Maggie McCormick

Volume 3 of the 3-volume set covers Jeanette's and Gene's lives from the end of WWII until their deaths. There are no letters, per se, in this volume. By this time their careers were declining. Jeanette is touring in concerts while Gene is touring in plays so they spent a lot of time apart. I found it interesting that Jeanette tried to get Nelson Eddy to tour with her as the re-release of their films had caused interest in them to increase but he did not want to tour with her. Again, Gene steps up as Jeanette's health declines, even carrying her to the second floor of a building where her fan club was meeting. After her death, Gene continued to make sure her sister's were taken care of as well as her vocal coach and secretary. These 3 volumes have really increased my respect and admiration for Gene Raymond. The author also used the last chapters to dispel much of the incorrect information on the internet about Jeanette and Nelson Eddy as well as Gene. In my opinion, because so much is backed up with facts, the author should post information on Wikipedia to dispel the incorrect information presented there.… (más)

This is volume 2 of a 3-volume set on Jeanette MacDonald and Gene Raymond. Volume 2 concentrates on the wartime letters. The letters are mainly Gene's letters to Jeanette. There are a few cables from Jeanette to Gene but it is definitely oriented towards Gene's letters. I think his love of Jeanette is shown in this letters and his purpose of sacrifice to get the war over with so he could return to her is repeated over and over again. It was interesting to read of some of the inconveniences the soldiers faced from shortage of toilet paper to the temperature of the water in the showers/bathtub. While I found this the most interesting and personal of the three volumes, I found the author's annoying (sic) notations for every misspelled word or typographical error extremely annoying. The snarky comment about Gene's typing skills was not needed. I ask has the author ever typed on a manual typewriter late at night after a day's work as Gene was doing? I also did not think we needed the comment that sexual innuendo was present in some letters. We are smart enough to figure that out on our own. I enjoyed reading the letters and it made my opinion of Gene much higher than it was after Volume 1.… (más)

This is volume 1 of a 3-volume set on Jeanette MacDonald and Gene Raymond. Volume 1 concentrates on their lives up through WWII. While the subtitle includes "wartime letters" there are no letters in Volume 1. It is a comprehensive look at their lives and careers before they met, their romance, and early years of their marriage. I loved the part where Gene had secretly bought a house and on their wedding day had Jeanette's possession moved from her house to their new home so after the ceremony they went to their new home. I think Gene's mother had to be the mother-in-law from hell. I thought this was well done although it was apparent the author is a Jeanette MacDonald fan as there really wasn't anything negative said about her other than - she was human. I liked learning more about Gene Raymond who I think was a true gentleman.… (más)