Sally Mansfield

            On Sunday morning I didn’t quite finish memorizing “Velours des vierges” (Velvet Virgins) by Serge Gainsbourg. I had to recapture parts of the first and second verses and had all but the last two lines of the third verse nailed down before it was time to move on. I should have it all in my head on Monday. 

            In the late morning I re-read a chapter of On Beauty by Zadie Smith. I was too tired to read another and had too much energy to take an early siesta and so I decided to take an early bike ride. I went to Ossington and Bloor and then home along Queen. I had toast with peanut butter for lunch. 

            After a siesta I re-read more of On Beauty and had thirty pages left by dinnertime. 

            I had beans and toast with a beer while watching Andy Griffith. 

            This story begins with Andy in Raleigh at the offices of a big shot newspaperman named J Howard Jackson. The receptionist says Mr Jackson doesn’t know him and he doesn't have an appointment and so inquires of his business. Andy says he's there to arrest him. It turns out that over two weeks before that Andy had stopped Jackson for speeding. Andy had let him go on the promise that he would appear in court in Mayberry in two weeks. Since he didn’t show Andy was there to deliver a summons. Jackson comes to Mayberry with his lawyer to appear before the justice of the peace, who is Andy. Jackson pleads guilty but when Andy charges him a $15 fine he us upset at having been dragged from the city just for this. He vows revenge. Jackson hires his reporter Jean Boswell to go to Mayberry, get dirt on Andy Taylor and destroy him. Jean poses as a college student writing a paper on small town administrations. Barney offers to show her around and she interviews him. As usual he begins to brag about how lax Andy is and how he would run a tighter ship if he was sheriff. He tells her how Andy used the sheriff’s vehicle to deliver groceries, allowed the town drunk to let himself in and out of jail and tore up jaywalking tickets. Shortly after Jean’s article appears in Jackson’s paper the state department relieves Andy of duty and puts him on trial for misconduct. At the trial Barney is surprised to be called as a witness. He is asked to confirm the things he said to Jean and he does so but when he is asked to step down he refuses. He says he should also be allowed to defend Andy and the judge allows it. He points out that Andy delivered groceries to Emma Watson because she was sick. He explains that this is a small town and everyone considers Andy to be their friend. He points out that Mayberry is crime free because of Andy. The judge reinstates Andy as sheriff and dismisses the case. 

            Jean was played by Ruta Lee, who was from Montreal. She was one of the brides in the movie “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". She was a frequent guest on several game shows such as Hollywood Squares and Match Game and a co-host of High Rollers. 

            The receptionist was played by Sally Mansfield, who played Vena Ray, the navigator and assistant on the rocket ships Orbit Jet and Silver Moon on the 1954 TV series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. She played Connie on Bachelor Father, performed with the Don Arden Dancers and was Miss Emmy of 1954.