Was at the Barnes & Noble at The Grove this morning doing a post-breakfast browse and spotted on the bookshelf "The Q Guide to Designing Women" by Allen Crowe. Regular readers of this blog know that this is one of my favbrite shows of all time . I had written a series of newspaper articles and blog posts about a "Designing Women" reunion that took place in the fall of 2006. It gave me the opportunity to interview star Dixie Carter and creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason before the event. At the event, I got a second-row seat directly behind Delta Burke and met all four of the main leads: Burke, Carter, Jean Smart and Annie Potts. It was heaven. A short time later, the author had called me to interview me for the book. I didn't give it another thought until I saw the book this morning. I saw my name in the acknowledgments and as I leafed through it, found myself quoted in Chapter 12 ("The Cast's Favorite Episodes") on pages 124 and 135).

The episode he writes about is "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?" Here's the excerpt: In addition to "Dash Goff, the Writer," the episode when Delta first met Gerald McRaney, her favorite show was the one dealing with her weight issues. Los Angeles Daily News entertainment journalist Greg Hernandez also picked this as his favorite episode. He was very moved by a conversation between Julia and Suzanne the morning after Suzanne's high school reuniin: "Julia told Suzanne, 'In the end all that matters is what was true and truly felt.' As a closeted gay man (at the time), it really resonated with me. It was something to go on and try to live by."

A few pages later, the author provides the entirety of what Julia said to Suzanne - words that have stuck with me forever: "In the end it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about you. You have to be exactly who and what you want to be. Most everyone is floating along on phony public relations. People who say being beautiful or rich or thin makes them happy. People who are trying to make their marriages and their children seem better than they actually are. And for what?! Appearances. Appearances don't count for diddly! In the end, all the really matter is what was true and truly felt and how we treated one another."

THE EMMY THAT GOT AWAY: Delta Burke was nominated for her first Emmy Award for her performance in the episode but had the misfortune of going up against Candice Bergen who won her second (of five overall) Emmy that year for "Murphy Brown."

Related posts:
- A Night with the Designing Women: Part One
- A Night with the Designing Women: Part Two
- The Dazzling Designing Women