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Her name was made famous by a Buddy Holly song 50 years ago. But how close was the real Peggy Sue to the early rock 'n' roll star? Not very, according to his widow.
Maria Elena Holly has gone to court in a bid to stop Peggy Sue Gerron selling a book about her friendship with the pioneering singer-songwriter, who died at 22 in a plane crash in 1959.
She claims that Gerron's Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue? is unauthorised and will harm Holly's name, her reputation and that of her company, Holly Properties.
"It's very interesting that this woman makes up all these stories," Maria Elena Holly said from her home in Dallas. "He never, never considered Peggy Sue a friend."
She said she would sue if the excerpts she had read were in the book, which is available online and will be in bookshops soon.
"I don't understand why people do that, especially when she knows that people know the truth," said Holly.
Gerron, from Lubbock, Texas, said she wrote the 283-page book because last year was the 50th anniversary of the release of Peggy Sue. It became a hit with its simple lyrics: Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue - oh how my heart yearns for you/Oh Peggy - my Peggy Sue/Oh well, I love you, gal/Yes, I love you, Peggy Sue.
Gerron, 67, said material for the book came from about 150 diary entries she made during the time she knew Holly.
"I wanted to give him his voice," she said. "It's my book, my memoirs. We were very, very good friends. He was probably one of the best friends I ever had."
She said a potential lawsuit was "just another matter" and "won't taint the book", adding: "I feel I have every right to write my book. That's why we live in America."
Gerron announced publication of the memoirs on her own website, where she describes herself in glowing terms: "Peggy Sue is an icon. She is nostalgia. The girl next door. Peggy Sue is the spirit of the Fifties."
The site recounts her first encounter with Holly as the thing of which "fairytales are made". It goes on: "Buddy accidentally knocked her down in a hallway at Lubbock High School while running, with guitar and amplifier in hand, to get on stage for a music assembly in the school auditorium. 'I'm too late to pick you up,' he said, 'but you sure are pretty."'
Maria Elena Holly, who married the musician in August 1958, has for years owned the rights to his name, image and related trademarks, and other intellectual properties, according to a letter sent by her lawyer to Gerron's publisher last week.
Buddy Holly's brother, Larry Holley, said Peggy Sue was not the original lyric in the song of the same name. The name Holly originally intended to use was Cindy Lou, Holly's niece.
Maria Elena said her husband changed the name to Peggy Sue after Crickets drummer Jerry Allison, who later married Gerron in July 1958, asked him to because he had a crush on Gerron at the time.
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