In my book I describe how Jim wrote the song for Bea, and recorded it in a manner that she coached him to do -- singing more softly and closer to the mic. This gave birth to his whole new singing style and was a turning point in his career.
Furthermore, when the song won awards, Jim asked Bea to accept his on his behalf, NOT Mary -- who also attended the November 1957 awards ceremony (while Jim was tied up doing his network radio show).
To add insult to injury, Mary not only wrested the song away from Bea, she even managed to grab another song that had nothing whatsoever to do with this matter -- a Ned Miller tune that Bea had in her song publishing company.
As highly as I regarded Mary's friendship, I always knew her to be a "steel magnolia." What she did to Bea was wrong and she KNEW it, but she did it anyway.
People close to Mary will tell you that in some respects, she sewed the seeds of her own destruction. Yes, she was a victim of unscrupulous people, but Mary also had her dark side when it came to money. Sad to say.
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