I really wanted to make Dante’s Info #13 something special. Despite the unlucky number in the series (I denoted it as issue NUMBER 13! – exclamation included), my desire was for this really to be a breakout issue. Beginning with this edition, my Dad and I were now exclusively creating these on his computer as a Quark Express document, no longer relying on independent scans of the photos being made to paste into the issue before it was sent to the printer. Fresh back from my Hollywood and Florida trip with tons of new material in hand, I thought that this issue could really put me on the map of fine Sons of the Desert publications.
I wanted to add a bit of flair to this edition, so we I used a color postcard from the Laurel and Hardy film Hollywood Party as my cover. We individually printed every one of these covers on Dad’s printer. Remember that this was in the days when it took about two minutes for an ink jet printer to print one page. I fondly remember late evenings at his place painstakingly putting this together.
This issue included a letter I had received from Our Gang member Jerry Tucker in response to one of my previous articles (the orginal is seen below), my remembrances of my trip to Hollywood (that article can be seen here in full), and in-depth scoops on Janet Burston and Harry Spear. In addition, I added a bit of filler with some items on Jimmy Durante, star of the issue’s theme Hollywood Party and an article by Gino Dercola, which exhibits a rare photo of the boys and explains how he had acquired it. The issue ran an incredible 28 pages – an unprecedented length at that point.
There was only one meeting showcased in this issue – the annual Summer picnic (“Hollywood Picnic”) which was held at my Dad’s house on Gainborough on August 27, 1995. Naturally, my laserdisc of Hollywood Party was featured as were other films with a Hollywood theme (ie. 45 Minutes from Hollywood). Janet Burston was featured in Calling All Kids. If I recall correctly, it was at this meeting where a guy named Paul attended who was the son of L&H co-star Virginia Karns’ secretary.
As great as this issue sounds, overall I was not pleased with it. The problem was that the black and white photos that were printed on the home printer looked god-awful when photocopied. So the layout, articles, content, photo selection, and cover were outstanding if I do say so myself…but the photos looked atrocious. This and the next four issues would all suffer from this dilemma. No matter how badly I wanted it, I just couldn’t seem to get it right…at least not for another seven years.
1995 will continue…
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