She Left Her Heart in Kentucky

In the interest of public service, we feel compelled to report an alarming trend--skinny women ordering French fries for lunch.

OK, so they don’t really eat them. Nonetheless, our eyebrow rose when we spotted the elegant Linda Bruckheimer also ordering a big hunk of burger.

“I’m just a girl from Kentucky,” she explained over a recent lunch at the Buffalo Club in Santa Monica, not far from the office she shares with her uber-producer husband, Jerry Bruckheimer. “And I jogged this morning, so I can have it.”

Which sounds just like a woman from L.A. And a little geographically schizophrenic.

“I used to think of myself as a Californian,” she said, “but my heart is always in Kentucky. When I’m there, I want to stay. When I’m here, I can’t wait to get back. Having said that, I do love Los Angeles and California. How could you not love it on a day like this?”

Indeed, it’s prime nyaah-nyaah weather in L.A., where Bruckheimer’s new road novel lands after its colorful characters migrate along Route 66 from guess where? “Dreaming Southern” (Dutton) follows the hapless exploits of the Lucy Ricardo-like Lila Mae Wooten as she leaves bill collectors in the Kentucky dust. Coming along for the ride is her spirited brood, including the high-strung Becky Jean, who resembles a teenage version of guess who?

“That was one of the things my mom used to say about me when I was growing up,” the former West Coast editor of Mirabella says with a laugh. “It’s like high-strung was my middle name.”

Bruckheimer’s sentimental journey home left tracks in more than just her novel. Five years ago, she and Jerry bought a 300-acre farm in Bloomfield, Ky., where the high-energy Linda immediately made her presence known. She became active in preservation, buying and restoring three of the town’s 19th century brick buildings and sitting on the board of trustees of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

“There’s nothing better than seeing scaffolds in front of these buildings and activity there because they’re coming back to life.”

The couple also bought the cabin that housed the nuptials of Abe Lincoln’s parents and moved it to their estate. How much would you think a chunk of history costs? A paltry $3,000.

Oh, yes. They paid a hell of a lot more to move it from Springfield, Ky.

“You don’t want to know the footnote amount, which was what it cost to put it together.”

Yes, we do.

“I’m not sure, but it was thousands. You have to take the cabin apart, number the logs and put them back the way they were. And we had to revise some of the plans because they had been fiddled with.”

Bruckheimer is also working with University of Kentucky researchers and others looking for crops to replace the state’s flagging tobacco industry. This spring, the group will plant lavender and St. John’s wort to see how they do.

Of course, don’t give up Bruckheimer for lost. Back in L.A., she’s also helping her husband, who’s known for high-testosterone films like “Armageddon,” explore his indie side. The two are teaming up to co-produce more intimate films. Their first project is a love story based on Amy Ephron’s novel “A Cup of Tea,” which has lured the likes of Liv Tyler.

“My husband calls me Harvey, like Harvey Weinstein” of Miramax, she said with a hoot. “I followed him all around the globe for 21 years, and now it’s payback time.”