1976 was the Bicentennial of America and it was a big year for me. A journalism major at Southwest Texas State University (SWT), I won statewide in reporting and columnist writing awards for news, entertainment, fine arts and humor. My confidence was high, but being honored as Investigative Reporter of the Year Award at the…
On October 9, 1973, 47 years ago today, Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s divorce was made official. The couple filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Santa Monica. Under the agreed-upon settlement, they would share custody of their daughter Lisa Marie. Priscilla was to be paid $725,000 in cash, or $4,200 per month…
Read more Elvis and Priscilla Presley Finalized Divorce on this Date in 1973
If you’re like me, it was an exciting annual event to watch The Wizard of Oz on television. The classic 1939 movie taught us there’s no place like home and we all have brains, heart and courage. One of the Greatest Movies of All Time According to the Library of Congress, it’s the most viewed…
Read more Wizard of Oz (1939) is Still the ‘World’s Favorite Movie’
A Hollywood Visit The most I ever laughed in a cemetery was in December 2011. I remember it well because a few days later my father died. The eccentric oddball that I am, on a Disneyland vacation with my two youngest sons, Jack and Brady, I took them to Hollywood first. Talk about weirdos, they…
Read more The Most I Ever Laughed in a Cemetery was an Unexpected Roar
T.R.A.S.H.– “Trivial Revelations of a Sick Human-Being.” One day, many years ago, in a public speaking class at New York University, a professor had students compose an impromptu one-minute speech on this topic: If you were stranded on a desert island, what one item would you like to have? Sherwood Charles Schwartz was a student…
Read more Gilligan’s Island, the Real Life Cartoon Trivial Revelations
T.R.A.S.H.– “Trivial Revelations of a Sick Human-Being. In journalism school at Texas State University (Southwest Texas State in the late 1970s), my University Star weekly column, T.R.A.S.H., won state and national awards in collegiate competitions. On any given week, it would receive more reader mail than letters to the editor. I’ve always enjoyed trivia and…
Read more America’s Most Loved Comedy Sitcom: ‘I Love Lucy’ in Color
The recorded voice of Elvis Presley has been has been heard by more people than any other voice in history. More photographs of Elvis have been taken than any other entertainer in history. More articles have been written of Elvis than any entertainer. More books have been written about Elvis than any other entertainer. More…
Read more Diehard Fans Will Enjoy New Book of Elvis Presley’s Teenage Fate With Sun Studio
A new world record was set last week when an Elvis Presley Tribute Artist sang Elvis’ songs nonstop for 50 hours, 50 minutes and 50 seconds. “Kjell Elvis” believes his new Guinness World Record will stand for years. Kjell Henning Bjornestad, a 52 year old Norwegian entertainer, shattered German Thomas Gathje’s 16-year-old record by seven…
Read more New Elvis Presley Tribute Artist World Record Broken
Walking into Tupelo Hardware, I wondered how Elvis Presley felt when his mother Gladys took him there for his eleventh birthday, on January 8, 1946. It wasn’t too long after his very first public performance, singing “Old Shep” at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair children’s talent competition the previous October 3rd. Forrest L. Bobo, was working at…
I purposely haven’t had a haircut in a while because I wanted to fulfill a boyhood dream of getting it trimmed at Floyd’s Barbershop in Mayberry. If Sheriff and Opie Taylor, Deputy Fife, Gomer and Goober liked it there, it was good enough for me. On “The Andy Griffith Show,” Mayberry’s Floyd the barber was…
