June Wilkinson
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012
I first met June Wilkinson at the Hollywood Collectors Show on Saturday, June 8, 1997. At that time, I was more into the Playboy connection, and was seeking out autographed photos of the Playmates. She was one of the classics to be sure, having appeared in a spread in June of 1958. She told me that she was only seventeen during the shoot and consequently, her spread didn’t appear until after her 18th birthday. I learned another little tidbit about the shoot that day as well – from Hugh Hefner himself. Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes I might complain about cancellations, over-inflated prices, or celebrities whom I’ve never heard of at the Hollywood Show. But I will admit that there are times when these celebrity shows offer unique experiences unlike any other. The case in point here happened at the August 4, 2012, show – at which three members of Paul McCartney’s Wings congregated under one roof to meet some of their fans. Okay, okay, so it’s not like meeting Paul himself, but still… they were there…in a band… with Paul freakin’ McCartney. Each of the three were credited on albums that came out from Wings… featuring Paul McCartney. Paul was a Beatle, you know. 
Almost every horror movie has what one might call the ‘final girl’ – that is to say, the last girl standing who faces off and (usually) defeats the mad killer who has been picking off people for the entire duration of the film. The Friday the 13th franchise is certainly right at the top when it comes to the horror/slasher genre, and I had the distinct pleasure to meet and greet three of these final girls when they and I attended the Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Convention on Sunday, August 12, 2012. Although I greeted them in reverse order, we’ll move along the Friday the 13th time line, and start where it all began… 
There’s such a thing as a quest. The guys and gals from Star Trek knew that. Sometimes they don’t even make perfect sense. I know that. For me, after I managed to meet two of the cast members of Star Trek by sheer chance, those two being George Takei and Leonard Nimoy, my quest to finish the job of getting photos with the rest began in earnest. I consider there to be seven main cast members, but some might add actresses Majel Barrett and/or Grace Lee Whitney, the former of whom is deceased, and the latter whom I have in fact met. This whole thing is ironic because I’ve seen very few episodes of the original Star Trek, although I have quite enjoyed the films. 
My meeting with Johnny Whitaker had been a long time coming. One of my goals in life is to correct my own stupid action of not getting photos with most of the celebrities whom I met during my first two autograph shows in