Millicent: A Gripping, True-Life Saga of Family Pride and Love

Collinsworth is a spokesperson for women's issues and, as a blind actress, a role model for the disabled. These achievements were preceded by a tortuous path which included sexual abuse as a child, an unsuccessful marriage, declining economic fortunes and attempted suicide. The journey began in a stately Arkansas homestead in the 1950s, where Southern gentility and pride of ancestry masked family problems. The mental deterioration of Collinsworth's idolized father, a manic depressive, shadowed her life because of the complicity of denial she entered into with her mother. Haunted by fears for her own sanity, pressured by the desire to please, Collinsworth endured abusive relationships as her career in the food business flourished. When an injury left her blinded and partially deafened, she pursued an acting career. Written with freelancer Winebrenner, this inspiring story is told with unobtrusive sentimentality. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)