To Two Absent Friends - Paul Sorvino and Tony Dow

Sometimes the Departure Lounge fills up so quickly that we have to jam two remembrances into one post.

Paul Sorvino 

1939-2022

Actor Paul Sorvino passed away this week at the age of 83.  His 176 acting credits stretch back to 1970 and include various and sundry roles in television series - he was one of the original detectives in "Law and Order" - and motion pictures.  He played Joe Torre in a 1997 movie called "Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way", Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone's "Nixon" (1995), and the mayor in a TV movie called "Jersey Shore Shark Attack", a project he'd probably like to forget, but I'm sure it paid well!

However, he will be known most notably for his role as Mob Boss Paul Cicero in Martin Scorsese's epic 1990 movie "Goodfellas".   Ironing that his death follows fast on the heels of his co-star Ray Liotta.  A terrific scene in "Goodfellas" between the two of them, where Paulie lays down the law to Henry can be seen HERE.

Sorvino also leaves a bright legacy in his daughter, Academy Award winning actress Mira Sorvino.

Henry, Jimmy, Paulie, and Tommy

Goodfellas

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Tony Dow

1945-2022

What television show exemplified the idyllic American nuclear family more that "Leave It To Beaver"?  The show ran on both CBS and ABC from 1957 to 1963 for 236 episodes and continues to run endlessly in syndication and on cable television to this very day.  Never mind that Mayfield was fictional, lily-white, no one was divorced, there were no illegal drugs, and housewives, none of whom had jobs outside of the home, did the dishes and ran the vacuum cleaner in high heels and pearls.  The show resonated - then and, apparently, now - with the everyday foibles that kids had to deal with while growing up.  Those "problems" usually were exemplified by the jams that young Theodore Cleaver, The Beaver, always seemed to find himself entangled, but they were usually resolved with sage advice from mom and dad, June and Ward, and helped out in large part by the Beav's big brother, Wally, as played by Tony Dow.  All this came to mind this week with the news of Dow's death from cancer at the age of 77.  I mean, really, who wouldn't have wanted a big brother like Wally?

A completive swimmer and diver at the age of 12, Dow tagged along with a friend who was auditioning for a part in a new TV show, and, unexpectedly, Dow ended up being cast as Wally Cleaver, and his life changed forever.  Like many child stars, Dow found that he was typecast as "Wally Cleaver" and acting gigs were slim as he aged out of teen roles.  He served in the US Coast Guard during the Viet Nam era, did some acting gigs in episodes of various TV shows, and took to sculpting in bronze with a degree of success.  In 1980, the producer of a dinner theater in Kansas City got the idea of casting Dow and Jerry Mathers, ("..as the Beaver") in some schlocky production, and was amazed at the sold out crowds that the pairing attracted.  This led to a Beaver TV Movie reunion, and a short-lived rebooted TV series.  This led to Dow branching out into directing some of the episodes for this and other TV series.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the Tony Dow Story, however, was his public acknowledgment of the fact that he dealt with severe clinical depression from the age of 20 until he was 40, and this was at a time before it became "fashionable" for celebrities to announce that they were going into rehab for one reason or another.

By all accounts, Tony Dow was as nice a person as he was in the persona he portrayed as Wally Cleaver.  In doing research for writing this piece, I stumbled across THIS CLIP from a 2020 episode of CBS Sunday Morning.  I think that you will find it to be most interesting and enlightening.  One quote that I liked came from Dow's wife of forty-plus years.  When asked if she thought that there was "a lot of Wally Cleaver in Tony" her reply was "No, but there was a lot of Tony in Wally Cleaver."

Dow and Mathers

Then and Now

From "Still The Beaver", early 1980's

With Barbara Billingsly and Ken Osmond, 

the loathsome "Eddie Haskell"

RIP Paul Sorvino and Tony Dow

"Look Out London, Here We Come"

While writing about my Canadian vacation last month, I mentioned that one of the highlights was getting to know the people in our tour group.  Just about everyone, I wrote, has an interesting story to tell.

Among those people were Pat Myers and her husband, Lou.  In the course of our conversations, Pat mentioned that she had written and published a children's book.  Well now, that was a WOW moment for me, so while on the train, I checked it out on Amazon, and it was waiting for me when I got home.

