Bob Keeshan

[Bill O'Neill]

> I had the honor of interviewing Bob Keeshan a few years ago,  I have
> never been star struck in all my years of interviewing
> people, including
> a number of very big names, but The Captain was part of my
> childhood and
> I was almost giddy when I met him.

Sort of like how I felt the first time I met Faneuf in person.  <g>

Seriously, I remember Captain Kangaroo very well, right up there with Romper
Room ("Magic mirror, tell me today...<mushroom cloud sfx>")

I was visiting the Cape about 15 years ago. During Christmas Stroll, I think.
Me and a couple of friends visited a craft store/antique shop.  There was this
accessory building/bard that had it's door slightly ajar and there was this
aging sign that read, "Dancing Bear."  So, we go in there and there I was, mouth
agape, staring at this sort of amusement park display featuring none other than
THEE dancing bear from Captain Kangaroo.  It was a Twilight Zone moment.  In
front of it's "stage" was a coin slot.  In goes a quarter and on comes the dusty
long-abandoned life-size bear, cheesy music, blinking lights and all of it mixed
in with musty damp-smell, all in some storage barn somewhere on the Cape and
three grown ups suddenly feeling like we may have just been caught by some guy
named "Funt" with a camera.

Some things just stick with you.

Bill O'Neill