BEVERLY SILLS: MEDIA PANHANDLER
In the meantime, I was going great guns with Major Bowes. He worked with me the same way Uncle Bob had: We talked, and then I sang. For my first appearance, we rehearsed a little conversation and then repeated it on the show. The Major asked me: “Are you nervous?” I said I was, and the Major told the audience: “Well, I’ve given Beverly a little white elephant and she’s clutching it in her hand for good luck?”Major Bowes’ Capitol Family reached millions of homes, and by the following Sunday night’s broadcast, listeners had sent me hundreds of little elephants. That was the start of a collection that at one time numbered thousands of glass, ivory, and jade elephants. Except for two of them, I’ve since donated my entire collection to various charity auctions. The only ones I’ve hung on to are the original ivory elephant Major Bowes gave me and one I received from my stepdaughter Lindley. My parents…
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