Wilford, Rickey & Giuseppe

RIP Wilford Brimley, 85, whose on-screen naturalness was a joy to behold. He had many jobs before he went into acting: farmer, rodeo rider, blacksmith. He even served as a bodyguard for Howard Hughes. There are 77 titles listed under his name at IMDb, fairly evenly divided between the big and small screen. He will probably be remembered most for his work in The Natural (1984), Cocoon (1985) and The Firm (1993). He appeared in ten episodes of The Waltons, 48 of Our House, and even made a stop on Seinfeld as the Postmaster General. Here’s a bit of trivia that shocked me — he was a jazz singer who recorded albums with The Jeff Hamilton Trio, and played successful club engagements. There are several clips available at youtube. He also did commercials and became a spokesman for Diabetes awareness. Here’s a telling quote attributed to him: “I just try to be myself.” He achieved that as well as any actor ever will. Thank you, sir.

According to an article by Michael Kaplan at nypost.com, people around the country are buying statues removed by the cancel culture. Kudos to these folks who honor and preserve history.

Here’s a great headline from foxnews.com: “Portland protester outed by his own grandmother after she identified him as alleged ‘bomber’ seen in videos.” Kudos, Gram. I suppose Dems would say she’s part of Trump’s secret police.

RIP Rickey Dixon, 53, member of the College Football Hall of Fame, who succumbed to ALS. At Oklahoma he was an All-American in 1987 and, that same year, won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s best DB. He was a key part of the Sooners 1985 National Championship win over Penn State in the 1986 Orange Bowl. He was the fifth pick of the 1988 NFL Draft, selected by the Bengals and, as a rookie, was a member of their Super Bowl XXIII team, which lost to the 49ers. Dixon played six years of pro ball, the last with the Raiders. He had six interceptions and one fumble recovery. He coached high school and college ball, and retired from teaching in 2007. He also owned a landscaping business and worked as a motivational speaker for at-risk youth. Well done, sir.

How ‘bout this from FN, edited by yours truly: Born to a poor family in Sicily before the Great Depression, Giuseppe Paterno joined the navy and served in WW II. He completed high school post war at 31. He married and raised a family. In 2017 he enrolled in college. He completed his work at a typewriter manufactured in the ’80s and used print editions of books instead of the Internet to complete his research in history and philosophy, earning a degree. 96, he becomes the nation’s oldest graduate. Bravo, signore.

It was a beautiful day to sell books curbside, the stiff breeze along Bay Parkway most welcome. My thanks to the young man who bought a reading manual, and to the gentleman who purchased four hardcovers in Russian; and to the one who selected the huge pictorial on Oprah; and to Monse`, who returned for the items she passed on yesterday — two volumes of poetry and Elemental Haiku: Poems to honor the periodic table, three lines at a time by Mary Soon Lee.

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