Another day in Coronaville
The late Richard Matheson had a remarkable literary run. His divorced mom moved to NYC when he was eight, and he immediately had a short story published in the Brooklyn Eagle. He wrote scores of novels, short stories and scripts for movies and TV, and adapted the works of other authors to the screen. He contributed episodes to Combat!, Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock and The Twilight Zone, the most famous Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, starring William Shatner, whose character sees a monster on the wing of a passenger jet. Many of his novels have been adapted to the big screen. I Am Legend alone has been shot four times under several titles. He wrote the novel that inspired the sci-fi classic The Incredible Shrinking Man (1956). It is an awesome legacy. Recently, one of his lesser known works came my way, Shadow on the Sun, published in 1994. Set in the old west in the latter half of the 1800’s, it is the story of an evil being that threatens the population of a town in Arizona. Most of the action is told from the point of view of an honorable Indian agent who has negotiated a peace treaty ending a ten-year war between Apaches and whites. When mutilated corpses are found, it is suspected the treaty has been broken. The agent investigates and seeks a way to end the terror. The novel requires suspension of disbelief. It is fast-moving, its 188 pages reading like far less. The prose and dialogue are solid, but it is highly repetitive in stating the dread. In reading or viewing works that involve American Indians, I’m always leery of a lecture on mistreatment. Fortunately, Matheson keeps it brief. How does Shadow… stack up against the most impressive works of his extraordinary canon? I’d say in the latter half. It doesn’t rise above mildly entertaining. 20 users at Amazon have rated it…, forging to a consensus of 3.8 on a scale of five. I say three. Matheson passed away in 2013 at 87. Here is a poster of one of the adaptations of I Am Legend. Like Night of the Living Dead (1968), its low budget production values take the creepiness to the max. All together now — “Morgan!”
RIP TV icon Lyle Waggoner, 84. He was Playgirl magazine’s first centerfold but was much more than a pretty boy. Despite his leading man looks, his best work came as a supporting player. He appeared in 173 episodes of The Carol Burnett Show and 59 of Wonder Woman. There are 56 titles listed under his name at IMDb. Married since 1960, he fathered two sons. Well done, sir. Thank you.
RIP film and TV star Stuart Whitman, 92, who has 189 titles under his name at IMDb, which include multiple appearances in popular small screen fare. The highlight of his long career came in 1961 when he was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as a child molester in The Mark, as gutsy a career move as there ever was. He was a savvy investor, amassing a fortune estimated at $100 million. Well done, sir. Thank you.
I’m surprised Tom Brady is leaving the Patriots. I don’t think he could have made a more intelligent choice than the Buccaneers, a team that seems on the brink of becoming a powerhouse.
When I entered the Chinese bakery this morning to pick up my usual Wednesday lunch, hot dog rolls, I chuckled at the sight of the woman at the counter wearing a mask. And this afternoon, on my way home, I stopped by to pick up my dinner, a chicken wrap, at Waj’s food truck. I asked how business was, and he said: “It sucks.”
This headline from foxnews.com should not be surprising: “Coronavirus triggers massive spike in firearms and ammunition sales.”
I didn’t put out the books today. I won’t be doing so for a while. I will not be staying home 24/7, however. Since my car is in the prime position regarding the curbside shop, I simply stood beside it in case anyone mentioned a need of reading matter. Bigshots have said that only essential services should remain open. There’s no way I can rationalize mine being so when books are readily available on the web, although I realize not everyone, especially older folks, is online. I didn’t earn any money but I got a donation of six books, five Russian, one English, from Wolf. My thanks, and also to all those who stopped to chat and wish me well, especially my little brother from another mother, JVS.
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