My History with the Little House on the Prairie TV Show

Welcome to my website. I am the webmaster for www.melissasueandersonfan.com and www.littlehouseontheprairietvcast.com. I created the Melissa Sue Anderson website in 2008 and the Little House on the Prairie TV Cast website in 2023.

How did I become a fan of Little House on the Prairie? I don’t remember the exact details, but I saw an episode of Little House around 1975 with Melissa Sue Anderson. The fireworks must have gone off because I developed a major crush on her. I became a regular viewer of the show after that. I didn’t have a VCR at that time, but I recorded some episodes with a cassette recorder. I bought magazines with articles about Melissa in them and put them on my bedroom wall.

I joined Melissa’s fan club sometime between 1977 and 1980. I still have my fan club card and other membership items.

I also wrote Melissa two letters in 1977 and 1981 and sent her a bell with an inscription on it. I don’t remember what it said. I also was able to see Happy Birthday to Me at the movie theater in 1981.

Between going to college and life, I didn't think very much about Melissa during that time. Around 2005, I started watching 2 – 3 episodes of Little House a day at my TV job. In 2006, my wife created a fan website for River Phoenix, so I decided to learn about creating websites and created one about Melissa Sue Anderson. I still had all my fan memorabilia in boxes. I collected and recorded shows that Melissa had acted in. Once I had all the articles, video shows, and photos collected, I started creating the website.

In 2010, I was excited to learn that Melissa had written an autobiography, and she was going to do a book tour to support it. I was contacted by one of the publisher's representatives who gave me Melissa's itinerary of her book signings and media appearances. I created the Melissa Sue Anderson Fan Facebook page to help promote her appearances. I was able to contact Melissa and do a short interview about her book. I saw that Melissa was doing a book signing in Colorado. Since I had family living in Colorado, I decided to go to her two book signings.

Melissa's publishing representative told me that I could do a "meet and greet" with Melissa before the book signing. Melissa and I talked for a while before the book signing. We were both a little nervous. I was a little shy and quiet. Melissa has similar personality traits. Here are 2 photos from our first meeting.

Here is how Melissa signed my book.

Melissa and I kept in touch through e-mail through the years. Then she was going to do another appearance at Genesee Country Museum in New York in 2014. I saw Melissa's two appearances on both days in August, On Sunday August 3, 2014, I went to lunch with Melissa and her daughter, Piper. I enjoyed sitting next to Melissa at the table and listening to the conversation for 50 minutes. Here are some photos from the lunch.

I haven’t seen Melissa in person since 2014, but we have kept in touch with email. In 2010, I was able to talk to Katherine MacGregor on the phone. Melissa gave me her phone number so I could talk to her about writing a memoir. It didn’t go any farther than talking on the phone. Hersha Parady and I were friends on Facebook and she was always commenting on my posts. I wish I could have met her in person. I made some Little House captures for Lucy Lee Flippin and was able to meet her in person in 2024 in Simi Valley.

In December 2023, the Little House cast attended an event in Corsicana, TX which is less than an hour from where I live. I volunteered both days for the event. On the first day, I had some of the Little House memoirs signed (Wendi Lou Lee and Alison Arngrim). It was the 2nd time that I had met Wendi. She had been in Arlington, TX the previous year. I had photos taken with Alison Arngrim, Charlotte Stewart, and Dean Butler. The next day, I went to the breakfast event with the Little House cast.

In 2024, I went to the Little House on the Prairie 50th anniversary in Simi Valley, CA. I volunteered on Friday and Saturday. Karen Grassle signed her memoir. I also had photos taken with Lucy Lee Flippin, Linwood Boomer, Michael Landon, Jr. and Leslie Landon Mathews, and Sharon Evans. I did a photo op with Melissa Gilbert and Karen Grassle. I had a good time except for my scheduled tour of the Big Sky Ranch was cancelled due to rain. I had to wait 3 hours in a standby line to see it on Sunday. I went to Brian and Melody Part’s concert. They were great.

Since 2008, I have made some great acquaintances in the Little House community. I’ve always enjoyed talking to Barnaby Marriott on Facebook. We finally met in person at Simi Valley, and I enjoyed our talk. He is the ultimate celebrity magnet and a fellow library co-worker on a different continent. Eric Caron is another person that I have enjoyed interacting with over the years. I wish we could have talked more at Simi Valley. Patrick Loubatiere has interviewed many of the Little House cast members and manages Alison Arngrim’s French tour. He has some great publications about different cast members.

I have learned a lot about different Little House cast members through my research for my website. The video filmography pages are the most time consuming since I must create screenshots for the thumbnails. Hopefully, visitors to my website will learn all about the cast members. I would like to get some cast members to visit the Dallas Public Library for book signings or presentations.

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