In 1941, Merriman Smith became the White House correspondent for United Press International (UPI), a position he held until the Nixon administration. He began the tradition of closing his presidential conferences with “Thank you, Mr. President,” a practice still used by current correspondents. On November 22, 1963, Merriman Smith sat with several other reporters in …
This week’s Illustration Friday suggestion for inspiration is the word “faded”. “Before the flowers of friendship faded friendship faded.” Gertrude Stein, 1931 In 1907, Gertrude Stein met Alice B. Toklas at the apartment of Gertrude’s brother Michael. Soon after, Gertrude and Alice became companions and lovers until Gertrude’s death in 1946. Gertrude wrote Q.E.D. …
This week’s Illustration Friday word is “sight”. The assassination of President Kennedy was a traumatic event for the generation before mine. Everyone knew where they were, what they were doing and who they were with when they heard the terrible news that the president was shot In a Dallas motorcade. It was something they would never forget. …
Andy Kaufman took the whole world for a ride. From his beginnings as a stand-up comic, Andy marched to his own beat. When he performed a short bit on the premiere episode of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, no one knew what to make of him… and that’s just what Andy wanted. After an introduction by …
The current Illustration Friday challenge word is “kernel”. “Every once in a while, someone will mail me a single popcorn kernel that didn’t pop. I’ll get out a fresh kernel, tape it to a piece of paper and mail it back to them.” Orville Redenbacher In 1951, 44-year old Orville Redenbacher and his partner …
Nineteen-year-old Pamela Courson met Jim Morrison in a club on Sunset Boulevard in 1965. They remained a couple for six years, when Pamela found Jim dead in their Paris apartment’s bathtub. After Jim’s death, Pamela returned to Los Angeles and shunned all publicity, essentially becoming a recluse. She became a heavy heroin user and allegedly …
After brief nursing training, Alexandra Denny — “Sandy” to her friends — went against her parents’ strict wishes and took a shot at a singing career. She made regular appearances at clubs in south London. Her popularity increased by word of mouth and soon Sandy joined up with British folk group The Strawbs. American folk …
This week’s Illustration Friday word is “hitched”. “Life has got a habit of not standing hitched. You got to ride it like you find it. You got to change with it. If a day goes by that don’t change some of your old notions for new ones, that is just about like trying to milk …
Based on his excellence in high school, Kevin Peter Hall was awarded a basketball scholarship to George Washington University. At 7′ 2″, Kevin dominated the game, but despite his athletic prowess, he decided his major would be theatrical arts. After abandoning a brief basketball career in Venezuela, Kevin landed his first role in the 1979 …
Seventeen-year old Germaine Hélène Irène Lefebvre was riding in a carriage in Paris when she was spotted by a fashion photographer. With a little encouragement, she used that chance meeting to kick off a career as a model for the likes of Givenchy and Christian Dior. She changed her name to the mysterious Capucine (French …
