Junkie

  As most of you know, I am a political junkie.  I have been addicted to politics for most of my life.  My mother's side of the family had political lives, and I just grew up with it.  As I got older, politics were even more in my life, because I worked on political campaigns for folks from both parties.  I have never been a Republican or a Democrat.  I vote for the person and not the party.  I also believe that a person's vote should be a private matter in the voting booth.  It may be interesting for you to know that I have voted for more Republicans than Democrats who ran for President, but I have voted for more Democrats than Republicans in local races.  It has kind of worked out that way.  

 My brother has been in politics most of his adult life.  He has done public relations for campaigns, and he has written speeches for elected officials.  His main desire has been to stay in the background and let the candidate get the glory.  When Jim Hodges was elected to be the Governor of South Carolina, he nominated my brother to be the director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism for the State.  It was a perfect fit for my brother.  I went to the swearing in at the State House.  I wore my best suit, which was a little tight and worn. I found out later that one could see through it in the light.  Thank goodness for underwear.  The Governor was there.  He was very nice, and I have a picture of the two of us meeting one another.  

 A couple of months later, he and his wife opened up the Governor's Mansion for Christmas.  I was in line to shake hands with the two of them.  I shook hands with the Governor and told him my name.  He had remembered me from the swearing in.  He turned to his wife and said that I was John Durst's brother.  In her Southern drawl, she said:  "Hey, how are youuuuu"?  There was a TV camera there, and my interaction with Mrs. Hodges got on TV.  It was kind of funny and embarrassing at the same time.

 Then, there was Douglas Kiker.  He was a graduate of PC and had come to the school for a lecture on journalism.  He was a political reporter for NBC.  He told the story about being outside in the snow during the Nixon inauguration in Washington.  It was very cold that day, and he had an earpiece connecting him to the NBC control truck.  Doug was freezing, and he was hearing the folks in the truck telling him how warm it was in the truck.  Even though Doug was very mad at what he was hearing in his ear, he had to keep his concentration.  I remembered that story, because it taught me how to concentrate on the stage no matter what was happening around me.  Doug was very easy to talk to, and he had great stories about the human sides of politicians.  He left us too soon. 

Writers

  I have been a writer, since I was five years old.  I wrote a commercial for a cereal company and sent it to them.  They thought I showed promise, as they were just being kind, and told me to check back with them in 18 years.  I never did, mainly because they stopped making OK Cereal.  I started writing songs in the 4th grade.  I started writing serious poetry in the 8th grade, and I began writing plays in the 12th grade.  All that is to say, I like to write.  I also like writers.  My mother was a writer, as was her sister.  So, this story is about writers.

 I had an English teacher in the 12th grade named Mrs. Greene.  Her husband taught Theatre at USC, and she introduced us to James Dickey.  He was a world-renown poet, and he wrote the novel "Deliverance".  He wanted us to call him "Jim", so we did.  Jim invited us over to his house which was crammed with books.  Most writers have a lot of books.  He was very gracious to us, and we picked his brain on how to write poetry.  I already knew, or I thought I did, but he opened our eyes to imagery in poetry.  I also got to know his son Chris who later became a journalist.  He was the first American to be at the site of Princess Diana's car crash in Paris.  

 A few years later, I was a Senior at PC and was taking a class on Modern Poetry.  I hated the teacher, because I felt his interpretations of poems were way off.  I failed the course, because I rebelled against him.  However, he knew Jim Dickey and invited him to come to our school to read some of his works and have lunch with our class.  Jim remembered me from my class in high school, and he invited me to sit next to him at lunch.  He had been drinking, which was not unusual for him, and his breath just about knocked me over.  It was nice to see him, though.  He did sign a book of poetry for me next to one of his famous poems which was "Buckdancer's Choice".

 About three years after that, I was living in Fort Worth across from TCU.  I heard that Jim was going to do a lecture one night, and I went to say hello.  After it was over, I was walking up to him, and he called out my name and gave me a big bear hug.  He was surprised to see me, and we were able to catch up on his family.  His wife and daughter were there, too.  I found a spoken word record at a store of Jim reading his poetry.  I should have had him sign it.  Jim had his faults, but I learned a lot from him.  He was one of my writing mentors.  

