'The Guiding Light' shines through

Sometimes you find something on YouTube that sends you down the proverbial rabbit hole. That just happened to me last night when I ran across Alan Locher's Zoom of the Shayne family reunion with five favorites from my time watching Guiding Light.

I was an unhappy General Hospital/Edge of Night fan at the time I started watching GL. I was intrigued by a storyline I read about in Soap Opera Digest, namely The Four Musketeers -- Phillip, Beth, Rick and Mindy. I took to Mindy quickest, she was sort of a wheelhouse character in the mold of my favorites Tiffany Hill on General Hospital and Raven Whitney on Edge of Night. Krista Tesreau-Strauss quickly captured my interest and imagination as Melinda Sue. She was kind of a spoiled brat, but Krista imbued her with a ton of heart and spirit.

So while I had a lot of favorites on the show (like Kim Zimmer's indomitable Reva Shayne), I raced home from school every day to see what Mindy got herself into. At the start, I thought she was a perfect match for Michael O'Leary's Rick. (I could not stop watching his B-movie Lovely but Deadly, which was on cable a lot.)

Because I loved Mindy, it took me a reallllllly long time to appreciate Roxie Shayne. Kristi Ferrell came on the show with so much spunk, but Roxanne was taking Rick away from Mindy so I didn't care for that much. But as the enmity between the two dissipated, I really started appreciating Kristi. Mark Lewis was introduced as Kurt Corday and formed a triangle with Rick and Roxie. Then Kurt started falling for Mindy (and how could he resist) and that culminated in a fairy-tale wedding that's one of the few shows from their storyline that can be found on YouTube.

Then a year or so later, Mindy's perfect match came on the show in the form of Terrell Anthony as Roxie's brother Rusty. Krista and Terrell had so much chemistry that they didn't even have to have dialogue, they just smoldered. Rusty and Mindy had a lot of stops and starts storywise due to vacations and a writers' strike, but I loved every minute they were on camera together.

The difference between being a soap fan and an aficionado of someone in the movies or on records was access. At the time, I lived in Florida. Soap mall appearances were huge at that time, it seemed like every weekend daytime drama stars were coming to our state. So when I found out Krista Tesreau was coming to Boynton Beach, I arranged an interview through the mall office for my college newspaper.

I learned so much that day. Krista was the one who told me Kurt wouldn't be returning to the canvas. At that time, I didn't really know about sweeping changes on soaps. If a new executive producer came in or the writing team changed, they inevitably -- and understandably -- would want to do things their way. Before that, I didn't comprehend characters being written into corners or understand that actors might want to do something else. It opened my eyes and was a turning point for me in terms of understanding the dynamics behind all of it.

Soon after that, I started going to fan gatherings as well. I was going to school at the University of South Florida, but jetted up to New York for the weekend to get to see the actors in person. At the first one, I literally had one hour during the autograph session to meet everyone I wanted to before heading back to Florida.

My first stop was Terrell's table. I remember introducing myself to him and being shocked that he knew my name from fan letters I sent. (He always responded to his mail, writing a few sentences that meant so much on a page ripped out from his script. Ingenious.) Having that kind of moment just deepened my appreciation for him.

Terrell did a lot of the Florida mall appearances. And I have stories from each one of them. A couple of times I arranged an interview as I was penning a soap column for my college newspaper at the time. And Terrell was the sweetest, he introduced me in glowing terms to the other actor who was appearing with him at the event each time.

Sometimes I just went to enjoy it. At an Orlando event, I made friends with two lovely ladies, mother and daughter Sandra and Lori. Another time I went to a Miami event with my sister and my best friend, Cheryl. You can imagine what the receptionist at the mall office thought when I told her that I knew Terrell and just wanted to say hello. But from somewhere in the back room, I heard his distinctive drawl help me out. "Is that Paige? Get on back here, girl!" Cue the stunned looks on the faces of Cheryl and the receptionist.

Another time I was in Orlando and I had set up an interview with Kristi and Jerry Ver Dorn (Ross Marler). Let's just say the security was lax, though, and as I headed to a previously determined office at the end of their question-and-answer session, I saw Kristi had gotten separated from the event's organizers. With fans closing in on her from every direction, I grabbed her arm and bolted to the designated meeting spot. Someone in a wheelchair rolled over my boot, but I got Kristi out of harm's way. When we settled in, she thanked me profusely and told me if I ever wanted a tour of the Guiding Light set, I should just show up at the studio in New York and she would make sure I got in. I never got to do that, but the offer meant so much to me.

The last major event I went to during this era happened right before Terrell left the show. I think it was at a car dealership and took place outside. I went with Lamar, my friend and castmate from a local production of Alone Together. Thinking it might be my last chance to see Terrell, I worked my way through the throng. Lamar's plan was to take pictures of me saying goodbye. It didn't quite work out that way. I did get through the crowd with Lamar behind me. I reached out for Terrell just as he got to his getaway limo. He swung around, saw me and wrapped me in a bear hug. It was an emotional moment for me when he turned to leave. Later when I looked at the pictures, there was one of me getting to Terrell and then one of him pulling back. I remember Lamar's quote very distinctly -- "I couldn't stop watching. It was like a scene from Casablanca." Frankly, that might be better than having the actual hug.


I've been able to see various GL cast members over the years at Daytime Stars and Strikes, a fun event that supports a great cause while providing memories you can't get from just approaching an actor at a signing table and telling him or her how much you love them. I think I've hit Michael with Lovely but Deadly references a couple of times, but I hadn't seen Terrell or Kristi in a couple of decades.

The Locher Room just brought all of these memories flooding back. And I'm just one person that this probably happened to. So much thanks to Alan for that. And biggest hugs for Krista, Terrell, Kristi, Michael and Kim. It was amazing to see all of you again. From the bottom of my heart, I love and miss you. I wish I still had the VHS edits I had of the show so I could upload them for posterity, scenes that I haven't found on YouTube yet remember so distinctly. Much thanks to you all for the memories, on and off camera.