Myself

Hi I’m Thomas. As an East Tennessean, I feel it’s important to keep the memory of Christy alive. Bias is evident here as this is where Christy begins. Leonora Wood came from Asheville, NC to Del Rio, TN in 1909. She was on a mission to teach poor school children. You must know that was a day and age in this region with no electricity, running water, and little knowledge of the outside world. She came to teach but didn’t realize the overwhelming blessings that she had back home only 50 miles away.

While I realize I’m late to the online fanbase, I feel I can bring back a bit of interest to the Christy community. I was born in the same city as the Christy novelist Catherine Marshall in Johnson City, Tennessee next to the Cherokee National Forest. As read in the novel it’s here where Dr. MacNeill’s lineage settled in Washington county.

I was 7 years old during the TV premiere. I vaguely remember the sizable about of excitement and news coverage of the filming here in East Tennessee. I’m some what disconnected to the history behind not only of the show, but most certainly the numerous factual events with Leonora Wood and others concerned.

The television series was filmed in Townsend, TN and surrounding areas near the Great Smoky Mountains. The real events however, occurred only 60 miles away deep inside the Cherokee National Forest in Del Rio, TN. However the series, the story and the novel has largely been lost. Forgotten. Swept under the mud of the slime that permeates todays shows. Only a literal miracle from God would allow such a story to be seen today. In fact, it’s a miracle it made it to television from the very beginning in 1994. It took producer Ken Wales, 19 years to bring it to TV. You can read more about that in the Articles section.

Without the TV series and my residence as an East Tennesseean you wouldn’t be reading this today. I’m certain the novelist Catherine Marshall, and Leonora Wood would have been shocked how their story has been told to millions of Americans and yet small tidbits continue to linger, since the novel’s release in 1967. The story teaches us that everyday we are here to learn.