Waltons creator Earl Hamner dies at 92 (edit w/Earl)
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An American storyteller, the creator of the hit 1970s family television series The Waltons, Earl Hamner died Thursday at the age of 92. Hawes Spencer has this report.
Growing up in the tiny Nelson County town of Schuyler, Earl Hamner mined his childhood for tales for one of the most popular shows in television history: The Waltons.
"When I was growing up on Spencer's Mountain with my three sisters, my four brothers, I was certain that no one on earth had quite so good a life."
Last year, Ray Castro released a documentary on that life.
"Earl was a true Southern gentleman. He was an American treasure,' says Castro.
Hamner's career went beyond John Boy. and his adaptations of Heidi and Where the Lillies Bloom. He made a cut-throat soap opera called Falcon Crest-- plus several episodes of [Twilight theme] The Twilight Zone.
Hamner's legacy continues through the old family home and a museum in Schuyler as well as a Central Virginia-based theater company.
For WCVE News, Hawes Spencer in Charlottesville. # PHOTO: Earl Hamner in his boyhood bedroom. (photo by "Earl Hamner Storyteller") #