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Posts Tagged ‘Chiller Fest’

My Lunch with Adrienne Barbeau

Posted in My lunch with..., tagged , , , on November 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Again…it wasn’t lunch.  This was more like ten minutes though.  When Hubby heard Adrienne Barbeau was going to be at Chiller Fest, he debated skipping his chiropractor conference so he could meet her.  My sons also thought it was cool that I would be meeting her.  They think she’s great in Creepshow.  They love when Hal Holbrook’s character gives her character what she deserves!

Ms. Barbeau was very nice.  While waiting in line, I selected a Creepshow poster with a boy reading the comic book (so many things in our lives go back to Uncle Stevie, don’t they?).

Cover for the Creepshow comic book adaptation.

It made me think of my sons (Creepshow was the first Stephen King book they were allowed to read).  I shared with her how the whole family enjoys her work and she asked who she should address the autograph to.  I told her to the S family.  She then asked, the S family?  Are you related to Richard S?  I said yes, and asked which one since there are three or so that live in the state.  I asked what line of work he was in to narrow the choices.  She wasn’t sure what he did, but he was her neighbor until his recent death.  She said he was a very nice man.  Then, in a bit of a role reversal, she said it was very nice to meet me!

As I researched which Richard she may have been referring to I discovered to my sadness that it was the Richard I was thinking about.  He was a very nice man.  I had the pleasure of meeting him via telephone when he shared some information for the family association’s newsletter.  He was a very impressive player in the newspaper business.  He also helped innovate newspaper recycling.  He told me over the phone in one of our conversations how he kept testing the process in his kitchen, using his blender.  He was a friendly man and our conversations marked one of the highlights of my term as secretary.

I wish I could see Adrienne again to thank her for alerting me to the loss of this dear man.  In discovering that I was a relative of Richard’s, she presumed I was a nice person.  I can only try to be as nice as this man was.  He was proud of his family’s place in history and worked to contribute to our country and society.  From what I know of him, he was a good family man.  Having only retired two years ago at the age of 97, he clearly loved the news.  But he seemed to have balanced it with family and friends.

It was fun to share with Adrienne about my husband’s crush on her.  And she seemed to understand when I told her my sons love it when she gets thrown under the stairs in Creepshow.  If we had met in a different way, I think she and I could sit at a diner for quite a while chatting about life and family and exploring this world.  She was even game enough for a cutesy pose for Hubby.  It was truly a pleasure to meet Adrienne Barbeau.

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My Lunch with Andrew McCarthy

Posted in My lunch with..., tagged , , , , on November 4, 2012| 2 Comments »

Okay, it wasn’t lunch.  It was about five minutes.  I went to Chiller Fest and Andrew was tops on my list.  Yes, I did gush a wee bit, but after all I was meeting BLANE! “His name is Blane? Oh! That’s a major appliance, that’s not a name!”  He looks absolutely beautiful.  He was very friendly and jovial.  He seemed a little surprised when I brought up The Beniker Gang.   I’m guessing no one else had mentioned that flick yet.

If you haven’t seen The Beniker Gang, try to find it.  It’s like an after-school special type movie.  There are five orphans and they make their own family, and Andrew is the head of the family.  There’s drama of course as to whether they will be able to stick together.  I don’t know that the rest of the cast has done much since (well, there was a young Danny Pintauro as one of the children), and the girl in the movie has done some movies since and a bunch of theater (a Jules Feiffer play!).

It was lovely to thank Mr. McCarthy for the many films that filled my teen years.  Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo’s Fire, of course.  I also love Weekend at Bernie’s.  It’s aged just a bit over the years, but remains very funny.  Isn’t it funny how the films from your teen years stick with you?  They seem to remain clear in my memory, clearer than movies I’ve seen in the past few years.  For example, supposedly Hubby and I watched the Spiderman movies together (the ones with Tobey Maguire).  I have NO recollection of this at all.  But feed me a cue line from Pretty in Pink and I’ll recite the whole scene.

Perhaps it’s because we are shaping our futures.  Creating our dreams and planning how to make them come true.  We see possibilities in those movies, ideas of what we can do with the rest of our lives.  I always invoked the spirit of Annie Potts’ character, Iona, when I worked in retail.  I loved doing the displays and when I had created an interesting one, the line would come “Applause, applause, applause.”  Sometimes I miss retail, but retail from the 80s and 90s.  Those were the days to work behind a counter.  Now I wouldn’t want to face the public.

It was white hot to meet Andrew McCarthy.  A nice fellow.  I would like to read his travel book.  See where he’s traveled to and what he’s discovered through visiting these places and continuing the journey.

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