"hussy" who "cursed". The suit was initially dismissed. However Gaison appealed to the Supreme Court, who referred the matter to a jury, saying there was an arguable case of invasion of privacy. The jury ruled in Rawlings' favor. Rawlings died in 1953. Development Film rights were purchased by producer Robert Radnitz. "There was such a feeling of place in the book," he said. "That's something that has always interested me, because I think all of us are very influenced by where we happen to live. Second, I felt that what she accomplished was incredible, particularly at the time she did it. It took tremendous courage for her to pick up and start a new life." In 1978 Radnitz announced he would make a TV movie of the book for NBC with Elizabeth Clark to adapt it. The film was not made. Radnitz decided to make a feature film instead and got Dalene Young to write a script. "The script was turned down by every major studio in town," said the producer. "They all said to me, 'God, it's beautiful. Come back if you've got Jane Fonda or Meryl Streep.' One of them literally suggested Barbra Streisand. I said to him, 'Can you really imagine Barbra Streisand in this role?' He said, 'Well, I admit it's off-casting, but it could be interesting'." Eventually he succeeded in getting Martin Ritt, with whom he had made Sounder, to direct and financing was obtained from EMI Films. It was one of a number of films Ritt had made about the South. "The essence of drama is change," he said, "and the South has gone through more changes than any other section of the country." Casting In 1982 it was announced Mary Steenburgen would star and Steenburgen's husband Malcolm McDowell was to play editor Max Perkins. Ritt says he cast Steenburgen because "I wanted a lady out of Middle America who had a lot of the good qualities associated with that section of the country... I just thought she was right. It's an educated guess, you never really know. You try to pair the actors together with the big scenes. I knew Mary was good. I'd seen Melvin and Howard... I just had a feeling she'd be right." The character based on Jody was a girl in real life and turned into a boy for The Yearling. The filmmakers were going to keep Jody a