About

Surprise! I have been asked for my life history because some nice people wonder where “freely speaking” originally came from!

According to my mother and dad, when I was about 4-5 years old, I stood on the little brick apron around our fireplace in Sapulpa Oklahoma, and announced that my name was Mademoiselle Fife Madori and born in Paris France.

Grade 3 (click to enlarge)

This seems a little strange, when actually in Sapulpa Oklahoma, they are still talking about the fact that I was born suddenly just a couple weeks early on my Grandmothers dining room table.

Grade school in Sapulpa was the site of my first brilliant starring role in the theater. It was called, “The Little Old Lady Who Turned Her Butter Pats Into Eggs”. The accolades that followed my performance were such that my modesty was challenged.

Meaning, with 25 takes in the big old fashioned cameras, I was afraid to open my eyes. Therefore, I have no head-shot with my eyes open.

Barnard Grade School (click to enlarge)

After a few short years in Sapulpa, we moved to Tulsa Oklahoma.

I was happily enrolled in Barnard grade school where I continued to be the star of local productions. Thanks to my mother, she would repeat “Modesty Dorothy Virginia, Modesty”.

Grade-school, Junior High, and High-school continued to be the greatest training ground a young gal could have had because I was often chosen for the little speeches and speaking engagements that come in that age.

Tulsa Central High School (click to enlarge)

Moving on to Tulsa Central High-school, I was once again the most fortunate of young actresses due to the oil benefactors, we had a large auditorium, lavish curtains, and a very professional environment.

By the time I finished high-school, I had as much stage discipline and training as anyone could hope.

Therefore when our family circumstance at the beginning of WWII changed, my mother and father moved to Washing DC where my Father took his invention of a machine. Dad had a machine that would remove the water from airplane fuel and he was warmly received. This invention was directly responsible for saving the lives of many pilots during the war.

William and Mary College (click to enlarge)

The closest college that would fit my mothers romance with early American history was William and Mary College in Williamsburg Virginia.

It nearly became a girls school during the war with so many men off to fight the war.

There were enough for me to be asked the First Patsy Jefferson (Thomas Jefferson’s wife), in Paul Greens “The Common Glory” with a cast mostly from New York.

I’m deeply grateful to this day for the opportunity I had to have such an unusual and rich experience that utilized my gifts so well.

You would think after such an experience, I would go on to theater and broadway, however, college also gave me the opportunity to meet Bill Glass who became my husband. Bill had a background in management and was perfect for a job in Paris France with the Fram Filter Corp.

The President of Fram was so impressed with Bill and me that within three months we were assigned the responsibility of opening the first European office.

I shall now leave you waiting in anticipation of how we got to Paris France, Geneva Switzerland, and back to Tulsa, and found our way into TV and Radio. Stay tuned.

With Love, Ginna Lewis