Beautiful Dreamer: The Life of Stephen Collins Foster
As a child in northern Florida, Ellen Ulken used to swim in the Suwannee River, made famous by the song "Old Folks at Home."  Later, in her travels - first growing up on far-flung Army posts and then as a flight attendant - she found the music of Stephen Foster a comforting reminder of her rural Southern roots. Beautiful Dreamer is her tribute to Foster, whose songs explore the range of human emotion - from the melancholy of "Gentle Annie" to the merriment of "Ring, Ring the Banjo!" She lives in Mandeville, La., with her companion, Jerry Watts, and an Irish setter, Andrew.