Confessions of a Prairie Bitch (26 page)

APPENDIX

T
o find out how you too can help to change the laws to better protect children, visit:

National Association to PROTECT Children at www.protect.org

Promise to PROTECT at www.promisetoprotect.org

For more information on child abuse issues in general, visit:

The Zero’s resources page at www.vachss.com

If you are in crisis right now, visit:

Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) at www.rainn.org, or call 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)

ChildHelp USA Hotline at www.childhelp.org/hotline

If you want more information on what law enforcement is doing about child abuse and child pornography, visit:

Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force at www.icactraining.org

the FBI’s Innocent Images National Initiative at www.ffii.gov/innocent.htm

For issues concerning the treatment of child actors, visit:

A Minor Consideration at www.minorcon.org

To learn more about HIV and AIDS and link to resources, visit:

TheBody.com at www.thebody.com

National AIDS/HIV Hotline at www.ashastd.org/nah, or call 1-800-342-AIDS (2437)

For information on gay and lesbian issues, visit:

Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) at www.pflag.org

To find out more about
Little House on the Prairie
:

The ultimate Little House fan Web site at www.prairiefans.com

Melissa Gilbert/Bruce Boxleitner Web site at www. gilbertboxleitner.com

Alison Arngrim Web site at www.hgd.com/alison

Alison Arngrim Web site (French) at www.alison-arngrim.com

Greenbush Twins (Baby Carrie) Web site at www. greenbushtwins.com

Laura Ingalls Wilder Web site at www.lauraingallswilder.com

Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum Web site at www. lauraingallswilderhome.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

M
ain thanks: Kent D. Wolf, Didier Imbot, and everyone at Global Literary Management; Sheryl Berk and her invaluable seven-year-old research assistant, the appropriately named Carrie; Kate Hamill and Harper Collins; and Harlan Boll.

People without whom this book could not have been published: Jimmy Dykes, for his oh-so-comfortable pull-out sofa and for teaching me how to use the New York Subway system; Chip Duckett and everybody at The Cutting Room, where Kent found me; the inventors of Facebook, where Kent tracked me down, not having my phone number; Gerald Paras, for the use of his apartment and for all the totally “fan-boy” questions he kept asking me, giving me endless inspiration for new chapters; Melissa Gilbert, for going first into the line of fire with her book, even though she’s supposed to be the “nice” one; Sue Hamilton, for making the “Confessions” show into what it is today; Howie Green, who actually came up with the title years and years ago; my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Gerson, who figured out that none of us in her class could write a paragraph and made us all study the
Language Arts
basic grammar book until we could; and the late Lew Sherril, for sending me on that audition in 1974.

Thanks also to Michael Landon, Katherine MacGregor, Richard Bull, Jonathan Gilbert, Steve Tracy, and the entire cast and crew of
Little House on the Prairie
.

Special thanks to the real Laura Ingalls Wilder, the real Ms. Nellie Owens, and both of their entire families for making all of our careers possible!

The French: Patrick Loubatiere, Sandra Loubatiere, Sophie Epasto, Eric Caron, Christophe Renaud, Olivier Rigalot, Jamel Debouzze, everyone at
Les Enfants de la Télé,
and the people of France.

The Americans: Larry King, the producers and staff at
Larry King
, Nancy Grace and staff, Bob Schoonover, the entire Schoonover family, Angela Spataro, Sharon Phalon-Smith, Stan Smith, Pat Healy, Lindsay Ralphs, Sheri Freid, Pamela Fenton, Corinne Spicer, Pamela Clay Magathan, ANT, Thom Delorenzo, Will Denson, John McCormick, Daniel Cartwright, Rich Sebastian, Barry Horton and everybody at Tuesday’s Child, Steve Pieters, Nadia Sutton (okay, also French), Albert Ogle (okay, and the Irish), Wendy Arnold, Thom Mosely, and everybody at APLA.

PROTECT: Grier Weeks, David Keith, Camille Cooper, Jennifer Allen, Dr. Bruce Perry, and everyone on the board. All those who helped carry the sword of justice to California: Betsy Salkind, Robin Tyler, Senator James Battin and staff, Ken Devore, Paul Petersen, Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA), Ruby Andrew, Gloria Allred, and all those who do their best work by not being famous: “J.,” “R.,” “West Coast K.,” “East Coast K.,” “L.,” and all the others.

And, of course, inestimable gratitude to the inscrutable Mr. Vachss.

About the Author

ALISON ARNGRIM
starred as Nellie Oleson for seven years on the TV series
Little House on the Prairie
. She also guest-starred on
The Love Boat, Fantasy Island,
and the NBC movie of the week
I Married Wyatt Earp
. She has appeared in numerous films and plays, and her stand-up comedy show, “Confessions of a Prairie Bitch,” has become a worldwide phenomenon. Arngrim also volunteers for nonprofit organizations such as AIDS Project Los Angeles and the National Association to Protect Children. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Credits

Jacket design by Andrea Cardenas

Jacket photographs courtesy of the author

Copyright

CONFESSIONS OF A PRAIRIE BITCH
. COPYRIGHT © 2010 by Alison Arngrim. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

EPub Edition © May 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-200010-1

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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