I was there

María Elena Holly recalls her whirlwind marriage to Buddy Holly

This is a picture of me, far left, and Buddy on our honeymoon in Acapulco in August 1958. Across the table are Jerry Allison, the drummer in Buddy’s band, the Crickets, and Jerry’s wife Peggy Sue, who was the inspiration for Buddy’s song of that name. Peggy was my maid of honour and Jerry was Buddy’s best man.

I’d met Buddy just a couple of weeks before when I was working as a receptionist in the Brill Building in New York. Buddy walked in and although I’d been mailing his records to radio stations, I’d never seen his picture, so I didn’t know who he was. But, boom! I just fell. It was a mutual admiration society right away.

That evening, Buddy took me to dinner at PJ Clarke’s, on 3rd Avenue and 55th Street, which is where all the celebrities went. I was 25, he was 22, and it was the first date I’d ever been on in my life. Midway through the meal, Buddy left the table, came back with a red rose (which I still have) and asked me to marry him. I said, ‘Shall we get married now or after dinner?’ He said, ‘No, I’m serious.’

We were married two weeks later in Buddy’s parents’ house in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas. We set up home in Greenwich Village and liked going to the movies and walking down to Washington Square in our pyjamas, where Buddy would busk for the young kids.

At first, I travelled with him as the band’s secretary, looking after public relations, doing the laundry and collecting the money after the shows. On stage, Buddy was electrifying. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. They were wonderful times.

When he set off on the Winter Dance Party tour in January 1959, I wanted to go with him but because I was pregnant and unwell he insisted I stay home. He called me every night and always ended by singing me a song. My favourite was True

Love Ways, which he wrote for me as a wedding present.

His last call was from Clear Lake, Iowa, on 2 February. He didn’t tell me that he’d chartered a plane for the trip to the next show because the weather was bad, so he knew I would have worried.

The next morning I got a call from Lou Giordano, a singer Buddy had started working with. He told me not to put the TV on – but of course, I did just that. Buddy’s death in the plane crash was all over the TV. I was so traumatised that I lost our baby the next day. It was because of that day that the media adopted a new policy of not naming victims before the next of kin had been informed.

I still feel bad for not being there, as I know Buddy wouldn’t have taken the plane if I’d been with him, as I was pregnant and he would have wanted to look after me. Four years after Buddy’s passing, I married a government official and had three children. I’ve always done my best to keep Buddy’s legacy alive and in 2010 I co-founded the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation to help young musicians follow in his footsteps.

— Interview by Douglas Mcpherson. For more on the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation visit tbhef.org