It tells the story of brother and sister Beckett and Sienna who are about to take a vacation to London with their grandparents.  (By an amazing coincidence, Pat and Lou's real life grandchildren are named Beckett and Sienna.)  In a jam packed week in London, they visit Buckingham Palace, see the Queen, go to Stonehenge, the London National Art Gallery, the London Zoo, discover fish-and-chips, and have high tea at a fancy hotel.  Throughout, the kids learn that, while things may seem different in another country, you will discover that people are often pretty much the same everywhere.

Pat told me that she wrote the book as a gift of sorts for their grandkids, to introduce them to the world and the wonders of traveling.  She did a fine job of it, too!

While it is a children's book, one part of it struck home to me.  As the four travelers make their way back home, Lou - excuse me, Papa - tells the kids "Traveling is so much better than anything you can ever buy in a store. This trip won't get old. It won't ever get lost or taken away.  You'll have this adventure in your minds and hearts forever."

This is why I always tell people....Don't wait for your Fortieth Anniversary to go to Hawaii, don't wait until you're retired to go to Paris or London.  If at all possible, do these things NOW, when you can enjoy them and cherish them for years to come.

"Look Out, London" may be a children's book, but there are lessons in there for everyone.

Ashes

The view from Spirit Island in Lake Maligne

Jasper, Alberta, Canada

During my Canadian vacation last month (which I wrote about HERE), I took the opportunity to scatter a bit of Marilyn's cremains at two different spots along the way.  This is the third time that I have done this the months since Marilyn's death, and each time, I have found it to be a moving, peaceful, cathartic, and meaningful experience.

The first spot was at a boat dock at a place called Spirit Island in Lake Maligne in Jasper National Park in Alberta Province.   Spirit Island, I learned, was and remains an almost sacred place for the Indigenous Peoples of Canada, so I knew that this would make the event even more meaningful for me.  The night before, I had communicated to our group that I was planning on doing this, and I mentioned that if anyone cared to join me, I would welcome their presence.  I was honored that every person in our group gathered at the dock the next day to join in this "ceremony."  I was touched beyond words.

Lake Maligne is the source of the Maligne River.  The waters of the Maligne River eventually empty into the Arctic Ocean.  As most of you know, Marilyn loved the ocean, and while I suspect that she wouldn't have actually wanted to swim in the Arctic Ocean, I am certain that the fact that some of her remains may end up there would be a very satisfying thought for her.

Special thanks to tour mate Pat Myers who took these wonderful photos of the event.

Later in the week, we walked upon the glacier of the Columbia Ice Fields in the Park.  It was an awesome feeling to be in such a raw part of nature,  and I know that Marilyn would have been thrilled to be a part of it.  In a more private moment, I separated myself from the group, had a chat with Marilyn, and left a bit of her behind upon the snow and ice of the glacier.

 

As I mentioned above, I have found these scatterings to be a great comfort.  This is the third time that I have done this, and I have plans of doing it again at other spots that were and remain special to Marilyn and me.  I don't expect that I will write about such occurrences in the future.  I wanted to share this, however, because in the event that you may one day find yourself in this position, you, too, may find comfort in such ceremonies.

"Elvis"

We finally got around to seeing "Elvis", the Baz Luhrmann directed biopic on Elvis Presley, as seen though the eyes of his shyster manager, Col. Tom Parker.   The critics reviews on this movie have been, to be kind, mixed, which, combined with the fact that it's two hours and forty minutes long, had pervented me from rushing out to see it, but in the end, I am glad that I saw it, because it was a good movie, quite entertaining, and, despite the long running time, I never once checked my watch as I viewed it.  I highly recommend it.

First off, as the opening title came on and the first twenty or so minutes of the movie played out, my thought was "Yep, this is a Baz Luhrmann movie alright", but soon thereafter, Luhrmann played down the sensory overload (see Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby") and told the story of Elvis and Parker fairly straightforwardly, and, I must say, he hit it out of the park.  As I said, the story is told through the viewpoint of Col. Tom Parker, played by the great Tom Hanks, and he is the narrator of the movie.  Critics have not been kind to Hanks on this one, and he is saddled with some facial prosthetic make-up and a fat suit, a hokey Dutch accent, and he does tend to, shall we say, chew into the role.  It's not vintage Tom Hanks, to be sure, but hey, it is TOM HANKS, so attention must be paid.

The true star here, though, is 30 year old Austin Butler as Elvis.  Butler was pretty much unknown to me.  He came up through he ranks in Disney Channel and Nickelodeon productions, and he had a small but significant role as Manson Family member Tex Watson in "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood", but, his Elvis portrayal can truly be called a breakout role if ever there was one.  Early on in the movie, he brings to mind a young John Travolta, but when the movie takes you to the 1968 Comeback Special and the Las Vegas era Elvis, Butler  becomes Presley and completely carries the movie.  The mixed critical reviews of the movie and the summer release may cause Academy Award voters to overlook or ignore Butler's performance, but if he would manage to snare a Best Actor nomination for this one, it won't be undeserved.

Austin Butler alongside

the genuine article

And Luhrmann chooses to end the movie with a performance from the real Elvis that is both wonderful and sad at the same time.  Of the 2022 release date movies that I have seen thus far this year, I rank this as Number 1 and give it, what the Hell, Four Grandstander Stars.

To Absent Friends - Dick Schofield

Dick Schofield

1935   - 2022

Dick Schofield who died this past week at the age of 87 carved out a major league career that lasted for 19 seasons.  He played in 1,321 games with seven different teams, mainly as a utility infielder who managed to compile an ordinary .227 career batting average.  Six of those seasons, 1959-65, came with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and, as such, he was a member of perhaps the most iconic team in all of Pittsburgh sports history, the 1960 World Series Champion Pirates, and when a member of that team leaves us, his passing is worth noting.  

Schofield played an heroic role with that storied team.  He filled in for most of the month of September when shortstop Dick Groat, who would become that season's batting champ and MVP, was sidelined with a broken wrist.  Schofield responded by hitting .400 for the month.  He hit .333 in 81 games for the Pirates that season, easily the highest average of his career.

Early in the 1965 season, Schofield was traded to the Giants for infielder Jose Pagan, who served the Pirates long and well, and was member of the 1971 World Series Championship team, so even when he left, he served the Pirates well.

Schofield's death leaves only seven remaining members of that twenty-five man World Series roster: Joe Christopher, Roy Face, Dick Groat, Vernon Law, Bill Mazeroski, Bob Oldis, and Bob Skinner.  Of those men, Oldis is the oldest at age 94, and Maz, 86, is the youngest.

RIP Dick Schofield.

 

Kwickie Kritical Kommentary - 1 Book, 2 Movies

 First, the book.

Okay, are you a fan of the movie "The Godfather"?  If so, then you've just got to read this book.  It is a detailed and well-researched look at that classic 1972 movie was made.  Stories abound about Francis Ford Coppola (who was in danger of being fired throughout the entire time the movie was being made), Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Mario Puzo, and Robert Evans and various and assorted other Paramount Studios punjabs.

Even if you didn't especially care for "The Godfather" (is that possible?), but love movies, this is a worthwhile read just to see how the sausage gets made when making movies.  Believe it or not, right up until the very release of the film in March, 1972, there were people involved at Paramount who thought that it was going to be a Big Time bomb.  What they ended up getting was an undeniable masterpiece, one of the greatest American films ever.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

Now, the movies.

"Where The Crawdads Sing", based on the bestselling novel by Delia Owens and directed by Olivia Newman.  The novel was a big hit on the book club circuit.  It tells the tale of "Marsh Girl" Kya Clark, a girl who basically raised herself in the North Carolina marshes, and who has a talent for studying and drawing the flora and fauna of the area.  How she is treated by the townsfolk of the area becomes the key to the story when a murder is committed and Kya becomes the main suspect.

The movie started slow for me as it showed Kya's background and what led her to become the Marsh Girl, but once we see Kya as a teenager and adult, it picks up and becomes not only character study and a commentary on small town life and mores, but a bit of a legal thriller as well.

The only actor in this one with who I was familiar was David Strathairn, who plays the older Atticus Finch-type lawyer who defends her.  Kya is played by twenty-four year old English actress Daisy Edgar-Jones, who I thought was terrific in the movie.  And just how is it that London trained actors can pull off North Carolina accents so flawlessly?

Daisy Edgar-Jones

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

Finally, from 2008.....

Yep, I'm probably one of the last people on earth to see this movie.  It is a story of a girl about to be married.  Trouble is, she doesn't know who her father is, but she knows that it could be one of three men, so she invites all three of them to her wedding, unbeknownst to her mother, who may or may not know which of these blokes is the father.   And it's all set to the music of Swedish rock group ABBA.  It's fluffy, and it's silly, but it's a lot of fun, too.

You get to see Meryl Streep sing and dance and act as only she can.

You get to see Christine Baranski sing and dance and vamp it up.

You get to see Amanda Seyfried sing and dance and look cute as can be.

