The Ponder Heart      TV G Airing Sunday, March 23, 2003 on PBS (Check local listings.) Aired previously October 2001 Uncle Daniel Ponder, blessed with a loving heart, not much common sense, and the riches of Croesus, throws his Southern hometown into an uproar in The Ponder Heart, adapted from the late Eudora Welty's award-winning comic novel. Directed on location in Mississippi by Martha Coolidge, The Ponder Heart is a part of Masterpiece Theatre's American Collection. Peter MacNicol (Sophie's Choice, Ally McBeal) stars as Uncle Daniel, heir of the richest family in Clay County, Mississippi. His penchant for giving away the family treasures -- from heirloom watches to the family filling station -- borders on lunacy. Small wonder that his father, Sam "Grandpa" Ponder (Boyce Holleman), tries to have him committed. Daniel's niece and contemporary is the unruffled Edna Earle Ponder (JoBeth Williams, The Big Chill); his surprising bride is the 17 year old backwoods flower, Bonnie Dee Peacock (Angela Bettis, Girl, Interrupted). In The Ponder Heart, published in 1953 and winner of the William Dean Howells Medal of the Academy of Arts and Letters, Welty uses her ear for dialect and eye for colorful detail to bring a small southern town vividly to life. And like the best storytellers, she exaggerates a little. A Eudora Welty Timeline | One Writer's Place | Voices of Mississippi Martha Coolidge, Director | Novel to Film | Who's Who Story Synopsis | Teacher's Guide | The Forum | Links + Bibliography Home | About The Series | The American Collection | The Archive Schedule & Season | Feature Library | eNewsletter | Book Club Learning Resources | Forum | Search | Shop | Feedback ©		Preview: Preview: The Ponder Heart Features: A Eudora Welty Timeline One Writer's Place Voices of Mississippi Martha Coolidge, Director Novel to Film Who's Who Story Synopsis Teacher's Guide The Forum Links + Bibliography