The Technical Stars Panel at Hollywood ’80
June 3rd, 2007
Dad jotted in his little brown memo book on Wednesday July 30, 1980: “Went to McCabe Forum. No McCabe. Heard tape. He is ill. Saw films. Went to Gen. Session and parade of Tents. Saw films in P.M. Went to tech stars panel. Saw many behind the scenes people. Lasted from about 8:30 to 10:15. Saw movie and visited Hospitality room. Went to bed at 12.” I believe by the time that this first full day of the convention had rolled around, we had met up with our fellow tent members Harry and Helen Carter and two other inactive tent members from Lima, Ohio, who would quickly befriend me, Steve and Sharon Stayonovich. Read the rest of this entry »
Rather fat and miserable, I embarked on another Florida family outing during the week of July 27 – August 3, 1985. This was a rather tumultuous trip, as my family had been shaken to its foundations by my parents marital problems. We all knew that my Dad would be leaving after we returned from this trip. Depression, loneliness, and low self-esteem were all setting in, not entirely as a result of the family issues, but the general oncoming of puberty and the awkward age. Still, no matter how low I felt, I still regard these times with a sense of fond nostalgia – mostly because all these negative feelings have now completely subsided. 
I had spent the Summer of 1985 immersed in old TV and one of my favorites of the classic was “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.” The title character was portrayed by a young actor named Dwayne Hickman, who had gotten his start on “The Bob Cummings Show.” He had later starred in the 1983 TV movie High School U.S.A., which became one of those instant cult classics in my life, which I still repeatedly enjoy to this day. And one other bonus: he actually appeared in the M-G-M Our Gang short Melodies Old and New (1942 – his first credited film appearance). So it was a special treat to meet Dwayne Hickman at the Hollywood Collectors Show during my Hollywood trip of 1995. 
Autograph collecting has always been a fun hobby. But I’d have to say it used to be more enjoyable in the past before it became so god-awful commercialized. It used to be that gathering autographs was the combined result of effort, talent, and luck. Now it’s mostly about the money. I don’t want to come down too hard on the Ray Courts Hollywood Collector’s Show or the celebrities who attend it, but it seems to me that the hobby is just getting out of hand. On Friday morning, February 16, Bob picked me up from David’s house and we headed for the show, held in Burbank. On the way, we stopped to see the grave of Oliver Hardy in Valhalla Cemetery, which meant more to me than most of the living people at the Courts show!