The following is an exclusive excerpt from Margaret Kerry's forthcoming book, "Tinker Bell Talks! Tales of a Pixie Dusted Life."

The book is scheduled to be released in a few months. Check back here for further information!

"Tinker Bell and You… Saved My Life," she said…

Perched on a fragile looking tripod, the large white signboard read; MEET MARGARET KERRY, Actress and Model for TINKER BELL from the Disney Film, PETER PAN. My extra long table had been placed in a huge hotel lobby hallway just outside the door of the vendor's hall. It was spread with many different photos at-the-ready to meet and greet Tink's fans.

It was July and it was Sunday, the last day of a seven-day semi annual convention of the National Fantasy Fan Club being held in Anaheim, California. Just a few blocks away was Disneyland. That Sunday was the day when I was to meet someone I never knew existed and whose life Tink and I had miraculously touched.

The scene was happy and chaotic at the same time. Hundreds of smiling people were moving from large ballrooms into smaller meeting rooms and out again. They would slowly saunter past the scores upon scores of six-foot tables. At each table vendors would have displays of gigantic to miniscule Disney collectable items, new, almost new or ancient. These would lure the people to stop and search for a precious treasure that they might have missed purchasing.

During the week's festivities, the conventioneers had attended many panels enraptured as they listened to dozens of celebrities tell their tales of working in the Disney entertainment world.
Besides buying Disney items for their collections, the major goal of these fans was to actually meet or re-connect with the famous artists, animators, actors and the Disney Imagineers who gave them such pleasurable entertainment decade after decade.

I AM TINKER BELL AND I SPREAD PIXIE DUST

I was invited to be there because I was the model/mime/actress for the little 3-½ inch sprite, TINKER BELL when the movie PETER PAN was produced.

No, at five foot two I am not too tall to be her model. Let me explain when I say that I am Tinker Bell. When Disney made an animated film, such as PETER PAN, they would cast an actor to perform the animated scenes before a film camera. The sequences would be directed by the head animator to use as reference. I was selected to be the model, actress, and mime for the world famous little sprite named Tinker Bell.

So, with my hair piled high on my head and dressed in my one piece bathing suit and my little ballet slippers, I would be found standing on the empty Disney Sound Stage Number One - empty that is except for a wooden prop here and there, two or three prop men here and there, a 35 mm film camera set up, a camera man, and a lighting crew adjusting large cinema lights both at floor level and up high over head in the cat walks.

I would act out scene after scene under the direction of one of the Disney legends, Marc Davis, who not only designed little Tinker Bell but, to name a few, also designed the young Bambi, Cinderella and Cruella de Ville and, as an Imagineer, Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. Marc would tell me what the scene called for. I would rehearse my idea of what I thought Tink would do using her sauciness and quirkiness. We would film my actions and later Marc would assign animators to use the film to incorporate my acting into the final drawings. Tink is me!

SHE WAS STANDING BEHIND THE CROWD SHIVERING

At the NFFC convention that Sunday in July there was a group of Disney's Tinker Bell fans patiently awaiting their turn at taking a "look see" at some photos that I had brought to autograph for them. I was having a very happy, busy time when I happen to look up and spot her at the back of the crowd. She was a trim five foot four or five and had a dear little Pixie Cut style for her shiny dark hair. Her lovely blue eyes were perfect for her pretty face. And --- she was shivering perceptively.

"I'll be with you in a minute," I said talking in her direction.
She nodded her head "OK," then bit her lip and tears appeared in her eyes.

I was taken aback, of course. I must confess my second thought after a wave of compassion rolled over me was, "Hmm, do I have a disturbed person here?"

When she moved up after I had finished talking to those at the table, I steeled myself somewhat for this lady's approach. And approach she did. She was dressed in slim khaki shorts which showed off her well-formed tanned legs. Her top was a short-sleeved pullover that allowed one to know this lady was physically fit.

I put out my hand and said, "Hello, I'm Margaret… and your name is…?"

"My name is Lisa." Her hand was shaking when she grasped mine. "I never dreamed that I would actually meet you," she said in a trembling voice. "You saved my life!"

I must confess I was a little staggered by this statement. However, I continued to hold her hand in my two hands. I started to say something and was interrupted with…

"A couple of years ago, I had to have operations on both my knees. You see I was close to weighing three hundred pounds and my knees just couldn't take that."

I continued to hold her hand and felt the trembling start to subside. "Good grief, that must have been really horrific," I said with sincere sympathy.

However, looking at this svelte, lovely lady in front of me I must admit there was room for doubt about what she was claiming.

"It wasn't just being in a wheel chair. It was the depression. I was so depressed! You just couldn't know what that feels like,"
"Oh, dear … And …What does that have to do with me?"

Lisa stood back from the table and pointed to the lower part of one of her legs. A tattoo could be seen on her ankle…a well-done likeness of tiny Tinker Bell plopped on her tummy looking very saucy.

"I knew if I kept thinking depressing thoughts," Lisa explained, "I was not going to get well. I had to keep reminding myself that I must have happy thoughts every waking hour. Ah hah! Little Tinker Bell thinks happy thoughts! So, I had her tattooed on my ankle so that every time depressing thoughts popped into my head I'd stick out my leg and look at Tink. She got me through the rehabilitation. I couldn't have done it without her."

Lisa was so earnest and direct that most of the doubt I had about her tale had left me by this time. However, when her eleven year old daughter, Amanda, stepped up to the table and enthusiastically verified Lisa's story as well as showing me a snap shot of big and bulky Lisa in a wheel chair I believed and started to cry happy tears.

The joy Lisa said she was feeling meeting me, the alter ego for her life-saving Tinker Bell, was matched by my feelings of joy knowing that Providence had used Walt Disney, James M. Barrie's Peter Pan, the artistic brilliance of Marc Davis and me, Margaret Kerry, to help save a life.

Amanda, Lisa and I cried more happy tears and hugged a lot. We exchanged phone numbers and a few weeks later, with Lisa's dear husband Jason as host, we had a marvelous meal together.

An update: Lisa is healthy, Amanda is doing very well in High School headed towards being an Animal Doctor and Jason loves his work with UPS. How different it could have been except for a feisty little fairy named Tinker Bell and me, her alter ego.
As I write this, tears still hover near the surface. I so appreciate that Providence blessed me with the friendship of this family, and through Lisa, gave me tangible evidence that my life has meant something very important in this world. It's Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust!