to ask her to write stories about the people she describes so well in her letters instead of the English governess stories she has been writing. She does so immediately, beginning with the story of the young married couple (which eventually becomes "Jacob's Ladder," published in Scribner's Magazine in 1931). During a visit to the Turners' home on Ellie's 14th birthday, Flag escapes his pen once more and Marsh is forced to shoot him after he eats the family's vegetables. Ellie screams at him in hatred, and Marsh goes on a bender, goes into town and attracts the sheriff's attention. The sheriff finds Marsh drinking moonshine with a shotgun across his lap and demands the gun. When Marsh offers it to him, the sheriff shoots him. The story becomes the basis for The Yearling. At Marsh’s funeral, Ellie blames Marjorie for both her father’s and Flag’s deaths and tells her to leave. Rejected and heartbroken, Rawlings leaves her home in a motorboat and rides down the waterways for several miles. After more than a day in complete isolation and loneliness out in the water, she returns to her home and is happily reunited with Geechee. A few nights later, Marjorie and Geechee find themselves battling to save their orange grove from the autumn frost. Her neighbors arrive to help her out, and among them are Ellie and her younger siblings. Ellie apologizes to Marjorie for her behavior towards her at her father’s funeral, stating that “good friends shouldn’t keep apart,” and they reconcile as friends again. Max Perkins (Malcolm McDowell) visits and accepts her story "Jacob's Ladder" upon reading it. Baskin asks Rawlings to marry him, and she accepts after much hesitation about her independence. Rawlings realizes her profound attachment to the land at Cross Creek. Cast Production In 1928 Rawlings gave up a ten-year career in journalism to move to Cross Creek and write novels. She won the Pulitzer in 1939 for The Yearling. Rawlings' book Cross Creek was published in 1942. The New York Times called it "an autobiographical regional study". Reviews were strong and the book became a best seller, selling more than 500,000 copies. A companion book Cross Creek Cookery came out the same year. In 1943 Miss Zelma Gaison, a social worker and friend of Rawlings, sued the author for $100,000 alleging defamation of character in the novel, claiming it made her look like a