jeffrey Buckner Ford presents the contrast between Ernie Ford's public success and the frustrating failures he experienced in private in what is often a conversationally ironic tone, an approach that makes the sadness of Ernie's life especially vivid. Longtime fans of Ernie Ford are certain to find River of No Return a gratifying experience despite its sad revelations about his personal life. Those not as familiar with Ford as a performer will likely read the book more as the cautionary tale it is but might, at the same time, find themselves compelled to investigate his musical history. They will be better off for having discovered why Ernie Ford is still considered to be an American music legend.
The high and low times of the Ford family as it coped with fame and its ultimate cost July 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Any interested in the life and times of Tennessee Ernie Ford will relish this biography of his achievements in RIVER OF NO RETURN: TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD AND THE WOMAN HE LOVED. The couple's eldest son recalls family life and romance, and the high and low times of the Ford family as it coped with fame and its ultimate cost. His lively survey covers a life that produced many hits and classics fond to American memory and makes for a top pick for any library strong in music history and biographies.
Really Enjoyed This Book! July 8, 2008
I really enjoyed this book. The author, Jeffrey Buckner Ford (his son) gave a very thoughtful and insightful history of Tennessee Ernie Ford's life and how it affected him. I have to admit that I never knew that Mr. Ford and his wife had such struggles with alcohol, or that Mrs. Ford died the way she did. I also was not aware of the family issues after he re-married. Tennessee Ernie Ford has always been a favorite of mine, and even though his life was troubled, he was still a great entertainer and a great man. He left a wonderful legacy for his sons and his fans. It's also nice to read a heartfelt story written by his son without bitterness or hate. You can tell his son loved him very much and will always have fond memories of his dad. I would highly recommend reading this book if you are interested to learn more about this wonderful human being. I was just sorry that Mr. Ford was not able to find the peace he had seeked before he crossed over. Stories like this are a testament that celebrities are people just like everyone else. Thank you for writing such a sensitive story.
What a surprise! June 12, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Tennessee Ford Shows were regular viewing events around our home when I was growing up (the day time shows and the history making night time show) in smalltown Circleville, Ohio. Ernie's shows represented the tops in tasteful entertainment for the entire family...and we especially enjoyed the courage it took for him to go against network brass, record executives and sponsors to make it fashionable (and very popular) to sing sacred songs. We were especially excited when family favorite Gisele MacKenzie would make an appearance with Ern (between the daytime and nighttime shows, she appeared four times), and became the only artist other than Ernie to sing the hymn of the week, and even did Ford commercials with Ernie! We only had thoughts of what a happy homelife Mr. Ford must have. How on earth did the dark side of the Ford family remain so covered up for all these years!?? I purchased this revealing book with great caution...I was fearful that I'd be getting another 'parent dearest' type book by a disgruntled relative! The book tells the heartbreaking story of a legend and his family and what booze can do to it and how things can become so ugly and out-of-control, like when Ernie's second wife had the legend's children banned from the superstar's funeral. The image of Ernie lying on air port floors, bleeding and drunk was almost too much for me to imagine or handle, but there it is in all its horrific detail. Although I thought I knew much about Ernie's life, I never dreamed that his 'beloved' first wife, Betty, hadn't died of natural causes. Jeffrey Ford masterfully and tastefull tells the dreadfully exasperating story of a broken family living a lie in the public spotlight...I felt his sons' pain...and I experienced personal pain myself as I tried to reconcile the life of the great entertainer and hymn singer with gory reality, along with Mr. Ford's wondrous achievements that won him a place in The Country Music Hall of Fame. Nothing, not even facing the facts of the real Ernie Ford, his family and life, can take away my grand memories of coming home from school on a daily basis to find my own Mother working in the kitchen and singing along with one of Ernie's dozens of sacred albums. He brought us all so much grand entertainment, personal hope and grand memories, while suffering a living hell of his own. Bless your heart, Ernie Ford, and I wish both your sons a happy life. Thanks, Jeffrey Ford, for a most remarkable and informative book.
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