Fortress of Love (found Goodman Family documentary; 1996)
The Goodmans were a singing Christian-based family (not to be confused with the similarly named "Happy Goodman Family"). The Goodman Family toured the world from the 1990s-early 2000s, performing at UN conferences and privately for Pope John Paul II, in hopes of being "a voice for the family" worldwide.[1][2][3]
History
On Sunday, December 8th, 1996, father Steve Goodman and five of his children were in a car accident that resulted in the death of sons David (age 12) and Peter (age 11) and daughter LeAnne (age 10).[4][5] They were buried together on December 14.[6] Steve, and daughters Aimee and Andrea were on life support and had various complications, but eventually recovered.
The family immediately resumed their worldwide touring with a new mission, to speak of their personal experiences rebuilding their family after the devastation of the accident. On December 20th the following year, the story was aired on TV as a musically charged documentary called Fortress of Love, hosted by Merrill Osmond and with music by Kenneth Cope. The special was integrated into their subsequent concerts.[7]
Availability
In addition to airing on TV, the special was also released on VHS, but this tape was incredibly hard to come by, as were the out-of-print soundtrack CDs. A DVD release of the special was proven to exist, but it also had no listings available and seemed to be even more obscure than the VHS.
Though a copy of the last live performance of the concert was available on YouTube, along with 15 minutes of the VHS copy, the special did not resurface in its entirety for quite some time. However, on August 14th, 2014, a DVD copy of the movie was finally located by user HomeStarRunnerTron and was uploaded in its entirety. This user also provided scans of the DVD and CD packaging, finally marking an end to the search.
Gallery
External Links
- Info about the special. Retrieved 16 Aug '14
- Article in Sep. 9th, 1998 advertising the special. Retrieved 16 Aug '14
- Article elaborating on the accident, Dec. 9th, 1996. Retrieved 16 Aug '14
- An autobiography--Parting the Red Sea One Bucket at a Time. Retrieved 16 Aug '14
- Articles written by parents Steve and Claudia Goodman. Retrieved 16 Aug '14.
- Current business run by Goodmans, in the line of reflexology, of all things. Retrieved 16 Aug '14
References
- ↑ Old official website, captured through Wayback machine. Retrieved 16 Aug '14
- ↑ Article talking about Q-C Family Week, which the Goodmans performed at. Retrieved 16 Aug '14
- ↑ Article by the Goodmans about The Pope after his death, Apr. 4, 2005. Retrieved 16 Aug '14
- ↑ Article about the Goodman Family accident from Dec. 11 1996. Retrieved 16 Aug '14
- ↑ Article about the Goodman Family accident, also from Dec. 11 1996. Retrieved 16 Aug '14
- ↑ Findagrave's entry of the three children's grave. Retrieved 16 Aug '14
- ↑ Article in the newspaper advertising the special on the day of its broadcast. Retrieved 16 Aug '14