On July 4, 1996, I made the notation in my little Sunshine Pocket Planner that read “D.I. Day on I.D”. For those not accustomed to Bradspeak, this indicated that I had put the finishing touch on my latest edition of Dante’s Info on Independence Day. This issue had been a long time coming and had begun earlier in the year when I was still living at Woodman Park. Amidst the move to Peppertree, it took forever to finally get it finished – all of which is indicated in the Sim Sala Bim Editor’s Notes. I have no doubt that the final puah came from wanting to get this done before the convention began less than two weeks later. Things wouldn’t get much easier, and there would only be one more issue of Dante’s Info over the next six years – by which time the publication would undergo radical changes…as my life had.
Overall, this was an issue I was quite please with – other than the photos which continued to look like crap. I mimicked issues of Pratfall and Intra-Tent Journal and did what I called an Art Issue. The Art-themed meeting, which included animation featuring L&H, had already been held in May. The cover was the great drawing by Al Kilgore that graced the cover of Leonard Maltin’s Laurel and Hardy Book, and the manufactured UPC barcode, ripping off a joke found in Mad Magazine.
I am including several pages from this issue below. It was another 20 page issue (with the 20th merely being the mailing label area). Not included is the three page article I did about the visit Lisa and I made to the Block-Heads 30th Anniversary meeting in Minneapolis; the article The Great Rascal Search about John Lester Johnson, who starred as Bumbo in The Kid From Borneo (this was written by Bill Cappello); the text and one piece of art by Walter Lantz from Gee, That’s Swell Photography, and the two pages of meetings from May 5 and May 26.
Here is the entire opening editorial. The artwork at the top is something I painted as a senior in high school.
Here is a page from Gee, That’s Swell Photography. This section usually included rare photos, but since this was the art issue, I decided to use artwork. (Stan’s line “Gee, that’s swell photography” from the film Flying Dueces was actually referring to a characture of he and Ollie). The top caricature is by Fernando Llera and the bottom right sketch of Arthur Housman is by Tony Hawes. But of particular note is the drawing by my own Ashleigh.
This article about Larry Harmon, who had long been at odds with the Sons of the Desert members, might have been controversial had it had a wider circulation. I got quite a few comments on it, including from Ali Stevenson, the editor of the ITJ. She said she’d love to run a similar article, but was afraid Harmon might see it and sue.
The signed photo seen above (and in higher resolution below) was actually acquired for me by Bill Cappello, who knew someone who worked for Harmon. This is actually a very prized autograph in my collection. Controversial or not, Harmon playd a huge role in Laurel and Hardy history during his lifetime.
And finally, this issue’s installment of Recent Events – which by July 4, were no longer all that recent.
And that was that. Although I began issue #17 almost immediately, for one reason or another, it didn’t see the light of day until the following Summer.
1996 will continue on a boat…
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