Woody Woodpecker’s Autograph
December 15th, 2006
One of the autograph requests I sent out in 1985 was to Woody Woodpecker creator Walter Lantz. Walter started his career with the Hal Roach Studios and claimed to have painted the Flying Elephants in the film of the same name, a fact disputed by Roach special effects man Roy Seawright. In any case, Lantz’ name in animation history is secure as the creator of Woody and the producer of a vast array of “Cartunes” from 1929 to 1972, including Woody, Chilly Willy, Andy Panda, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (after the series left Disney’s domain). Read the rest of this entry »
One of the reasons I voted in 2004 to have the convention in Harlem was because it gave me the opportunity to visit Oliver Hardy’s birthplace. Often I had considered making the trek to attend the annual Oliver Hardy festival in October but it never panned out. Since the town is somewhat off the beaten path, I knew it would be difficult to swing into Harlem during any of our frequent trips through Georgia to Florida. 
The writing bug bit me early, so to speak. As you may have read in my 1980 
Our cat Tiny has passed slightly beyond the age of kitten, but this doesn’t seem to prevent her from behaving in a fashion reminiscent of a two-year old child. I have tried in vain to break her from getting up onto counters and tables, but now even these obstacles are not enough of a challenge for her. She has found new mountains to climb in this jungle gym that I call a house.