I’m not sure what brought this to mind…
It must have been around twenty years ago. I was in DC on a book tour, and my media escort told me about the time she’d been making the rounds with Bob Keeshan. In one TV studio she ran into a colleague, who was escorting Israeli general Ariel Sharon.
This struck her as a rare opportunity, and she introduced the two men. “General Sharon, this is Captain Kangaroo. Captain Kangaroo, this is General Sharon.”
And how did it go?
“Oh, they hit it off very nicely. No saluting, just smiles and a handshake. And then Sharon asked the Captain if he was still on active duty.”
Hard to say how he’d have answered that. His TV show ended a thirty-year run a few years before the encounter, and the good captain died in 2004. Sharon’s spent the past several years in what seems to be called profound vegetative state. I spend a fair amount of time myself in a vegetative state, but there’s nothing terribly profound about it.
If I were a little less vegetative, or a little more profound, I might bring you all up to date on what’s newly available—some John Warren Wells eTitles, mostly—and what’s coming up in the future. But I decided the hell with it. Still, I didn’t want to neglect you entirely. Hence this secondhand recollection of the Captain and the General.
LB
I dunno. Vegetation goes dormant in the winter, but, well . . . I dunno. (I sometimes do, too.)
And happy new year to you
Sent from my iPad. Dr Ed Fischman DPM FACFAS
You always make me smile! Thanks Larry!
Love the Captain. Just finished the diet of t and enjoyed it. thanks.
lcw
Reminds me of the time I met the Dalai Lama. I bumped into him on the sidewalk in Cambridge, MA in the late 90s. He took my hand and said something in a foreign language. I don’t think he was asking if I was still on active duty, but I have to admit I don’t know for sure that he wasn’t.
Also, any word on the Hit Me philatelic edition?
There’ll be an announcement fairly soon when we’re ready to start taking orders. Meanwhile, all is on schedule—whatever that means.
A sweet story…
If Sharon had been told that Captain Kangaroo in another life was Clarabell on “The Howdy Doody Show,” what do you suppose his response would have been?
Hell of a question, Don…
Ah, I miss the Captain. He had great pockets.
Got stuck on the concept of being on a book tour with a media escort … Or is that just because I’m English?
That must be it, Chrissie…
Larry, I’m so glad you posted that – I had been told that same story, and always wondered if it was true!
Hi Bill—long time! I disremember the name of the escort, was just with her on the one occasion. An impish creature, I must say.
Thanks for the laugh, Larry. Too funny.
I remember when top-shelf authors would get a publisher escort. At a long-ago ABA, I talked to G. Gordon Liddy’s escort for that weekend. She said she told him “Just stick with me and do whatever I tell you to do.” He replied “That’s how I got in trouble the last time!”
Priceless!
It is a new year, so new things… Hello LB. I’ve missed you.
Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo. Don’t tell me I’ve nothing to do. Ahh! I miss those days. Thanks for the humor!
I used to watch “Captain Kangaroo” as a kid and lived near him where I grew up. One day (in the late 70’s) I’m in town with some friends when to our surprise we see Bob Keeshan walking to a nearby store.
Here we are a bunch of long-haired, punk teenagers standing around our muscle cars, wearing Led Zeppelin t-shirts trying to act cool and look tough. When see Bob and we’re all, “Hey! Ain’t that Captain Kangaroo?” All the teenage angst and bluster was gone. We were all excited and yelling like little kids, “Hey yo Captain Kangaroo, how’ya doin’?!” We ran up to him and shook his hand. He was gracious and we were all smiles, thrilled to meet a part of our childhood.
I am rather furtive in my Life’s endeavors . So ,due to my furtiveness I rarely register to comment on an Internet site.
But now I am feeling nonfurtive. And due to that nonfurtiveness in feeling and as such, in action and demeanor, I am commenting.
Mr. Block can you tell me why?