Stormy Days in Clearwater 1995
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
My 19-year old and very attractive girlfriend Lisa and I headed out from Kissimmee on the morning of Wednesday, August 2, 1995 following two days of fun at Walt Disney World. Hurricane Erin had landed on the east coast of Florida the night before, where my Mom, Bob, Bryan, Denise, and her boyfriend Chris were staying. This was before the days of cell phones, so we didn’t have constant communication as to what was going on. We simply had to rely on the radio. What we did know was that as we traveled west, the Hurricane was following us across the state. Read the rest of this entry »
After our incredibly busy Sunday activities, it was amazing that we were able to peel ourselves out of bed to catch an early breakfast in our digs, the Richard Johnston Inn, before heading toward Richmond, Virginia’s capital city. But we did…and were consequently able to enjoy a nice cherry and coconut dessert for breakfast. We quickly stuffed ourselves in the car and prepared to depart for our next destination(s) of the day, Monday, August 6, 2007. 
The date was December 17, 1985. Christmas break had begun and I was dropping yet another four autograph requests in the mail, hoping to cash in on some last-minute Christmas spirit of the stars. I had spent the week before mailing out 15 requests and these would be my final four before the holiday came. Two of the victims I chose would be a bust: I had the wrong address on Michael Landon and the Sammy Davis Jr. that I received was clearly a secretarial (although I didn’t realize that secretarials were one of the big pitfalls of autograph collecting until later on in life). 
Even if I had never seen a silent Our Gang film at that point, I could never forget the infectious smile and genuine friendliness that radiated from Ernest “Sunshine Sammy” Morrison when I first encountered him at the Our Gang reunion autograph session at Hollywood ’80. One of the kindest and most sincere men who I have ever met, Sunshine Sammy holds the distinction of being the first black actor ever signed to a long-term movie contract. His producer Hal Roach signed him to his own comedy series in 1919, which led to his eventual starring in the Our Gang series. 
Unfortunately, I will always associate Adam’s first birthday with pain and intense discomfort. Having just gotten out of my surgery three days prior, I had to tiptoe around Denise and Aaron’s place like a cat burgler. Still I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I was originally going to make a weekend out of it by visiting some of my friends from the area, but with the kidney stone and all, those plans were nixed.