BLOODWORTH-THOMASON MAKES TRIP BACK HOME TO GET PROJECT UPDATE

POPLAR BLUFF -- Linda Bloodworth-Thomason came home Tuesday.

The television writer/producer and her husband, Harry, were in Poplar Bluff for only a few hours, but they made the most of their visit.

The couple took Linda's nephews and niece out for pizza. They visited her brother and cousin at their law offices. And, they inspected renovation work being done at the Claudia Company House.

Although the Claudia Company House, formerly Bloodworth-Thomason's grandparents home, is her personal project, it will house the national headquarters of the Claudia Company.

"I have just been wanting to see it in person," Bloodworth-Thomason said.

As Bloodworth-Thomason toured the construction site, she visited with contractor Marshall Heisler of Sikeston. This was the first time Bloodworth-Thomason and Heisler had met.

At one point she and Heisler climbed a ladder where she could see work being done on the second floor.

As she descended, Bloodworth-Thomason, laughing, told the workers, "Don't cut any corners after we leave."

The house tour often was delayed as Bloodworth-Thomason stopped to chat with members of the Claudia Company board Evelyn and Guy Whitworth, Richard Minetree, Tommy Clarkson, Jeannie Stewart and her cousin, John, and hug friends, like Bonnie Wolpers, who dropped by to visit.

Bloodworth-Thomason said of the house, "This is great. I like it."

As she and Stewart discussed the Charlie Classics reading program, Bloodworth-Thomason explained that it will be featured on her "Evening Shade" television series this year.

Bloodworth-Thomason has waited to use the reading program on the series because she "wants it to work in other towns."

She explained that Helen Walton, wife of the late Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, who she describes as the "richest woman in the world," wants to start the reading program in Bentonville, Ark.

Bloodworth-Thomason, her husband and his brother, Danny Thomason, flew into Poplar Bluff from Little Rock after the Thomasons and their production crew had finished filming presidential hopeful Gov. Bill Clinton and his family. Harry is an Arkansas native and the Thomasons maintain a home in Little Rock. Danny is a Little Rock optometrist.

Their work will be viewed during prime time on all three networks and at the Democratic National Convention, Bloodworth-Thomason said.

Bloodworth-Thomason explained that the Clintons will be "basically talking about their personal lives." She described what they had to say as "moving" and "emotional material."

Now that the taping is done, her job will be to cut 10 hours of tape into "10 minutes in 10 days," she said.

The Thomasons are planning to attend the Democratic convention with the Clintons and are actively participating in planning convention activities.

Prior to going to Arkansas, Bloodworth-Thomason was in Washington, D.C., to accept an award from the Women's Legal Defense Fund for her advancement of women and families and especially for her "Designing Women" segment about Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill.

She told the Women's Legal Defense League that she was a "rowdy girl."

She explained that the term "rowdy girl" came from an past incident her niece Stacy shared with her. Stacy explained that she and her friends "get in trouble at recess. We run and we run." They would fall and bruise their knees but "we don't care. We are the rowdy girls. We will just never be the stand around girls."

Bloodworth-Thomason told the group that she too is a rowdy girl, so was Eleanor Roosevelt, Anita Hill in her own quite way and Amelia Earhart, and "a lot of the women in my hometown of Poplar Bluff are rowdy girls."

Bloodworth-Thomason said the Women's Defense League is considering changing the name of the award to the "rowdy girl award."

Bloodworth-Thomason's Claudia Company is financing the education of about 56 women in Missouri and Arkansas this year, as well as fighting domestic violence by helping support Haven House and promoting literacy through the Charlie Classics Reading Program.