A sad, sad story of dreams achieved and lost, life loved and lost

Whenever I'm on Facebook, I see fellow baby boomers posting about the deaths of people -- usually in their 80s and 90s -- who mattered in the culture when we were kids.

Most of the time, I'm more surprised that the person was still alive than that they finally passed away. Whenever someone on the far side of 85 goes, all I wish for them is that it wasn't painful.

"What? Don Rickles is still alive?"

But yesterday I saw a notice that really stunned me.

Amanda Peterson, just 43 years old, had been found dead in her home in Greeley, Colorado.

I worked in Greeley for two years -- from 1986-88 -- and they were without question my happiest years in journalism. I was sports editor and sports columnist for a wonderful little daily newspaper, and in May 1987 I met Amanda Peterson.

"Can't Buy Me Love"

She was a top-level tennis player as a 15-year-old sophomore, but what made her story really interesting was that she was also a successful young actress. Since the age of 9, she had done several movies and had roles on at least three television shows as well.

That week she was wrapping up her role in "Can't Buy Me Love" (originally called "Boy Rents Girl"), going to Colorado Springs for the state tennis tournament and then flying to Chile for five weeks to shoot "Lawless Land."

She was a lovely kid with what seemed like a big future, but she had her last credit by age 22 when she co-starred in "Windrunner," a movie I saw on an airplane sometime in the mid '90s.

No one ever really said anything about what happened. Hollywood always has been a pretty tough place for young women, and there have been plenty of careers that ended long before they should have.

She married twice, and according to her bio on Internet Movie Database, she had two children. It's hard to say how accurate that is, though. When she was found dead in her apartment last weekend, she was apparently living alone.

Amanda Peterson in 2012

There are very few pictures of her post-Hollywood, although the Greeley Tribune's story today was accompanied by photos from a 2012 session a photographer for the London Daily Mail did of Peterson.

Aside from that, though, she had disappeared from all the trappings of stardom. My guess is her parents won't say much, and her friends will respect her family's privacy.

I never met the woman in the car photo. The girl I wrote about in 1987 was the one in the photo with co-star Patrick Dempsey. Two months from turning 16, she still loved her life very much and was looking forward to all sorts of great things.


If you're interested, here's the story from the May 14, 1987, issue of the Greeley Tribune:

***

"From Disney to doubles, Peterson is on the run"

Most high school athletes fortunate enough to qualify for a state tournament would be experiencing tunnel vision right about now.

They would be concentrating all their efforts on winning, putting everything else out of their minds.

Amanda Peterson of University High can't afford to do that. She's flying from Los Angeles to Colorado Springs today, and as soon as she and her doubles partner, Sherra Foard, are through playing in the state tennis tournament in Pueblo this weekend, she leaves for Tucson.

Next Wednesday she'll return to Greeley, but only for one day. She's got to pack for five weeks in Chile.

By her own admission, Mandy Peterson isn't your typical high school athlete.

"I'm an actress who plays tennis," she said.

"Explorers," 1985

While her friends worry about the things that concern most teenagers -- grades, dates, sports -- Peterson, a 15-year-old sophomore, is busy building a career. She's splitting time between Hollywood and Greeley, between movies, television, commercials and classes.

It started when she was 7, when she was one of seven finalists in a nationwide search for a girl to play the lead in John Huston's movie version of "Annie." The part eventually went to Aileen Quinn, but Peterson landed a role as one of the orphans.

From there she went on to guest spots on "Father Murphy" and "Silver Spoons," to a place in the cast of the short-lived series "Boone" and a featured role in Joe Dante's movie "Explorers."

She's been in an American Film Institute documentary titled "Spoil the Child," a movie of the week with Patty Duke Astin called "Under Suspicion," a PBS show about Martin Luther King called "The Children Shall Lead" and a role in the miniseries "A Year in the Life."

Peterson currently is wrapping a starring role in a Disney movie called "Boy Rents Girl" that will be released this summer, and her trip to Chile is to star in the feature film "Lawless Land."

