Falling over waterfalls and dodging dinosaurs may have seemed exciting to the fictional Holly Marshall, but when you look at Kathy Coleman’s life, it was a walk in the park. Her book, Lost Girl: The Truth And Nothing But The Truth, So Help Me Kathleen, is filled with joys, tears, terror, faith and redemption of a life fully lived and lessons well-learned.
Covington resident, Steven Thompson, collaborated with the actress to write her autobiography Lost Girl, in which she discusses her life before, during and after the show.
Thompson met Coleman through a mutual friend who knew of his editing experience and her need for an editor.
“I used to watch her on TV. I loved that show,” he said. “Now she just calls me up to chat.”
The book elaborates on her lifelong search for a father figure, being a child in the entertainment industry, the behind-the-scenes antics of one of the most successful Saturday morning children’s shows of the ‘70’s, going from show business to working as a rancher, dealing with sexual abuse while a child star, spousal abuse and even surviving an attempt on her life.
Thompson’s job was to transcribe the 40 hours worth of interviews. Then, he took those quotes, got more elaboration from her and put those stories in her voice.
“I wanted it to sound like a conversation, so that was a challenge,” he said.
Coleman is candid without being graphic, honest without being harsh and funny without being forced. She allows readers to see that even for former child stars, there are things scarier than Sleestaks.
The book has 24 reviews on Amazon and 21 of them are five-star reviews.
Coleman will be appearing on a podcast to promote the book in the next few days. Next month, she and Thompson will both be on a two-hour internet radio show to talk about her life and career and promote her appearance at Seattle’s Galacticon, where it has just been announced that she and her co-stars from long ago will be receiving an award.
Thompson, a 1977 graduate of Holmes High School, has worked on over 50 other books as an editor, contributor, ghost writer and researcher. He has published numerous short stories. He is currently working on articles for a comic book history magazine and continues his transcription work.
Coleman currently lives in Los Angeles.
Lost Girl was released through Amazon books and can be bought here.
Erin Grigson contributed to this story.