Bo Duke on Marital Hazards

Twenty years ago women would have fought for a chance to marry "Bo Duke"—that good-lookin', fast-drivin' (remember the orange Dodge Charger?) hunk of Southern charm. But my, how things have changed for Bo. Sure, "The Dukes of Hazzard" still has a huge following on cable TV, especially among college-age kids, but John Schneider is a happily married father of three—whose wife, Elly, complains that he drives too slowly!

John met Elly at a church picnic, then sat next to her at Bible study two weeks later. Both of them had been previously married.

"Back then we both thought what so many people think—'if we're not getting along, then obviously we're not meant to be together. Let's throw this one away,'" John explains. "Now we think that's crazy. Sometimes Elly and I disagree—and when we don't get along, we really don't get along. But now we understand that's normal. When you disagree with your friends about sports teams or food or whatever, you don't throw your friendships away. So why would we give up something so great just because we don't always get along?"

John and Elly have been married five years, and they have three children (two from Elly's previous marriage). After completing a stint on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," John is staying busy with Faithworks, a Christian production company creating TV shows, videos and movies that families can watch together and that "reach the public for the Kingdom of God." (For more information, call 888-692-9124.)

Interviewed by Lynnell Nixon-Knight

1999 by the author or Christianity Today/Marriage Partnership magazine. Click here for reprint information on Marriage Partnership.

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