Somehow, though all this, she still finds time to attend school in Greeley and play a varsity sport well enough to qualify for a state tournament.

The challenge this week, while looping dialogue for "Boy Rents Girl" in Los Angeles, will be remembering she's also a tennis player.

"I was so surprised we won districts," she said. "I had been finishing up my schoolwork early because I'm leaving for Chile before the end of the school year, and I wasn't planning on going to state at all. I figured it would be fine if we did, and if we didn't, I'd have more time at home before I left.

"I've just got to concentrate on one thing at a time, even though it seems like all these things are happening right now."

Tennis-wise, the only disruption will be to Peterson and Foard's practice schedule.

"We haven't had any problems at all because of her career," said Foard, a senior at University. "Not until this week. We had a really good practice Monday, and for the rest of the week she'll practice with her mom in Los Angeles and I'll work one-on-one with coach (Mark) Anderson."

The success of the partnership between Foard and Peterson wasn't instantaneous.

"We've both improved a ton since the beginning of the season," Foard said. "Something seemed to click at districts. Now we're both trying to keep a good thing going."

Added Peterson: "We really work together well and pump each other up. I think through the first part of the season we really weren't all that confident."

That confidence came, according to Anderson, when the two began playing more aggressively.

"They're playing a lot better now," he said. "They seem to be enjoying themselves more. The key is that they're putting pressure on the other team, forcing them to make mistakes instead of just sitting back."

Most of Anderson's work this week will be, by necessity, with Foard.

"We'll be able to work with Sherra on things she wants to work on," he said. "We'll talk with her and hope she can be a mentor to Mandy, a coach on the court during the game. The two of them probably won't see each other at the tournament until it's time to walk on the court."

It's all part of growing up talented. It's the difference between going to the movies on Friday night and being the one in the movies.

"There are times I'd love to just drop everything and do nothing but act," Peterson said. "I've seen so many kids in California who have done that and are doing well. I want to finish school, though. I want to go to college. I'd like to keep playing sports. I think it helps me to keep some perspective on it all."

That's not always easy.

Most 15-year-olds are starting to think about what they want to do, where they want to go to college, how they'll spend their lives.

Mandy Peterson's got it all mapped out.

"I have friends who say, 'Oh, I've got to go out and get a job,'" she said. "Then I think, 'Yeah, I've got to get a job too.' Then I realize that I've already got my career. Sometimes that feels really strange.

"It's not the jobs or the work that matter, though. Money, fame, fortune. The tough thing about not acting would be not getting to create."

It's surprising to hear a 15-year-old write off money, fame and fortune all in one breath, but Peterson is sincere. What's special to her in her early years in the business is the process, starting with a script and turning it into a fully fleshed-out character.

It's like creating something from nothing. She enjoys it a lot.

"A lot of people have said don't grow up too fast," Peterson said. "I'm growing up as I'm growing up, though. I like living here. By living in Colorado instead of California, I'm able to keep some perspective.

"I'm 15 years old. I want to be able to hang out with my friends, or to go over to Cottonwood Park and have a good time. It's a healthy atmosphere for me here with my family and friends."

Maintaining perspective.

It's not always easy in the best of times, when things stay simple. In times like these, when you're juggling career, friends, family and school; at 15, it's nearly impossible.

For one weekend, though, Amanda Peterson will be a high-school athlete, one who will do her best to try and win a state championship.

Then it's off to South America.

***

Note: When I finished retyping what I had written 28 years ago, I was left with one question. For the life of me, I couldn't remember how the tournament had turned out for Mandy Peterson and Sherra Foard. I wasn't about to bother the Petersons over something that must seem horribly trivial now, but there were two girls I interviewed in that story.

I tried to locate Sherra Foard to find out from her.

What I got was information that makes this sad story even sadder. Sherra Foard Tanner died on October 27th, 2013, at the age of 44.

She had cancer.