I hadn’t forgotten
I was just busy. On Monday, the 16th of October, we celebrate the 7th time around the sun since Jean Shepherd died.
Anyone who doesn’t know Jean, you need only to rent a copy of The Christmas Story. That’s him.
For anyone old enough to remember his broadcasts, consider yourself very lucky.
For myself, I had a chace to meet him, shake his hand, thank him, as a resident of Northwest Indiana, for allowing us to laugh at ourselves. His eyes twinkled and he smiled, and said “thank you”. I don’t think he ever came back after that, which was in, I believe, 87.
I shopped at the Minas’ store where his mom shopped. I shopped in the Goldblatts (Higbees, in the Christmas Story) when I was of such an age. When I took my swipe at the broadcasting business, I sat at the same microphone as Jean Shepherd. Literally, I’m told, (though I have no provenance of this) because the owner, julian Colby, was a cheap bastard. Of that I don’t have any personal experience- but jean left a cold spot when he passed. He was a local Ham, and my local Ham club held what is called a “silent key” cerimony for him.
We miss you, Jean. Storytellers of your ilk are few and far between.
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Shep used to do a show every year at Princeton Reunions. In 1999, my 25th reunion year, we were disappointed to find out that Shep was ailing and would not be there that year. He died less than five months later.
I used to listen to Shep on the radio in the late 1960’s and read his stories when they were published (usually in Playboy). PBS has adapted a few of his tales for the small screen (in one of them, Matt Dillon plays Ralphie as a teenager) – but A Christmas Story put it all together in classic form.
You can get many old Jean Shepherd shows via podcast. Flick lives!
LOL! Indeed he does. “Excelsior, you fathead!”
I read his fine book “In God We Trust — All Others Pay Cash” many years ago, and enjoy them immensly. I f I remember right, the stories were set in Hammond? I lived too far south in Indiana to catch his broadcasts.
You live too far foward int ime too, his broadcasts were in the 30’s.
My mom used to buy all my clothes at Goldblatt’s in Central Illinois in the 60s. I remember Ayrway, as well (remember LS Ayres?)
Is this the same Goldblatt’s that was the “flea market” downtown in the 80s?
Did it become Sears later? Mom and Grandma both worked at Sears way back.
I never knew that movie was connected to Hammond.
All about Hammond, Freddie. The sears was across the street. And yes, it was the Goldblatts that was the flea market, and the Army Surplus was downstairs.
When I was a senior in high school, I went down to the State Speech tournament reading a cutting from “Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories.” I did the scene where Ralphie was getting into his tux. Placed 8th overall.
I always played boys better than I did girls, for some reason.
Maybe you’re a gay guy trapped in the body of a woman. me, I’m a lesbian trapped in the body of a man. Okay, two lesbians. Three. Three lesbians trapped in the body of a man. And a small dog. THree lesbians and a small dog trapped in the body of a man.
Except Ralphie wasn’t gay. So how do you splain that?
Are you sure?
Thanks for the memories og. I envy you for actually meeting the man, I would have said the same.
The best of old downtown Hammond was:
-Army Navy Surlpus
-Wayne’s Trick Shop
-KwiKee Snax
The best of Jean Shepherd IMHO was in a short film titled “The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski” My brother and I get together and watch that VHS at least once a year.
We were members of a Cossnowski family and we DID live in the basement. First near Columbia Ave. and Conkey St. and later on Hohman Ave.
Most folks have no idea how true to life those Jean Shepherd tales were but I can tell you they are incredibly real to me since I lived in the middle of them.
One of my first apartments was on Hohman Avenue.
Crikey, has it really been that long?
Never had the pleasure of working K2ORS, reliable sources tell me he was one hell of a CW operator. Must have been the same gift that made him a great broadcaster.
I’ve never had much love for Morse, even though Shep narrated the first practice tape I ever used.
OMG! Wayne’s! I totally forgot about Wayne’s. How awesome!
Waynes. Ah, yes. Now we have “the good stuff store” which is a combination headshop, sex toy store, and plus size lingerie.