You get to see Pierce Brosnan try to sing while looking devilishly handsome.

It got me in such mood that I cannot wait to be invited to a wedding and get out on the dance floor when they play Dancing Queen.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

To Absent Friends - Monty Norman

Monty Norman

1928 - 2022

Monty Norman died this past Monday at the age of 94, and if you are like me, and I'm guessing that at least 80% of you reading this are, you had no idea who Monty Norman was until you read of his death in the news obituaries.  However, I am guessing that at least 99.9% of you are familiar, very familiar with his most well known work, and THAT is why I read the news obits and write about Absent Friends.

Let me turn it over to the brilliant obituary writer Harrison Smith of the Washington Post  and the first paragraphs of his obit for Mr. Norman. 

"Enlisted to write the theme song for “Dr. No,” the 1962 spy movie that brought James Bond to the big screen, composer Monty Norman struggled to capture 007 in music. The song needed to be menacing but also a little sexy, like the pistol-wielding, martini-drinking secret agent himself.

"Searching for inspiration, he found it right under his nose, in an unused song in the bottom drawer of his desk."

That right there is some great writing, and, yes, Norman is the guy who wrote the James Bond Theme (here it is), music that has been heard in all twenty-four Bond films and with six different actors playing 007.  In offering him the gig, producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman offered to fly Norman and his wife to Jamaica where "Dr. No" was being filmed.  Norman accepted, figuring that even if the movie bombed "at least we'd have sun, sea, and sand to show for it."  And in an interview years and years later, Norman said that one of the associate producers told him to try and do a good theme because "we're hoping to get two films and maybe a television series out of this."

Another composer, John Barry, was involved in the Bond films.  Barry did the orchestrations for Norman's theme as well as writing some of the theme songs over the course of the franchise. Over time, he was also credited with the ubiquitous theme, always a sore spot, rightfully, for Norman.  When an article on Barry in the London Times in 1997 credited Barry for the Theme, Norman sued the Times for libel and was awarded 30,000 pounds.

Norman did other things in his career, of course.  Played with English big bands, and did music for British TV variety shows for, among others, Peter Sellers and Benny Hill, but when you are responsible for the Theme for James Bond?  I'm guessing the Monty Norman pretty much knew what would be the lead paragraph in his obituary.

RIP Monty Norman.

Two Absent Friends - Larry Storch and Tony Sirico

Larry Storch

1923-2022

Comic actor Larry Storch died this past week, and while living to age 99 and staying in relative good health the whole time is a terrific run, the loss of Storch causes a real pang of sadness in the hearts of Classic TV Sitcom lovers everywhere.  I have long maintained that if there were a Mt, Rushmore of Sitcom Second Bananas, Larry Storch's Cpl. Randolph Agarn of "F Troop" would be on it.*  

Storch's 250 IMDB acting credits stretch back to 1951, the year that I was born, and continued through 2010, but Storch continued making personal appearances, and even Tik-Tok videos to the very end.  He started out as a nightclub comic, moved into bit parts in movies, TV shows, and appearances on television variety shows (remember those?).  He hit the jackpot, though, when cast as Forrest Tucker's Sgt. O'Rourke's sidekick in "F Troop", a sitcom about an inept group of US Army Cavalry soldiers stationed at the forsaken Fort Courage in Indian territory right after the Civil War.  The series ran for only two seasons on prime time from 1965-67, but it has lived forever in reruns, syndication, and Classic TV cable channels.   Unlike some actors who despair over being constantly being identified with one role, Storch loved the fact that fans would see him on the streets and still say "Hey, Agarn".  It pleased me to read in his obits that he considered his two year run on "F Tropp" as the highlight of his career.

Storch's name came up frequently during my trip to Canada last month when we visited the Canadian town of Banff.  "F Troop" fans (me foremost among them) immediately thought of the episode from Season Two called "The Singing Mountie" wherein Storch played Agarn's French Canadian cousin, Lucky Pierre Agarniere, and the plot line revolved aroung the notorious Canadian bandit, The Burglar of Banff.  The schtick in the show, though, was that the second f in Banff was also pronounced.  "Banff-ff." Hard to make it funny with just words on a page, so watch this video instead.

