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Page 2 of the Saturday Night Banquet
James Dean Fan Appreciation Weekend, 1998
Here is Marcus Winslow talking with R.J. Mott of Austin. Marcus spoke at the banquet. He and his wife Mary Lou are celebrating their wedding anniversary this weekend. We missed them at the brunch Sunday morning but appreciated a tour of Marcus's cars on Saturday morning.
I won't take Mary Lou Winslow's picture until I am invited to, but she looked darling in an embroidered sweater. I just don't think I should put up her picture unless she suggests it. Privacy.
Some of Marcus's remarks at the banquet included his memory of going to California with his parents to visit Kenneth Kendall. Mark was just 13 years old, and in his studio Kenneth gave Mark a bust of James Dean. Now all these years later, here is Kenneth Kendall with us yearly!
Naming this photo "jimbob, " I realized that both these men are Southerners. Professor James Hopgood on the left, with writer Robert R. Rees on the right. Jim is interviewing fans. His writing is published as chapters in scholarly books, so we can't buy it, I fear. I think he is involved in the field of sociological Americana. Ummm, can anyone phrase that better?
Bob Rees is a charter member of WRDI. Otto has some very rough notes that indicate that at the banquet, he traced the history of the fan movement. He remembered that in 1955-57 there was a lot of attention paid to James Dean. Then it died down, and in the 60s there was a resurgence of interest in the 50s, a nostalgia that had an innocence now lost. In 1974 the Mutant King book and the ABC special "James Dean Remembered" started another wave of fan interest. In 1975, "James Dean, the First American Teenager" helped, 1976 and 1977 were good for the fans, including Richard Thomas's movie "9-30-55."
Now Bob feels the newsletter could be of service on the Internet, as well as in print. On the Internet, updates can be made instantly, and we can interest more newcomers. Myla Kent is probably working on this already.
Please send Otto lots of corrections on all this.
The year 2005 will be the 50th anniversary of James Dean's death. As we work toward commemorating that milestone, Bob urges us to focus on his talent rather than his personal life, and secondly to remember that James Dean was not one-dimensional. This ends my notes on what Bob Rees said.
Silvia Bongiovanni herself was kind enough to send in some clarification of the hash I had made of Bob's speech. Here is what she said: "I first communicated with Helen Kirkpatrick who eventually placed a registry book at the Museum and then began to send me those names. I then began to write other fans. About 6 months or so later I happened to write Bill Lewis and then eventually he and I co-founded WRDI." Thanks, Silvia, for sending us the information and for everything else you do for us. You were mentioned at every event, with fondess, on fan weekend.Mark Kinnaman took the podium and related a very vivid dream he had just had. He dreamed he was in Hollywood with all James Dean's friends, as well as Adeline Nall. In his dream, Mark was telling everyone at the gathering about Adeline's funeral. It was an unnerving and very strong dream.
Phil Ziegler also spoke at the banquet. He said he never knew James Dean personally, but "Thank God for James Dean. He'll always be number one, forever and a day." Phil congratulated Mark and Mary Lou Winslow on their wedding anniversary. Phil told us about his recent trip to California with Rob Qualls. They stayed with Kenneth Kendall, saw a lot of Los Angeles and even went to Cholame. Phil will never go there again. It was completely depressing, both for what happened there and for the vandalism done to the monument there.
After California, Phil traveled east. On the Pennsylvania turnpike, he saw a Harley rider who was a perfect Deaner. At a rest stop, the rider's wife saw Phil's Dean bumper sticker and they struck up a conversation. The man had come to Fairmount for James Dean's funeral. He came all the way from Bennington, Vermont, on his motorcycle, though he was only 17 years old. The rest of this story we will save for you to hear at the September memorial service, for this man has phoned to say he will come here for the Festival this year. He could never bring himself to return, after the funeral in 1955; he is still too emotional to face it. But for Phil, he has agreed to return. This page is a welcome to him.
Phil also noted that although Kenneth Kendall doesn't like poetry, Phil was going to read three of his own poems. He read us the poem he reads at the Birthday Dance in February, (available here in Otto,) and Spyder On The Prowl, which he wrote before going to Cholame, and Rebel Star which Phil wrote for the 30th anniversary memorial service.
Joe Schulte also spoke briefly. He told about the impact Rebel had on him. He went to the theatre to see it thirteen times, then made his home movie with his brothers. Details on previous page. Joe had even come to Fairmount in 1956, and lived in Detroit for 59 years, retiring recently to Tennessee.
No gathering would be complete without Kenneth Kendall. We love hearing how James Dean came to his studio before he was a star. Kenneth was tiring by the time he spoke, but he came alive reliving how James Dean overwhelmed him. We fans always keep him talking every minute that we can have him for our midwestern selves.
Another comment he made was that H.G. Wells should have been included in that recent PBS list of 100 best movies.
Remember, Kenneth Kendall will be writing up the Fan Appreciation Weekend for the WRDI Newsletter. Make sure your dues are paid up. WRDI details on Mark Kinnaman's page.
Well, Otto did get a good shot of Santa and his wife, who is in my notes as most definitely Charlotte as well as definitely Carol. Yet in the picture below, Carol Thailing is visiting with the woman from Vermont that I thought was Charlotte.
Myla Kent and Silvia Bongiovanni were both unable to come to the Fan Appreciation Weekend. Maybe next year, or maybe in September we will see them again. California and Seattle are just too far away from Fairmount, for most people. They were missed and frequently mentioned.
Carol Thailing of near Cleveland, Ohio visits with Charlotte Younger from Vermont. Charlotte is the mother of Corky, Annie, Bonnie, Peter, Heidi, Bob, Humphrey, Jane, Wilma, Stella, Harriet, Ted and Sparky. All her children have four feet.
Charlotte was wearing earrings with little pigs on them, on Sunday. When Otto asked why, she explained that she has a large collection of animals on her farm. I'm calling her Charlotte Doolittle now. Her pet pig Corky is very clean, intelligent and housetrained. He uses a pet door to go in and out of the house. I wish Charlotte would write us the story of this pig and her other animals. It would be a fun addition to the fan week stories.
This was a dress-up banquet, but Otto didn't know, and Otto was stranded in a motel the night before and had no other clothes to wear.... Next year we can all dress to the nines, whatever that means.
Various email I receive refers to Charlotte as "the lady with all the miniature animals." So there is another fact to add to this account. The pets are full-grown but tiny.
Magdalin Leonardo, Kurt Whirl and Sandra Weinhardt (your writer here) have spent many hours on email since we all met at the James Dean Festival. Kurt just moved to Orlando, where he has interviewed at Disney World as a singer/dancer. They said if he moves there, they may hire him. We miss him and we hope he'll miss us. He is the most cheerful person we know.
Links to Otto Pages
The big index of James Dean Pages
This year's June event, the Dean-themed Rockabilly Rebel Weekend #6
See the Mercurys at the James Dean Run car show in Fairmount, Indiana. Info on how to register has been added.
Otto's
Roots Music Pages in Otto
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