Tuesday, August 7, 2007

About the Author: Part Two

Around that time I was enrolled in St. Fidelis School, becoming acquainted with the nuns of the Dominican Order, to my eternal regret.

I loved television. I had a Winky Dink set; Sky King; Kookla, Fran and Ollie; I watched Howdy Doody and had nightmares for twenty years; The Million Dollar Movie; The Ed Sullivan Show; Andy’s Gang; American Bandstand; Crazy Cat; Victory at Sea; Rocky Jones, Space Ranger; Mighty Mouse; Mickey Mouse Club; professional wrestling; Flash Gordon/Buck Rodgers; the Nat "King" Cole Show; war movies every Sunday afternoon; the Gillette Friday Night Fights (I liked the bleeders, like Gene Fulmer); the Jimmy Durante Show; The Jackie Gleeson Show; Beanie and Cecil; Soupy Sales. I’m still addicted.

Some time in 1954 John Bauer taught me how to curse. It has been my passion ever since.

Around the same time I discovered the entertainment value of fire. It was my favorite toy for six or eight years. I never destroyed anything that I did not set out to destroy, and I never got in trouble for my experiments. No one notice the ever-present burns on my hands.

My record collection grew. A big favorite was, “That’s Amore,” by Dean Martin.

1 comment:

HAPPY IN NEVADA said...

Okay, one more comment before I start 'resting' a bit (as the dentist said I really should be doing this afternoon).

1:57 a.m. - a night-owl????

I'm going to be 66; I'm not 3/4 dead (I decided) - I plan on hitting 126....

Another thing: I loved reading about the Winky Dink set (got that for my younger brother for Christmas one year); the t.v. shows (I miss those - might have been corny, but at least we could laugh and relax).

It was a brief trip down 'memory lane' for me - and being a country kid growing up in Michigan, I had memories of 'toys' that had no 'labels' other than 'Dad or Grandpa made them' aka 'Dad's logs, rather than Lincoln Logs'.

Grandpa's 'rubber-band gun' rather than Daisy Rifle.

Grandpa's rag-doll, other than 'Barbie'.

You get the idea.....

Diane