Dante’s Info #16
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
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. Read the rest of this entry »
The final installment of the autograph book that I acquired from former Our Gang member Mildred Kornman in 2005, if not the most valuable third of the book, is certainly the most interesting. What is also interesting is that there are two pages at the end of the signatures that have been torn out, as well as one in the midst of the signed pages. I asked Mildred if she recalled what these might have been. It makes the imagination run wild, or some celeb might have needed a piece of scrap paper. All part of the fun and mystery of early Hollywood. 
Dick Van Dyke is obviously one of the most well-known names in television, having received three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series in The Dick Van Dyke Show, and then going on to star in the long running medical drama Diagnosis Murder. He is known for his filmwork in the Disney Classic Mary Poppins and his roles in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bye Bye Birdie, and his more recent appearances in the two Night at the Museum films. 
I had always hoped to get a chance to meet Charles Martin Smith. Not just because of his ultra-memorable and hilarious role as Terry the Toad in American Graffiti. Not just because of his great part in the film version of The Untouchables. Not just for his very early appearance on The Brady Bunch. Not just because he was Carter Pike’s brother Lyman on Picket Fences. Not just because he directed the premier episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wanted to meet Charles Martin Smith because as a teenager, he was a member of the Sons of the Desert Laurel and Hardy appreciation society. 
What follows is the second dozen signatures that can be found in the autograph book that belonged to Our Gang member Mildred Kornman (seen at right) when she was a child (began