Actress/Author Finds Path to Contentment in the Spotlight

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

More than 170 were on hand at the Anderson County Library Saturday to hear actress and author Karen Grassle talk about her career and her book: "Bright Lights, Prairie Dust." 

Best known for he role as the mother on the NBC series "Little House on the Prairie," which ran from 1974-1984, Grassle's book tells her story of growing up in California where she knew at an early age she was called to the stage. 

Her work took her first to San Francisco and then to London and New York, where she performed Shakespeare in the park alongside such co-stars as Christopher Walken and Same Warterson. But her life, personal and professional, took a hard turn when she was cast as one of the leads of "Little House on the Prairie." Her book chronicles her fast-track casting on the show and her struggles with Michael Landon during the filming of the season. 

It also provides details of her road to recovery from alcoholism which began during the filming of the series. 

More on her career acting credits here.

In her interview with the Anderson Observer, Grassle also discussed her lifelong love of books and memories of getting her first library card.