Saturday, December 8, 2012

Sunday, December 8th, 1974


I woke up today with the beginnings of a cold that got worse all morning.

I saw Lena Zavaroni on WONDERAMA. I'm really beginning to like her singing.

We all went Christmas shopping over the river. I stayed with Mom and Dad for awhile but then split off to go to Bell Block where I picked up VARIETY and that YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN book. At Walgreens I got more APES cards and two more paperbacks, THE TRIAL OF BILLY JACK and CLINT EASTWOOD. I read CLINT EASTWOOD this afternoon.

Watched three Christmas specials on TV including THE HOMECOMING. THE HOMECOMING and John-Boy Walton were what originally inspired me to keep this journalistic record!

NOTES: I had totally forgotten that! John-Boy Walton wanted to be a writer and often was seen writing in his journal about his daily life. THE HOMECOMING, subtitled A CHRISTMAS STORY, had originally aired in 1971. Although not my usual type of fare at age 12, between the snow scenes, the impressive acting, the rare dramatic turn of Edgar Bergen as Grandpa Walton (no Charlie McCarthy in sight) and the fact I found myself relating to John-Boy, played by a former child star I'd never heard of, Richard Thomas, it became a favorite. I followed it into series when THE WALTONS began its long run. In 2008, Richard Thomas came through my store at the Airport...but on my day off! Ugh!

Poor Lena, again. I hadn't thought about her in years until I re-read this journal. Eventually she died from an eating disorder.

The YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN book was a novelization that actually came across as more R-rated than the PG rated film.

The CLINT EASTWOOD bio was by film professor Stuart Kaminsky. In the late seventies, he switched to writing Hollywood themed mysteries set in the 1930's and became my favorite mystery writer. He passed just a couple of years back and in 2012 I sold that CLINT EASTWOOD book. 


1 comment:

Tom said...

Although I was only 4 at the time, I vividly recall when The Homecoming premiered. My mother made a big deal out of it, having lived through the depression as a child, and eventually my family became Waltons fans. I still watch The Homecoming every year at Christmas time.