Those Were the Days
Monday, September 17th, 2007
All in the Family is certainly one of the greatest television sit-coms of all time. It definitely ranks in my top ten favorite shows. It has special meaning to me in a way too -because it was this show that was being broadcast at the time that I was born. My Dad still remembers watching the episode Archie in the Lock-Up in the hospital waiting room on that fateful evening of October 2, 1971. The show’s theme song “Those Were the Days” was one of the very first songs I ever learned. My Uncle Ed still remembers me singing “Dozer da Days” at the top of my lungs in the car during our visit to Washington D.C. in 1973. Read the rest of this entry »
There were three occasions when I met Miss December 1968 Cynthia Myers, the Toledo, Ohio native whose Playmate appearance was titled “Wholly Toledo!” The first was at the Hollywood Collectors Show during the Summer of 1995. On this occasion, I purchased a Playboy Magazine from her to get Hugh Hefner to sign as detailed 
I had had some cake the night before at The Smoke House courtesy of my friends, but other than that, I pretty much forgot that Sunday, October 2, 2005 was even my birthday. The day was packed with things to do so there wasn’t time to think of such things. We kicked off the morning with a nice hearty breakfast at the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention Center where we had stayed the night. We had a great buffet, but best of all, we dined with two former Our Gang members Patsy Barry and Joy Wurgaft Lane, whose husbands treated us. 
It was the during the Hollywood Collectors Show during the Summer of 1995 that I got to meet Russell Johnson, better known as the Professor from Gilligan’s Island. In fact, author Stephen Cox had escorted him to the show and it was here that I first met Steve. And if Russell was the Professor, then I was the class dunce. Today I question both why I didn’t get him to sign a photo from the well-known Gilligan’s Island, and more importantly, why I would not think to get my photo taken with him. 
Let me clarify this…My first foray into collecting autographs from the stars of The Andy Griffith Show occurred on December 11, 1985. I had sent out seven autographs requests the day before and I followed it up on the 11th with five additional letters. Two of them were unsuccessful due to having the wrong addresses – Tim Conway and Art Carney (again). But three were quite successful, one of them being Don Knotts.