Day of Kudos

From an article at nypost.com by Kerry J. Byrne, edited by yours truly: Don Huisenga’s high school education was interrupted by WWII. An 18-year-old Iowan, elite paratrooper, part of the D-Day spearhead, he was wounded, rescued by residents and housed in a hospital. He was soon taken prisoner, weight dropping from 175 to 100 during captivity. Recently, a social worker heard of Huizenga’s regret over not having graduated, and contacted officials in his school district. One traveled to San Angelo, Texas to present the man, 98, with a diploma at a ceremony at a VA clinic. He was “Thrilled to pieces.” Kudos all around. Here’s the man who fought to end Nazi tyranny:

RIP Dwayne Hickman, 87, baby boomer TV mainstay. There are 64 titles under his name at IMDb in a career that spanned from the mid 1940s-2005. That number doesn’t begin to reveal his influence. He co-starred in 155 episodes alone of The Bob Cummings Show and starred in 148 of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which still holds up since its run ended in 1963. Thereafter it was mostly guest shots on popular prime time fare, although he did land a substantial role in Cat Ballou (1963) and in a few of the skiing and beach party movies. Thank you, sir. Do-do-do-Dobie!

Here’s country music artist Lee Greenwood and a new friend:

Headline from foxnews.com: “Pro-life father shares bold, hopeful message: ‘I was conceived in rape, adopted in love’.” According to the accompanying article by Deirdre Reilly, he is the head of the non-profit The Radiance Foundation, named after his adopted daughter, who his wife bore after leaving an abusive relationship. He says: “The circumstances of our conception don’t define the condition of our worth.” Kudos.

As I was driving this morning I learned of the impending retirement of DJ Michael Bourne of WBG0 88.3, a jazz station out of Newark. Since 1985 he has been the host of Singers Unlimited on Sunday from 10Am to 2PM. I learned so much about standards, what is dubbed The Great American Songbook, the incredible writing skills of Cole Porter (in my opinion the greatest writer who ever lived), Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin and many others. Thank you, sir. All the best.

I adhered to the weather forecast, which called for all-day rain, and passed on the book shop, and kicked myself all afternoon, especially given the coming cold snap. Even though I hate setting up at a nearby viaduct, it would have been better than being sidelined. If a perfect parking spot is unavailable tomorrow, I will have to return home, and Tuesday may be too cold, a high of 19 predicted. That wasn’t a problem in the past as long as the sun was shining and I was out of the wind, but at 71 it may be foolish. I filled some time today restringing my guitar. It had been so long since I’d done it the covering on the A had worn away in the area where most open chords are played. It took me at least an hour and a lot of cursing. I had to restart each string at least once, as they were aligning outwardly rather than inwardly. Fortunately none snapped. I no longer have any extras. At the moment, 2:37, the sun has poked through — arrgh!

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