AT 29 (122 page)

Felix Massengill
– Retired from Blossom after five years. The security department he created protected Blossom from future incidents.

Sonny and Marsha
– After seven years of marriage and unwilling to meet Sonny's wish to have children, Marsha filed for divorce. With the departures of Ted and Melinda, Sonny went solo and continued to record and tour in the U.S. He enjoyed success with five albums.

Kate
– Released twelve albums and won eight Grammy Awards. She toured constantly and starred on a number of television variety shows in the U.S. and England. She also appeared in several movies. She married twice and, after retiring from the road, settled in Paris with her second husband, a fashion designer.

Mike Winfield
– Lost his interest in WAGZ after a long legal battle that was decided in favor of the original owners. He joined another FM station and resurrected his national syndication. Together with Loren Philips, he became one of the top ten morning drive broadcasters in America. He reunited with his daughters and made peace with his ex-wife who permitted him to participate in all special occasions of his daughter's lives.

Alice Limoges
– Migrated to California and became a successful Hollywood screenwriter. She bought a home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles. She continued to live under the threat of AIDS, but never became seriously ill. The National Institutes for Health solicited her for a study, which continues to this day. It is hoped that her unusual immunity may lead to AIDS prevention or even a cure for others. She had a succession of live-in boyfriends, but never married.

Peggy and Joe
– Bought the next-door farm from Hillary following Red's death. Joe combined the properties into the largest dairy farm in northern Vermont. Peggy continued
to run the cooperative they established together. Under her visionary management it grew to become one of the most successful dairy cooperatives in the United States. No member ever lost money.

Hillary Limoges
– Continued to live in the farmhouse she had shared with her husband. She pursued poetry and traveled extensively until arthritis forced her retirement.

Alice and Charlene
– Little Alice followed in her mother's footsteps and studied economics at Dartmouth. She obtained advanced degrees from Princeton and the London School of Economics. She is a writer for The Economist. Charlene entered UCLA. She lived with her Aunt Alice in Bel Air for one semester. Noting her niece's wild ways, Alice promptly shipped the young woman back to Vermont with dire warnings. Peggy forced Charlene to enroll at nearby Saint Virgil's College. During her sophomore year she took a class in world religions taught by a professor named Jeff Hines. She went on to study theology at Yale University. She teaches at the University of Vermont.

Reina Das-Whitehurst
– Traveled with her husband as he toured during the next five years. When she became pregnant with their first child she stopped touring and returned to the Whitehurst estate at Apollo Bay. While managing a comfortable home for her husband and two children, she recorded several classical albums and collaborated with Jim Buckman on four more musicals born from Nathan Whitehurst's songbook.

Ellis Dorman
– Presided over Blossom-Europe until he was made an offer he could not refuse. He returned to Millburn and became Chief Executive Officer of all of Blossom's myriad divisions.

George
– Lived with his wife in Mannheim Germany until his peaceful death six years after the debut of The Whitehurst Legacy. During those years he spoke by telephone with Miles Michael McCabe every week.

Sister Marie Bonaventuri
– Remained as head of fund raising for Saint Malachy's Boys Orphanage until her death ten years after turning the leadership over to Leslie. Thousands attended her funeral. Fanny Holmquist commissioned a statue of the nun, which stands in the garden where she often spent time with her boys.

Cindy Crane-McCabe
– Left Blossom two years after giving birth. She became a fulltime mother to her son and devoted wife to her husband.

Miles Michael McCabe
– Built Blossom into one of the largest entertainment enterprises in the United States. He added a movie studio in Burbank, California to Blossom Presents. When one of his many business obligations caused him to miss his son's sixth birthday party he decided to change course. He elevated himself to Executive Chairman and installed Ellis Dorman as Chief Executive in charge of Blossom's day-to-day operations. Thereafter, Miles only came to the office three times a week. He never again missed an event in his son's life.

Nigel Whitehurst
– Became an international superstar and released fourteen albums for Blossom Records. Many of his songs were taken from his grandfather's songbook and arranged by Jim Buckman. He also secured all of the land comprising his father's farm at Apollo Bay. He built a majestic house, restored the cottage for guests and converted the barn to a recording studio. The worldwide success of The Whitehurst Legacy brought many curious fans to Apollo Bay. The pamphlet chronicling Jonathan's life, the sea trunk containing Melba's story and Nathan's music, and Aaron's restored truck, were placed on display in a storefront on Main Street. Upon visiting Nantucket, he chose to keep The
Whitehurst Trust in its natural state except for a small granite memorial with the names Nathan & Melba chiseled on its surface.

Jim and Les
– Purchased a home in Melbourne near Saint Malachy's. They also built a vacation retreat on the Great Ocean Road in Port Fairy. Les continued to lead the orphanage, which expanded to serve four hundred boys. Jim became president of Blossom-Asia/Pacific. He produced four more musicals for Blossom Presents from Nathan Whitehurst's songbook, each soaring hits in London and New York as well as Australia. He never toured again, but continued to write and record while recruiting new talent in the region. He acted upon his lifelong urge to sail by taking lessons from a veteran of the treacherous waters of the Southern Ocean. He bought a forty-foot sloop and convinced his reluctant wife to accompany him on a voyage across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. During passage Les became so ill that he feared for her life. Upon arrival in Auckland he immediately sold the sloop and returned by plane to Melbourne. He bought another sailboat, much smaller, and never sailed in bad weather or beyond the sight of land again. He and Les had three children, two girls and a boy. The boy was named James Nicholas.

The Riland Brothers and MacGregor
– Enjoyed separate, but equal success for a decade, each scoring several platinum selling albums while playing sold out concerts across North America. When their separate success ebbed Ellis Dorman packaged them together for a European tour that created a new fan base. MacGregor later returned to Prince Edward Island where he continued to write songs for other Blossom artists. After a bitter creative disagreement, the Riland Brothers broke up. Their solo endeavors enjoyed little success.

Rebellion
– Armed with songs written by Jim Buckman, carried on for another six years, achieving three platinum selling albums. Miles McCabe terminated the group's contract when Felix's security team uncovered a cache of cocaine in the several players' travel bags. The band signed with a west coast label. After two disappointing albums, Rebellion broke-up.

Weak Knees
– Became an institution in Europe. Its live concerts continued to draw crowds for two decades.

BWK
– Each year Jim, Nigel and Kate reunite for a concert in Melbourne to benefit Saint Malachy's Boys Orphanage. Sonny, Ted, Melinda, Travis and Eugene back the singers. The octet also reserves two nights to jam, unannounced, at Willie's in Airey's Inlet.