"Next week we'll learn why cows look forward to giving milk!" - Mr. Olson, "Police Squad!"
Of significant importance in defining the early part of 1995 is the role that my editorship of Dante’s Info played in my life at this time. Lisa and I hadn’t been together too long before she was thrust into my other life with the Sons of the Desert, through forced attendance at our meetings and my constant involvement with creating our tent’s newsletter Dante’s Info.
Our Sons of the Desert chapter, the A-Haunting We Will Go Tent, gathered together last Saturday, October 21 (one day after his actual birthday in 1893) to celebrate the unsung genius of Charley Chase. Charley was yet another talented performer that came into being at the Hal Roach Studios, along with Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, Thelma Todd, Harold Lloyd, and so many others. While our tent is primarily devoted to the preservation of the memory of Laurel and Hardy, most of our members agree that there is a need to celebrate Charley as well, so we have held an annual tribute to him every year for the past four years. Read the rest of this entry »
On the latest front page of Leonard Maltin’s website Movie Crazy , he has given our “Wax Apple” website a mini-review and referral. I’ve only met Leonard once, but he has sent me a couple of letters expressing his liking of my Sons of the Desert newsletter Dante’s Info – along with an autographed photo or two. Read the rest of this entry »
Last night, Jimmy and I completed about one month’s worth of work on our Laurel and Hardy website “The Wax Apple.” It is likely that most people will be linking to this website from there, but I’m giving you the opportunity to have it the other way around. Even if you don’t like Laurel and Hardy, you should check out the color scheme we came up with. Jimmy did an outstanding job of designing this extremely attractive site. You can find it at www.waxapple.org .
You might sometimes catch me bragging about joining the Sons of the Desert at such a young age. Although, there seems to be a resurgence of young people taking interest in Laurel and Hardy overseas, in America the Sons have aged right along with me. Here, people my age are still considered the “youngsters.” This is unfortunate on many levels, one of which is I think we will watch the Sons simply fade away here in America. There simply is no active effort to recruit and foster the younger fans to take the helm of the club as the old-timers retire from active duty.
Anyway, I’m totally off the subject already. The fact is that I would bet you a week’s wages that I am the only person walking this earth under the age of forty who has met “Buckwheat,” Lucille Hardy, Spanky McFarland, Jacquie Lyn, Della Lind, Jean Darling, been to Hal Roach‘s house, and stood in the Liberty alley. These are just a few examples of how I was rewarded for getting into the Sons at such a young age. Read the rest of this entry »