When I was a little kid, my mother read me stories from the Shirley Temple fairy tale book. There was a picture on the back of her with her son. She was the same age as my Mom, similar looking. I confused the two in my day-dreams; I wanted to be myself and the son of Shirley Temple, Miss Bright Eyes grown up to be perfect.
I can still remember some of those stories fifty-five years later, which I re-read and studied twenty years later for an M.A. in folklore. And I still like her movies. We need more innocence and joy, not more cynicism and sarcasm. Shirley Temple Black died this year.
So did a lot of great musicians, writers and others. Here's my annual list.
Alberta Adams
Arthur ‘Guitar Boogie’ Smith
Bob Casale (Devo)
Bobby Keys
Bobby Womack
Bud Spangler
Claudio Abbado
David Lamb
Dawn Sears
Don Lanier
Franny Beecher (Bill Haley’s Comets)
Fred Ho
George Shuffler (Stanley Brothers)
Gerald Wilson
Gerry Goffin
Herb Jeffries
Horace Silver
Ian McLagan
Iola Brubeck (Dave Brubeck’s wife)
Jack Bruce
Jay Traynor
Jean Redpath
Jerry Vale
Jesse Winchester
Jessica Cleaves
Jimmy C. Newman
Jimmy Ruffin
Joe Cocker
Joe Frazier (Chad Mitchell Trio)
Johnny Winter
Larry Henley
Little Jimmy Scott
Lorin Maazel
Maria von Trapp
Millie Kirkham (Elvis)
Paco de Lucia
Paul Horn
Paul Revere
Pete Seeger
Phil Everly
Ronny Jordan
Roy Campbell, Jr.
Sean Potts (Chieftains)
Steven Fromholz
Tim Hauser
Tommy Ramone
Writers:
Allen Grossman
Amiri Baraka
Carolyn Kizer
Claudia Emerson
Curt Gentry
Diann Blakely
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Galway Kinnell
Joe McGinniss
Jonathan Schell
Juan Gelman
Justin Kaplan
Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Mark Strand
Mary Rodgers
Maxine Kumin
Maya Angelou
Nadine Gordimer
Peter Matthiessen
Rene Ricard
Thomas Berger
Vern Rutsala
Wynn Chamberlain
Others:
Alvin Dark
Ben Bradlee
David Brenner
Don Pardo
Eli Wallach
Elizabeth Peña
Garrick Utley
Gerardo D’Ambrosio
Gregory Jacobs (the S.F. bushman)
James Garner
Jay Adams (Z-boys)
Lauren Bacall
Mickey Rooney
Mike Nichols
Paul Mazursky
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Ralph Waite
Richard Attenborough
Robin Williams
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter
Ruby Dee
Saul Zaentz
Shirley Temple Black
Sid Caesar
Stephen Gaskin
Tom Magliozzi
Tony Gwynn
Virna Lisi.
Happy Trials for 2015, Martin
Mutt: 2015, that'll be my year. I'm sure of it.
Jeff: Year to do what?
Mutt: That's what I'm not so sure of. But it's gonna be big.
Jeff: A big bang. Big wind. Don't forget my friend: Never start a vast project with a half-vast idea.
Mutt: Oh yeah, I forgot. Heard any good jokes lately?
Jeff:
The same old duds.
Mutt:
Doctors tell us there are over seven million people who are overweight.
These, of course, are only round figures.
Jeff:
What is the purpose of reindeer?
Mutt:
Got me.
Jeff:
It makes the grass grow, sweetie.
Mutt:
Darling, the other day I sent my girlfriend a huge pile of snow. I rang
her up and asked, "Did you get my drift?"
Jeff:
I don’t know, did she? And where
do you find giant snails?
Mutt:
I know. On the ends of giant's fingers.
Jeff:
Why is Saudi Arabia free of mental illness?
Mutt:
Obviously because there are nomad people there.
Jeff:
Question: How did Christopher Columbus finance his trip to America?
Mutt:
Answer: With the Discover Card.
Jeff:
Thought so. So show me where Stalin's buried and I'll show you a
communist plot.
Mutt:
So four fonts walk into a bar. The barman says "Oi - get out! We
don't want your type in here"
Jeff:
I was on an elevator the other day, and the operator kept calling me
'son.' I said, 'Why do you call me 'son'? You're not my father.' He said, 'I
brought you up, didn't I?'
Mutt:
Well? You know, without geometry,
life is pointless
Jeff:
Happy New Year to you too.