Table of Contents
Foreword Anna Patty Duke xi
Prologue: A Hair-Raising Audition 1
1 Beginning of the Threads 6
2 Ties to Oklahoma 10
3 Los Angeles Strings 15
4 Unraveling Theatrical Threads 19
5 Biblical Cords 26
6 Sewing Together a Resume 32
7 Nice Threads, or the Good Girl 37
8 The Thread Theory 41
9 Taking the Reins 44
10 Foam Warp 47
11 Spinning Cotton 52
12 Selling Threads 57
13 Radio Connections 58
14 Silken Cords 61
15 Changing Swatches 65
16 Knots in the Yam 71
17 Philosophy of the Threads 75
18 Knitting a Degree 77
19 Adding to the Theatrical Swatch 87
20 Gathering Swatches for the Family Quilt 97
21 Piecing the Quilt 100
22 Weaving More Stones 102
23 Knitting Succeeding Rows 107
24 Brian 111
25 Brian Gathers His Own Threads 115
26 Sebastian, the Manny 121
27 Anissa, "Buffy" 125
28 Johnny, "Jody" 131
29 Mrs. Beasley, Played by an Unknown 134
30 Other Family Affair Family 135
31 A Quality Garment 149
32 Weaving an International Quilt 153
33 Puzzling Together the Pieces 157
34 Charitable Threads 160
35 Musical Sheeting 165
36 Camo 168
37 Sparkling Ties to Publicity 171
38 Lacy Love Life 175
39 One Spool Empties 183
40 Winding Another Spool 185
41 The Fiber of the Business 189
42 Throwing Threads to the Wind 192
43 Red Velvet Curtains 194
44 Creating My Own Threads 200
45 Chasing Windmill Fibers 205
46 Tying the Knot 208
47 Invisible Threads through the Air 211
48 Weaving a New Swatch 214
49 Playing with Kiddy Threads 218
50 Breaking Threads 222
51 The Garment Lengthens 225
52 Exotic Threads 232
53 Burning Threads 236
54 Putting Together the Pieces 240
55 Nostalgic Threads 245
56 Audio Swatches 251
57 Helping Others to Sew Their Own Piece 255
58 Still Sewing 257
59 Unraveled 260
60 Completing the Garment 264
Filmography 267
Family Affair Episode Guide 271
Acknowledgments 275