Susan Spencer

Lita is missed at every calorie.

Lita was working in an upscale women's boutique, and one day, Jim Sullivan walked in.

Well, Jim was quite charming initially.

Lita was enthralled.

Lita thought he was a nice person and a gentleman.

Sullivan was a dashing businessman from Macon, Georgia, who'd inherited a business worth millions.

And he lavished attention on Lita.

Yes, she did.

She truly did.

But Leta's parents were worried about how a biracial couple might fare in Macon and about the different side of Jim Sullivan that they were beginning to see.

Prone, the McLintons say, to omit inconvenient information.

It was the night before her marriage, before he told her that he had been married before and had four kids?

That's correct.

But the next day, December 29, 1976, Lita McClinton became Lita Sullivan.

Which was a very small family wedding.

And the newlyweds settled in Macon, Georgia.

Sullivan seemed delighted.

I think Jim thought he had a Barbie doll with no brains.

But Poppy began to worry.

I was a bit concerned.