Author: DOuG pRATt

Jon Provost’s Well-Told Tale

Timmy’s In The Well, Jon Provost’s autobiography, written with his wife Laurie Jacobson, is an amazing accomplishment. If you ever watched Jon as Timmy Martin in Lassie, you must get this book. Click here to see a complete episode of Lassie with Jon.

Jon Provost - Timmy's In The Well

This is not a book for kids. Provost vividly evokes the sweeping social changes in America in the staid 50’s, through the psychedelic 60’s, and beyond. This is a real insider’s view of growing up in Hollywood, with many revelations about the life of a TV child star. All of the wild fun, the hard work, and the bitter pain, is told matter-of-factly, with total honesty and utter sincerity. There are many quotes and comments from colleagues and friends in the entertainment business, and although the photos are small, there are a lot of them, conveniently integrated into the text.

Jon Provost is appearing today at Canine Companions for Independence in Santa Rosa, California, where he lives. Santa Rosa is also home to the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Schulz’s widow Jeannie is a board member of Canine Companions for Independence.

Canine Companions for Independence

Happy Birthday, Monte Schulz!

Peanuts - March 26, 1972
Click to see complete comic strip

“It all started when my oldest son, Monte, was in high school and was involved with an art class where the project was a coat-hanger sculpture. He was telling me about it one day while we were riding home in the car from school, and he said that he was going to transform a coat hanger into the figure of a baseball pitcher. It sounded like a good idea to me, and I was anxious to hear about the final results.

“Several weeks went by before he mentioned it again, and this time he told me that the teacher had handed back the projects and he had received a C on his coat-hanger sculpture. I remember being quite disturbed by this, because I could not understand how a teacher was able to grade this kind of project. I thought about it as the months went by, and finally translated it into the Sunday page where Sally expresses her indignation over receiving the same grade for her piece of coat-hanger sculpture.”

– Charles M. Schulz

‘Great Escape’ Survivor Dies

Recently I posted this item about the real-life escape in WWII from Stalag Luft III that was the basis for the movie The Great Escape. After seeing the movie on TV (one of those two-night specials) I bought a huge poster of Steve McQueen sitting on the motorcycle he stole from a Nazi soldier and rode around the countryside.

One of the few men that escaped — and who wasn’t shot after being re-captured — has passed away. Bertram “Jimmy” James was 92. The Guardian has the story at this link. Here is a video, apparently recent, with Mr. James.

Shielding Stephen Colbert

It’s no surprise to this old comic book fan that the death of Captain America wouldn’t last very long. There’s a new hero in action, taking Cap’s place. But what of the indestructible shield that belonged to the original Captain America? Isn’t it now in the possession of none other than Stephen Colbert?
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