Playa_X_13

My mom worked with Tom Butterfield at the mental health institution where he worked. I went to school with many of the kids from the ranch, including the real "Zim." Another kid from the ranch invited me out to the ranch for a Saturday of horseback riding (each kid had their own horse at the time) in 1963 when I was 8 and I met and was quite impressed by Tom Butterfield. The movie was not over-dramatized at all as these were pretty much how events transpired. In Marshall, I was close friends with the family of Joey Turley, who played Tom's first kid in the movie and even remember his birth. This movie depicts a very interesting time in Marshall, though I was too young to understand all that was going on at the time. It always seems strange for me to see in it many of the real people that I knew in town, as characters portrayed by actors and it was quite interesting to see the filming of the movie in our fair town. I do have many memories of the kids at the original ranch, including Johnny Kates and the great work that Tom Butterfield was performing and what he stood for. Tom's passing was a very sad occasion.