Lovers Forever Amber Nelson

Lovers Forever is back with a special episode! Join us for a conversation with Lora Stocker, board member at the Ava Gardner Museum in Smithfield, North Carolina. The museum is having a festival this October 7-9 in honor of Ava Gardner's centennial birthday. Lora and I talk about all things Ava, including how we discovered her, our favorite Ava performances, and what differentiates her from her contemporaries. We also talk about the museum's exhibits and collections, and--of course--the festival!! It's going to be three days of events and screenings, plus amazing special exhibits. Listen to the episode to find out more!
Here's everything you need to know about the Ava Gardner festival:
https://www.johnstoncountync.org/ava-gardner/visit-the-museum/ava-gardner-festival/
Go here to buy festival tickets:
https://ava-gardner-museum.myshopify.com/products/2022-ava-festival-museum-admission
And here's more info about the museum:
https://www.johnstoncountync.org/ava-gardner/
Instagram: @avagardnermuseum
Check out the Trust on Instagram: @ava_gardner_trust
Check out Lora's Instagram: @lorastocker

Despite their split in 1953, Frank and Ava never really got over each other. In the last episode of this season, we'll follow many of their reunions and moments of conflict throughout the following 36 years. When they were married, Ava was the one who rescued Frank from multiple crises. What we see when we take a bird's eye view of their post-divorce relationship is that Frank spent the rest of his life trying to rescue and take care of Ava. And then we ask the question: could they really have been lovers forever? What would it have taken for them to make their relationship work for real? Or was it all just an impossible dream?

Content warning: this episode contains descriptions of domestic violence/intimate partner abuse. Skip audio section 39:00-44:03 if that content is overwhelming for you. If you are in an unsafe home situation, know that help is available and you are not alone. Call the domestic violence national hotline 1-800-799-7233 to get help, or text 'start' to 88788.

By Christmas of 1953, it's clear that Ava is moving on from Frank. But there are flashes of ambivalence--late night phone calls, confessions to journalists--that keep him hanging on. Meanwhile, she takes up with the world's greatest living matador, and Frank's career resurgence begins its final, stunning chapter--an Oscar campaign that just six months before would have seemed laughably out of reach. 
However--this isn't the end for Frank and Ava. The song is over, but the melody lingers on...stay tuned to hear the rest.

Summer, 1953. Frank's career is finally on the upswing--he is now enacting the greatest comeback story in Hollywood history. From Here To Eternity is a huge success--but the power dynamic between the lovers won't allow for a partnership of equals. In the flush of triumph, Frank decides to walk all over the woman who supported him through his lowest of lows, including taunting her with new evidence of infidelity. A decision, as we'll see, that he thoroughly comes to regret, as Ava finally confronts the painful reality of what their love has become. She suffers, she deliberates, and then she makes a choice. 

Content warning: this episode contains a description of a suicide attempt. If that is overwhelming for you, please skip the audio section 32:55-33:10. If you are in crisis, please know that help is available. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline can be found here: 800-273-8255.

Today we embark on a far-flung journey to the hinterlands of Kenya for Ava's movie shoot, Mogambo. Frank is reluctantly along for the ride as Ava creates one of her best performances. All the while, he's plotting his career comeback, trying to land a movie role so perfect for him, it's like he was born for it. When opportunity calls on the other side of the world, Frank and Ava are separated again. Then their marriage faces its greatest test yet. Can you really be in love, if you aren't sure that love has a future?

Well, they finally made it...but what comes next? We follow the lovers on their honeymoon, and through their first tumultuous year of marriage. Frank's career gets even worse, if you can believe it, and Ava has her own rough patch on that front. Through it all, their cycle of fighting and making up becomes even more dramatic. Is marriage what they hoped it would be, or will they be disappointed? Join me as we recount the highs and lows of 1952. 
Content warning: this episode contains a description of pregnancy loss. If that is too hard for you to hear today, skip the audio section 21:20-23:45.