 The other famous writer that I met was Alex Haley.  He came to PC to speak about his book upcoming book called "Roots".  We talked about Civil Rights, and the part that my cousin played as a Freedom Rider with Dr. King.  He was interesting to talk to, but his ego was pretty big.  There was just a small group of students around him, including me.  Little did we know that "Roots" would be a best seller and a TV mini-series, which was extremely popular.  

Flying

  The next two people that I have met are pretty different in their music.  One is mostly a gospel singer, and the other is mostly a folk singer.  One is probably only known in gospel circles.  The other is known all over the world.  

 In 2008, I was in Nashville working on the next cd for The Cobbwebs.  We had done a cd in 2001 that was well received, and then the band broke up.  Some would say we took a seven-year hiatus.  We had some new songs, and I had written some lyrics for the cd.  We were recording in Chris's home studio.  One afternoon, a woman came over for a visit.  Her name was Kimber Manning.  I had heard about her from Chris, but I didn't know her music.  As it turned out, she had sung in the Speer Family which was a gospel group.  She was wanting to branch out and record her own songs, and Chris was helping her with that.  She seemed nice, as we talked around the table in the kitchen.  It was obvious that she was a perfectionist in our music.  I guess that's why I liked her, because I have been a perfectionist in my work as an actor and writer.  I learned later that she was a little bit too demanding in her work.  As far as I know, she has released only one cd.

 In 1991, Chris and Del wanted me to go with them to a show at a club in Five Points.  The singer was formerly in a 60's band that became famous around the world.  That band was The Byrds, and the singer's name was Roger McGuinn.  He is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Byrds.  Roger was in Columbia to do a show with his backup band called The Headlights.  We sat two rows from the front, and the show was great.  We had heard that he was going to sign stuff after the show in his tour bus.  Del and Chris had brought record albums for him to sign.  I couldn't find an album, so I brought an article from a Boston magazine about him.  His wife was not the friendliest person in the world and was a bit controlling about how many things he would sign.  When it was my turn, she handed the article to him.  He had not seen it, and he asked me where this had come from.  I told him that it was from Boston.  He asked me if I was from there, and I said no.  A friend gave it to me.  He signed the page and gave it back to me.  I had a one-of-a-kind piece with his autograph.  That was kind of cool.  He was very nice.  When I got back home, I screamed.  I saw the soundtrack to the film "Easy Rider" in my record collection.  Roger recorded a song for that record.  I could have had him sign it, but NOOOOOO!!!

 I kept in touch with Roger after that night.  He gave me some pointers on writing songs.  In 1997, Crosby, Stills & Nash came to Columbia for a concert.  Since David Crosby had been a founding member of The Byrds, I wrote to him and asked if he would be coming up from his home in Florida to see the show.  David and Roger had a falling out over The Byrds, but they were trying to reconcile.  Roger said he was sorry, but he said "Not this time".  We have corresponded a few times since then. When my father died in 1999, the song on Rich's muzak was "Turn Turn Turn" by The Byrds.  It was very comforting.  I told Roger about that, and his words of sympathy were heartfelt.   He was  very nice to me.  A true gentleman.  

Quarrymen

  Two guys from a little band in Liverpool during the 1950's crossed my path in 1995 in Chicago.  Their names were Rod Davis and John Duff Lowe.  You may not recognize their names, but you might recognize the names of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.  They were all in a little skiffle group called The Quarrymen.  Lennon started the group with Davis and Lowe.  McCartney and Harrison joined later.  The group later became The Beatles with Davis and Lowe continuing on as The Quarrymen along with a couple of others.

 I had gone to Beatlefest in Chicago in 1995.  I had also met Denny Laine there, as well as George Harrison's sister Louise.  There were mostly vendors there selling Beatles merchandise, but there were also famous and semi-famous people there, as well.  Rod and John were there promoting their new CD called "Open for Engagement" and signing copies.  Apparently, most people at the convention didn't know who they were.  I did.

 Rod was sitting at his table all alone.  I went up to him and introduced myself.  We talked for quite a while about the four lads from Liverpool and the history of The Quarrymen.  I told him about my connection with Yoko.  He signed a copy of the CD for me, and John walked up.  He was not as talkative as Rod was, but he still was nice.  He signed my CD, too.  We talked about how much John liked to party, and how much Paul was obsessed with the music.  George just wanted to belong to something and learn to play the guitar. I think they liked John more than the other two. He was more mature. It was great talking with them about the old days before Beatlemania.  Check out their music.  It is pretty good.