Delmarva Today 1-28-22
Harold Wilson’s guest is Eastern Shore writer and historian Brent Lewis. They discuss his new book Stardust by the Bushel, a chronical of the relationship of the film industry with the Delmarva. The book discusses the Eastern Shore as the location for major films like The Runaway Bride and Wedding Crashers and as a secluded getaway for some well-known stars like Robert Mitchum, Tallulah Bankhead, and Annie Oakley. Who knew, for instance, that Fay Wray was married (for the first time) in Easton during the filming of The First Kiss in St. Michaels with leading man, Gary Cooper standing as witness in his waterman’s overalls? Or that Robert Mitchum and Yul Brenner dented a gate near Trappe, Maryland racing their twin Aston Martins? And as for a little gossip, if you want to know what Tallulah Bankhead wore underneath her clothes, you’ll find it in Stardust by the Bushel. Oh, and she is also buried in a cemetery near Chestertown.
Brent Lewis is a native of the Eastern Shore with deep local roots. He has written two local history books and one novel, Bloody Point, 1976. On its fly-leaf Stardust by the Bushel touts itself as a look at the Eastern Shore’s role as “a hatchery, sanctuary, and stage setting for universally known moments in American pop culture.” And it certainly does that. But there is more, much more. In the course of describing the film industry’s connection to the Delmarva, Brent lays out detailed historical information about the peninsula that you will find nowhere else, at least without an exhaustive search.