AND NOW - THE BOB, STAN, ARCHIE & GORDIE SHOW...

BOB HOPE and STAN LEE are both gone now, which, considering that we of a certain age grew up exposed to the work of both gentlemen in their respective fields of entertainment, is a sad state of affairs.  Two people who made such an immense contribution to the quality of our lives (assuming, of course, that you were a fan of either) no longer being around is a sombre reminder of our own mortality.  After all, don't we tend to take for granted that the entertainers we enjoyed in our youth will be with us throughout the entire span of our own lives?  That they're no longer here diminishes our day-to-day enjoyment to some degree, don't you think?  Were you a DAVID BOWIE fan?  Then no doubt you lament his loss - though personally, I think he could 'sing nane' as we say in Scotland.  Still, if you're a fan, you no doubt think he was taken too soon.

Now, generally speaking, I wouldn't say that I was an 'autograph hound', but there are a few people I admired so much that, when the opportunity arose to obtain their signature or pose for a photograph with them, it was 'full steam ahead' for me.  I've met Bob and Stan, RIKKI FULTON, MAYA ANGELOU, WILL EISNER, CAROLINE NIN, ARCHIE GOODWIN, and a few minor TV celebrities (by chance in the latter case, not design).  Strangely, I never asked Archie for his autograph, nor posed for a photo with Will (didn't have my camera with me) - and Maya seemed reluctant to sign for or pose with the four or five people (of which I was one) who met her at the stage door - but I got snapped with Bob, Stan (and got their autographs), and Archie - and got Rikki's, Brian's and Will's signatures to mark the occasion of meeting them.

(I've also got ROGER MOORE's, LEO BAXENDALE's, TERRY BAVE's, JOHN NOAKES', and MARIE SEVERIN's autographs, but I never actually met them - though I spoke with Terry by 'phone on numerous occasions, and corresponded with Leo by letter.  Oh, and I've also got ALAN FENNELL's autograph, another gent I spoke with on the 'phone from time to time.)

Of course, the work of those we admire is still available for us to enjoy after they've gone whenever we wish, which is some consolation, but the act of connecting with them for however brief a moment is almost akin to connecting with their lives, experiences, and histories from before we met them.  There I was shaking hands with Bob Hope, who grew up in the Depression, played Vaudeville, entertained the troops in various wars and conflicts, was a star during Hollywood's heyday, and, in his time, was probably the most famous and successful comedian in the world - and I somehow felt that I was connected to all that in some indefinable way;  as if he himself were a conduit to his own past, and the mere act of shaking his hand or standing in his presence made me a participant-by-proxy in all he had done during his life and the periods he had lived through.

Yes, I know I'm fooling myself and that any such feeling is an illusion at best and a delusion at worst, but I just can't help thinking that way.  "By appreciation we make excellence in others our own property" wrote VOLTAIRE, and in a similar way, it might also be said that "By association we make the experiences of others our own property".  Sure, that's probably overstating the case, but it's only by such hyperbole that I can convey even the merest hint of what I'm trying to say.

Anyway, what are your own thoughts on the matter, if any?  Do you agree with my sentiments or am I talking my usual load of utter pants?  Have you ever met one (or more) of your idols, and if so, what effect did it have on you?  Feel free to express yourself in the comments section.

Posted in: Cartoons