"From The Bottom" Synopsis

I am so pleased to have the trailer completed for my documentary. Here is a synopsis of the story:

Ulysses Lee Gooch. His parents were laborers on a large southern farm, and it was the farmstead owner's family who named him. The word Ulysses was not only hard to pronounce, it was misspelled on his eighth-grade graduation certificate. Being from Ripley, Tennessee, he welcomed a nickname later in life: Rip.

Early on, his father jailed, Rip and his mother lived with a relative in an area referred to as "the bottom". It was low, flat land touching the Mississippi River where cotton grew and houses were built on stilts. At age four, his mother passed away. "Not only was I living in the land referred to as 'the bottom', but I was in the bottom of my life."

Rip was a dreamer who would look into the sky from the dusty crop fields and see airplanes. He wanted to be up there and he wanted more for himself.

This insightful documentary is about struggle and triumph. It is about a youngster who realized the importance of hard work and essential education, growing to become an airplane pilot and Senator. Many who know him do not know this profound accounting of his life.

The feature-length version is now available for bookings, and is for viewers of all ages.

To view the three-minute trailer, click here: From The Bottom.

Photograph and written content © 2007 Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.