Here’s a riddle for ya: What do …
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… a Munchkin from Oz
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… a hard-knuckled
TV news reporter
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… and a Hawaiian hula dancer
… have in common? Scroll down for the answer!
They are all
Betty Ann Bruno, whose book, The Munchkin Diary, reveals how it all came to be.
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What was it like to be Betty Ann Cain in Munchkinland in The Wizard of Oz, the most beloved movie in the world?
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What was it like to be invited to join the production staff of the largest independent TV station in the country?
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What was it like to be a brown-skinned girl in a white man’s world who wasn’t told the truth about her ancestry?
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The answers to all these questions are here in the book, The Munchkin Diary-My Personal Yellow Brick Road.
Betty Ann on Wizard of Oz Set
When I was seven years old I was one of a dozen little girls MGM hired to dance and sing “way in the back” in Munchkinland. Here I am — third from the right.
The use and abuse of power was my beat
I began my career as a political talk show producer and host and later joined the news department as an investigative reporter. The boss said, “If a story involves political corruption or corporate wrongdoing, put Betty Ann on it.”
But now, happily retired, it’s all about the hula
I have returned to my Island roots with Hula Mai, a Hawaiian performing arts troupe I founded more than 10 years ago. I teach hula and we do shows all over Sonoma Valley and beyond.
That may sound like a scattered life, but if you read my book I think you will see it all makes perfect sense.
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I wrote these stories for my three sons — private family stories, very candid. I wanted my sons to see the truth of my life experiences. Twenty years later, in weighing whether I should publish and have strangers read the stories, I hesitated but eventually decided that at the age of 90, it doesn't really matter anymore. Besides it’s a much better read than it would have been. Go to the Vids & Clips page and learn more.
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