Gone with the Wind - Real People in the Story
While researching her book, Making of a Masterpiece, Sally Tippett Rains discovered an old scrapbook created by Margaret Mitchell's aunt.
It reveals the likelihood that Margaret Mitchell based some of the characters and scenes in Gone with the Wind—which turned 75 in 2011—on real people and real events.
This was a particularly important "find," since Mitchell did a great deal of research to be sure that she did not give her fictional characters the names of real people living in the Atlanta area. She also said she did not base her characters on real people. However ... the scrapbook provides some interesting, contrary evidence.
In this clip, Rains describes the scrapbook and the conclusions she reached after reading it.
See, also:
Edward R. Murrow Interviews Vivien Leigh (who played Scarlett O'Hara in the film version of Gone with the Wind).
Media Credits
Video of Sally Tippett Rains, describing her research into Gone with the Wind, online courtesy gwtwbook.com, via YouTube.
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