Sunday, May 12th, 1974

Mother's Day. We went to church where I saw that girl from school again. We found out my friend from when I was about four, Jenny Adams, was married there last week at about age 17.

We had White Castles for lunch.

I sent in what I think was a TV blooper to THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER. I might win $50.00!

Saw a whole lot of new superhero toys at Twin Fair.

Saw Steffie on McCLOUD again. It was a rerun.

IT.

The cough I had yesterday was much worse today.

NOTES: Jenny was our landlady's daughter. i remember thinking of her as a teenager then and even looking at pics of her she looks older but apparently she was just a few years older than I was. Last time we saw her was at the Florence mall a couple of years after this pushing a baby stroller.


THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER became a favorite of mine around this time for entertainment news you just didn't get anywhere else. Little by little I came to question its reliability. I sent in several of their TV bloopers contest entries and while i was usually correct, many others also responded and I was never chosen as a winner. 

Saturday, May 11th, 1974

IT.

I spent over 13 dollars today! Got three Gazettes, one EC reprint, a magazine, a newspaper, a mother's day card, new comics and an old (1948!) copy of POLICE COMICS with Plastic Man and the Spirit for three bucks!

Ended up not seeing any movies today but I might tomorrow.

NOTES: I loved getting the Golden Age comic books when they were still relatively inexpebsive. The issue I got on this date had the distinction of Plastic Man fighting a villain named Eloc...which was actually the name of the character's creator, Jack COLE, spelled backwards. 

Meanwhile... in 1976

After sitting at $127.00 for the past two weeks on our campaign to fund a book of my original 1976 Journal  blog, we suddenly got two more backers after adjusting the incentives so that you now get a signed copy of the eventual book at the $50.00 level! Please check it out and consider pledging! 31 Days to go!

Friday, May 10th, 1974

I got a 100 on an Algebra test. Probably my last one.

Terry got his stuff today. From what he says, I'll need a lot tomorrow!

I'm going to see BILLY JACK and BLACK EYE (maybe). I can't see as many going forward because now they have to come out of my own money.

I drew a great picture of The Shadow today.

NOTES: OK, now this is a little weird. 


In 2012 (Wednesday):


My son took his MAP Math test for 9h grade today. A score of 250 is considered excellent. He scored 290+.


I burned some disks for my old pal Terry and delivered them to him early this afternoon. "Terry got his stuff."


I found BLACK EYE online and finally watched it 38 years late. One of the co-stars in the film is a man more noted for his radio performances than his movie roles--Bret Morrison who played...THE SHADOW!!!

Thursday, May 9th, 1974

Today was a pretty nice day. The weather was cool, I got 100 on an IPS test, I didn't have to take Gym, and best of all (I think) I remembered all of last year's Top Ten flicks of mine. I'm glad of that.

On the other hand, there was a bad earthquake in Japan. I sure hope it didn't hit either of my pen-pals.

NOTES: "IPS?" Another head scratcher, I'm afraid.


Both of my Japanese pen-pals were okay. "The Izu-Hanto-oki earthquake of 9 May 1974 was one of the most disastrous earthquakes in Japan.The earthquake killed 30 people, injured 82, and destroyed 121 homes. The tremor also caused road damage and landslides." Needless to say the one from a couple years back was MUCH worse.

Wednesday, May 8th, 1974

I finished work early tonight.

Did well in volleyball in Gym. Hopefully I fare as well with it again tomorrow.

I'm almost finished with my second Arkon story, THE DARK AGE. It's the longest I've ever written.

Just realized it's been about a year since I recorded for WCLU.

NOTES: Arkon was a sword and sorcery character I had created the year before. He was sort of a combination of Merlin and Kull, a king but also a wizard--a warrior wizard, in fact, capable of turning his hand into a flaming sword. Ultimately I would write (and finish!) three stories of Arkon.


WCLU was a country music radio station locally. In 8th grade, they had had a contest for most creative essays about America. The three winners, myself included, were driven to the tiny radio station (housed in the building above behind a local strip mall) where we recorded our essays to be played on the air on Memorial day. While we were there we were each drafted to record plugs fro the station's coverage of the Indy 500, also. This was my very first time in a radio studio. I was in love with teh idea. I wanted so much to do that a s a living at that point and every once in awhile over the next dozen years or so until I met a  number of folks in the business and realized how insecure it was.

Tuesday, May 7th, 1974

We had a sports award assembly today at school.

I got the new TBG and I may order form Bud Plant again this week.

I'll probably see Fred Williamson in BLACK EYE and maybe BILLY JACK at the Madison and/or Redford's THE CANDIDATE and JEREMIAH JOHNSON (again) at the International '70.

Oh, yeah...IT...darn it.

NOTES: Bud Plant was a dealer in comics art books and fanzines that I ordered from a lot in those days. I finally met him in 1988 at a Con. In 2011, even though we didn't have any direct contact, Bud and I worked on the same project behind the scenes for Yoe Books. Later on, I even did some publicity for him. 


Fred Williamson's movies mostly eluded me until the new century when, thanks to the wonders of the Internet and cable TV, I was finally able to catch a score or so of his movies, both good and bad. An amazingly charismatic actor, his BLACK EYE is still one I have yet to see.

Monday, May 6th, 1976

Yesterday I moved my bed and expanded my office area.

After a pretty bad day at school, I went over to Ohio and got THE SPIRIT set # 2, a few GAZETTES and the brand new TV GUIDE already.

NOTES: THE SPIRIT sets were bagged black and white reprints of Will Eisner's classic comic strips. Ten came in a plastic bag, thus they are also known as the Spirit Bags. I had bought the first one the year before. I think there were only four sets released eventually. 


I'm actually selling the first two SPIRIT bags on my sale blog if anyone is interested. The one in the back of this shot is the one I bought on this date 38 years ago.


http://bookstevesbookstore.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-lower-pricespirit-bags-1-and-2.html