Re: Buffalo Bob Smith - RIP

["'A. Joseph Ross'" <lawyer@world.std.com>]

On Thu, 30 Jul 1998, Donna Halper wrote:

> This has to have been very sudden--  I saw him at a nostalgia show a few
> months ago and he looked great.  He spoke, signed autographs, let people
> take his picture-- the lines were around the block.  And what was really
> bizarre was that unlike some of the older people I know, his voice was
> STILL the same as when he was on TV when I was a kid-- if you closed your
> eyes and forgot the grey hair, you could swear it was the 50s and it was
> Howdy Doody Time.  Rest in peace, Buffalo Bob...  (And btw, he had some
> very close ties with radio, as people on this list know.  He even owned
> several stations in Maine...)  
 
I was also surprised, since there was never a mention of any problem in
the Doodyville Historical Society's newsletter (Yes, there is one!).  But
there was a hint in the report of last year's convention, when it was
mentioned that the gathering of cast and crew of the old show might be the
last time they would all be gathered together.  There was also the
auction, last fall, of various artifacts of the show and a mention that
the original Howdy marionette, which has lived in Buffalo Bob's house all
these years, had been willed to a museum. 

I used to watch the Howdy Doody Show avidly and then did my own version of
the show every day, with my own set of plastic Howdy Doody dolls.  I
followed the mid-70s attempt to revive the show in syndication, subscribed
to the Doodyville Historical Society newsletter, read the two books about
the show that have come out, saw the 40th anniversary special in 1987, and
saw Buffalo Bob in person on two occasions.  I am amazed when I think of
how much fun I've had, over so many years, because of this one man.  The
world is not quite as bright a place today. 

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 A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                                         617.367.0468
 15 Court Square                                      lawyer@world.std.com
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