If you’re a Gen Xer, you grew up on a Friday night of Dukes of Hazzard, Dallas, and Falcon Crest, even if it was against your parents’ wishes or explicit instructions. I was lucky. My parents would often go out on Friday evenings, ironically to church group functions, leaving Dave and me with a babysitter who was only too willing to let us sit in front of the television well past our bedtimes.

Dave usually went to bed after the Dukes of Hazzard (he was about 6, after all) but I stayed up to follow the antics of JR, Sue Ellen, Jock, Miss Ellie, Bobby, and Pam on Dallas. Like the rest of the nation, I spent a summer thinking Sue Ellen had shot JR and then (spoiler alert!) being shocked to learn it was Kristin. I mourned when Bobby died (spoiler alert!) and was elated to learn it was all a dream. And I was broken-hearted when Dallas ended in 1991, even though it had been years since I’d watched it.

I even faithfully returned to watch the new generation of Ewings when Dallas returned in 2012. JR, Sue Ellen, and Bobby (played by original cast members Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, and Patrick Duffy) were back and so was I. Most weeks I joined Tim and Michael to watch, share a Dallas-inspired meal and Texas Tea. Like me, Tim is a lifelong fan. He can identify the theme song in just two notes and, as a kid, created a family tree to keep track of all the Ewing branches.

Being diehard fans, Tim, Michael, and I were overjoyed a few weeks ago when we learned that Sue Ellen Ewing, I mean Linda Gray, would be appearing at The Book Stall in Winnetka promoting her new book, The Road to Happiness is Always Under Construction. We cleared our calendars and made plans to meet this icon of our childhood.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Linda Gray was delightful. She is nothing like Sue Ellen; Sue Ellen was a role she played who stayed on the set, while Linda went home to her husband, kids, chickens, and horses. Living a healthy life is something she’s been a proponent of since the 1960s when her husband was diagnosed with a “restless stomach” and the doctor told him he’d need to take a pill for the rest of his life. Linda began researching and changed the family’s diet. When her husband went back to the doctor, the doctor took him off the pills telling him to continue the lifestyle changes he’d made.

Linda shared a story of how she created the Sue Ellen character. She thought about what kind of woman would marry a philandering asshole like JR Ewing and spent her time off the set in Neiman Marcus to understand Dallas society women. She learned their lingo (e.g., fluff and fold which means to get home early enough to touch-up your make-up and fix your hair in order to look perfect when your husband came home from the office), the charities they supported, and what they carried in their purse (hint: a gun and lipstick and nothing else), and their stories.

My favorite story, however, was the one she told about running into the Spellings at a Hollywood event prior to Dynasty hitting the air. She recalled speaking to Mrs. Spelling in the ladies room and Mrs. Spelling telling her of Dynasty, “all I care about is that Krystle Carrington have a bigger diamond than Sue Ellen.” Linda’s (silent) response? “Good luck.”

Linda summed up her life beliefs with the mantra “choose wisely,” which she says is woven throughout her book. I can’t wait to sit down to read it.

For more on our evening, check out Tim’s terrific piece.

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