TATTERS by Lem

Click on the title of the post to go to my collection of early art, sketches and doodles called

TATTERS

Somewhere in Hair: Bob Dylan by Lem

Roger Miller and Johnny Cash

Mick Jagger 1965

Lancelot and Dave and Lobster Docks

What is Lancelot Leopard up to today? Where are those Lobster Docks? Who is Dave? Come pluck a bouquet in today's Sunday Garden.

By the way, Dave was a friend of mine in the sixties. He is the person who told me I could go to college at night. Up until then, I thought you could only go off to college and live in a dorm and do it full time. I was such a naive young man.

Dave

Ghost Rider

Tricky Dick and Ike 1956

I believe I drew this characture in 1956 when Eisenhower was running for a second term and there was pressure to drop Richard Nixon from the ticket, thus the question mark above Ike's head. You can read a history of the Drop Nixon campaign of 1956 by clicking on the title of this post.

Ike and Nixon in 1959.

Singers: Leslie Uggams

Leslie Uggams has been in show business almost all her life. She began at the age of six in the TV show Beulah. At fifteen she was a contestant on Name that Tune and not long after that became a regular on Mitch Miller's Sing Along with Mitch. She was one of those people who you instantly liked, cute and perky. She went on to win a Broadway Tony in 1968, then the Critic Circle and nominations for an Emmy and the Golden Globe for her acting in Roots. She also had her own TV show for awhile.

Since then she has had great success on Broadway and she is still trodding the boards, although her's is a name you seldom hear mentioned anymore.

In the Valley of Death

Kingston Trio: Both Eras

I was a big fan of the Kingston Trio, who first came to prominence when I was in high school and were the front runners of the Folk Era in popular music. Although Dave Guard, Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane began singing together in California bars, the formal origin of the group began as Dave Guard, Nick Reynolds, Joe Gannon and Barbara Bogue performing as Dave Guard and the Calypsonians. Nick Reynolds left shortly after and was replaced by Don McArthur and the group became known as The Kingston Quartet. When a publicist took an interest in the group, he suggested they get rid of the bass player and Gannon was let go. Barbara quit when that happened. But then both Shane and Reynolds came back and they became The Kingston Trio and an album was released under that name. "Tom Dooley", a song on that album was released as a single, went to the Billboard Top Ten and sold three millions copies. This was in July 1958.

In 1961, Dave Guard wanted to take the group in a different direction. Bob and Nick weren't happy with the idea and the group broke up. Shane and Reynolds continued as The Kingston Trio with Jon Stewart replacing Guard. They continued to have hits and popular albums for the next six years.

Dave Guard formed a new group called Dave Guard & the Whiskeyhill Singers, which consisted of Guard, Judy Henske, Cyrus Faryar and Dave Wheat. They did not do so well.

I guess my portrait of the Trio old and new is showing Dave Guard thupping his head saying, "what have I done?"

Actor: George C. Scott

H. P. Lovecraft's "Lurking Fear"

Portrait of a Young Man

Strolling the Garden and Where's Lemmo

There are new blossoms in the Garden today, July 6. Also here is a help on finding Lemmo in all those people.

Comedians of my Youth: Bob Hope

Comedians of my Youth: Red Skelton as Red Skelton

As a boy I was very fond of the Red Skelton Show. It was live in those days and one never knew what might happen. Skelton could go off joking on anything and he walked a thin line between what was acceptable in the highly censored and naive TV of the 'fifties. But it wasn't just the surprise moments and not just his pantomime and clownishness, things even a young child could grasp and giggle at, it was the warmth and gentleness that came from this man. Despite the mischief often in his eyes and the devil in his dimpled grin, he seemed shy and sometimes almost embarrassed that people would applaud him. I recall each December he would do a Freddy the Freeloader skit based on an O. Henry short story about a down and out man trying to get himself arrested so he has a warm place to spend Christmas. Of course, there was a twist, this being O. Henry, but the nature of the sketch encapsulated the humor amd humanity of Red.

Where's Waldo...er...LEMMO?

Let's have a little fun. Can you find me?



This is the front and back cover of the WTC 1989 Annual Report. The company decided to dedicate their annual report to the employees that year. We were requested to report (after work, of course) to the University of Delaware Stadium for a photo shoot. You will notice the pinched faces. We were facing the late afternoon July sun. The photographer was up at the top of the opposite grandstand. It was brutally hot and took forever to get everyone placed and the picture snapped. A few people did faint.



1,400 plus of the 1,882 staff members of WTC showed up and are on the cover. They provided a large spread of picnic foods under the grandstand for us. I just wanted to get home and skipped the feast. This was a good choice. Quite a number of people got food poisoning from the potato salad, which had been sitting out in that high temperature for hours.



I weighted more in 1989 and had no beard, just thinning gray hair. I was not in the center of the stands. Those people ended up on the binding of the report and are not in the two pictures above. It was actually one continuous photograph, but I had to scan it in parts.

The Swimmer 1968

My interpretation of the near-climactic moment of the story. One of my all time favorites. I have both read the short story and seen the movie several times. The promo tagline for the film (below) doesn't quite capture the depth and essence of the story, despite its hyperbole.

The famed John Cheever short story appeared in the New Yorker and people talked. Now there will be talk again. When you sense this man's vibrations and share his colossal hang-up . . . will you see someone you know, or love? When you feel the body-blow power of his broken dreams, will it reach you deep inside, where it hurts? When you talk about "The Swimmer" will you talk about yourself?

President Dwight David Eisenhower

Laughing Man 1963

Judy When it Wasn't Oz Anymore Either