Mentions of the Log Lady's Husband
This post is inspired by a comment from @thedugpa on Instagram. The following contains references to Sam Lanterman, Margaret's husband, found within the original series and tie-in media. As you will read, almost every mention of Sam contains conflicting information.
This is a hurried post and includes what comes to mind - I have not had time to revisit interviews with Catherine Coulson, Mark Frost, or David Lynch. If I find another instance in the future, this post will be amended. If you know of an example please leave a comment.
Please forgive errors.
The first chronological mention of Margaret Lanterman's husband is in Jennifer Lynch's The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. After Laura comes home after speaking with Margaret, Sarah tells her daughter some of what she knows about the mysterious woman who lives in a cabin in the woods.
From the Secret Diary in an entry dated November 10th, 1985.
She said that Margaret (the Log Lady) had a husband who was a fire fighter. He was killed fighting a fire, and Mom said it was awful because he tripped over a root or something and fell headfirst into hot coals and burned himself to death, face first. They had just been married a little while when he died, and since then Margaret has been very quiet and has kept her pain to herself. Mom also said that she didn't have her log until after her husband died.
The next mention is in Mark Frost's The Secret History of Twin Peaks. In a lengthy Twin Peaks Post article written in 1986 by Lawrence Jacoby's brother Robert, the eldest Jacoby brother writes about his friend Margaret, hoping to dismiss the often disfavorable impression of the "Log Lady" held by some members of the town. Jacoby writes that Samson "Sam" Lanterman was "bigger than life: six foot five, 240 pounds" and came from a long line of woodsmen. He held the record for every lumberjack competition he entered and was also a poet. "Throw in the square jaw, chiseled features and well-tended beard and no wonder Margaret fell in love for the first, last and only time in her life." Sam met Margaret while she was loading lumber into her truck. She did most of the talking, and Sam "followed her around like a puppy." A proper, year-long courtship came as a result. Sam proposed to Margaret near Glastonbury Grove, in a special place she referred to as "The Heart of the Forest." As soon as the pair exchanged vows, a thunderstorm rolled into town, with lighting starting a forest fire. "Sam, the volunteer fire chief, rushed to help when the alarm sounded while we were at the reception. Their truck was loaded and decorated for their honeymoon. They were about to drive to Lake Louise for a stay at the grand hotel. Sam changed out of his only suit, told Margaret he wouldn't be long and drove off with his father and brothers toward the fire. I'll not forget the look on Margaret's face as they parted as long as I live. She knew, I'm convinced of it, what was going to happen. She also knew, given the circumstances, Sam could no sooner stay behind than sprout wings and fly."
Jacoby goes on to write, "When word came the next morning that he'd fallen - a savage gust of wind, an inferno, a funnel cloud of fire that rose up and swept Sam off a ridge into a burning ravine - Margaret, who'd worked all night in the Grange Hall in her wedding dress, where people evacuated off the mountain came for food and shelter, received the news calmly- again I suspected somehow she knew. (...) They recovered Sam's body from the ravine - he was the only casualty - and Margaret buried him two days later, in a plot behind the house they'd been building together for last six months up on the mountain. They say she went up to visit the Heart of the Forest the next day. Although dozens of acres had burned around it, the small grove of sycamores was still standing. Nearby, a magnificent old-growth Douglas fir had fallen during the conflagration. When Margaret came back down she carried a piece of the great tree with her, cradling it like a newborn babe."
In episode five, the following exchange occurs as Cooper, Doc Hayward, Deputy Hawk and Sheriff Truman visit Margaret's cabin.
LOG LADY
My husband was a logging man.
COOPER
Oh?
LOG LADY
He met the devil. The devil took the form of fire. Fire
is the devil hiding like a coward in the smoke.
HAYWARD
(he knows her)
The day after the wedding, wasn't it Margaret?
She looks away.
HAWK
(to the Log Lady, comforting)
The wood holds many spirits, doesn't it Margaret?
The script for episode five contains a description of some of the items Margaret has on display on her mantlepiece.
Truman, Cooper, Hawk and then Doc enter. One large room. Simple kitchen, a bed in the corner. Table with six chairs, six places with a log-motif tea setting. A boarded up fireplace. Fire extinguishers and a bucket of water in each corner. An axe, a saw and other woodcutting tools. Framed picture of a lumberjack, on the mantle, beside a funereal urn, with ashes.
The Log Lady introduction for episode 20, has Margaret say the following,
"My husband died in a fire. No one can know my sorrow. My love is gone. Yet, I feel him near me. Sometimes I can almost see him. At night, when the wind blows, I think of what might have been. Again, I wonder: Why?
When I see a fire, I feel my anger rising. This was not a friendly fire. This was not a forest fire. It was a fire in the woods. That is all I am permitted to say."
In Welcome to Twin Peaks: The Access Guide to the Town, the description of Margaret reads, "The Log Lady is a self-proclaimed Libra and graduate of Twin Peaks High School. After further matriculation at Evergreen State University as a Forestry and Wildlife Management major, she met a fire fighter and the rest is history."
This image is from the Bravo Intros.
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