Some interesting facts gleaned from reading Storch's obit in the New York Times:

• He received an Emmy nomination for his role in "F Troop"
• Until the end, he would often go into Central Park and play the saxophone
• He claimed to made more money doing voice over work on McDonald's commercials than in any other gig in his career
• One of his Navy buddies during WW II was a guy from Brooklyn named Bernie Schwartz.  Schwartz, of course, went on to be Tony Curtis, and he would often cast Storch in his movies, one of which was "The Great Race" (1965) and included this great scene where all Storch wanted was "a little fightin' room."

The "F Troop" Stars

Tucker, Storch, Ken Berry, Melody Patterson

O'rourke, Agarn, Parmenter, Wrangler Jane

All of them no longer with us

Rip Larry Storch

*If you are wondering what the other three Second bananas on this particular Mt. Rushmore, the answer is Don Knotts' Barney Fife, Art Carney's Ed Norton, and Jason Alexander's Geoge Costanza.

********

                                                                Tony Sirico (1942-2022)

To paraphrase what I wrote about James Caan in this space earlier this week, when an actor who was key figure in one of the greatest television series ever leaves us, that passing is worth noting.  Such is the case with the death of Tony Sirico, 79, who played Mob enforcer Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri in 74 episodes of  "The Sopranos" from 1999-2007, and, more often than not, he ended up with some of the more memorable lines in any given show.

Sirico's acting career turned out to be a case of art imitating life.  Growing up in Brooklyn, Sirico was a "half a wise guy" who was arrested twenty-eight times, and did two stretches in prison covering almost three years.   A common theme runs through many of his 79 IMDB credits.  He played a mobster in a minor role in "Goodfellas".  He appeared in six different Woody Allen movies, usually playing, you guessed it, a mob guy.  He even did the voice of a talking dog in an episode of "Family Guy", and the dog was, of course, a wise guy.  In "The Sopranos" his Paulie Walnuts was one of the few long term characters who survived as the Jersey mob wars culminated on that final season in 2007.  Fact I didn't know until reading the Washington Post obit for Sirico:  Paul Gualtieri was given the name "Paulie Walnuts" because early on in his mob career, he was supposed to hijack a truckload of television sets, but the truck ended up carrying nothing but nuts (the kind you eat) instead.   Paulie also killed more people on the show, nine, than any other character.

He was one of the most memorable characters on this show that was full off them, and his most memorable episode was probably from Season Three, "Pine Barrens."  You can watch a five and a half minutesclip with highlights of that classic episode HERE.  It's gold!

RIP Tony Sirico.

To Absent Friends - James Caan

James Caan

1940 - 2022

The news of the death of actor James Caan arrives just as I am in the midst of reading a book called "Leave The Gun, Take The Cannoli" by Mark Seal.  It is a book about the making of Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 classic, "The Godfather."  The book is chockfull of great behind the scenes stories revolving around the making of this great movie with stories about James Caan being among the best.   Take this description by author Seal:

"They (the cast and crew) were in love with the Mob.  

"They were in love with their actions, their backgrounds, their families, and most of all, their moves.   And no one loved them more than the Jewish American actor who would embody an Italian American mobster most authentically of them all.

"James Caan as the strutting, bullheaded firecracker of a son, Sonny Corleone.

"'What f---ing transformation?' he would ask later of the role for which he would be paid $35,000 and forever be identified.  'Obviously, I grew up in the neighborhood.'"

Caan's career began long before "The Godfather", of course.  His 137 IMDB acting credits trace back to 1961 with roles in such shows as Naked City, Route 66, and The Untouchables. He became known to me, and I suspect to most audiences, for playing the ill-fated Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo in the 1971 TV movie "Brian's Song."  It was "The Godfather", though, that made him a star.  Oh, there were other movies, "Elf" and "Misery" perhaps most notably, but face it, who do you really think of when you think of James Caan?

So many great Sonny scenes in The Godfather.

Like when Sonny busts up the guy's camera at Connie's wedding and then contemptuously tosses a couple of twenties on the ground.  Watch that scene HERE

Or when Sonny mocks Michael for suggesting that he, Michael, should kill Sollozzo and the crooked police captain.  Watch that scene HERE.   Sonny's "BADA BING" was not scripted. Caan ad-libbed it  They kept it in the movie, and it became the inspiration for the name The Bada Bing Club in The Sopranos.

Or when Sonny beats up Carlo, perhaps one of the most brutal beatings ever filmed.  Watch that scene HERE.

And, of course, one of the most memorable death scenes in any movie ever.  Sonny at the tollbooth.  "Look how they massacred my boy."  Watch that scene HERE.

Yes, when a key player in one of the greatest movies ever leaves us, that is worth noting.

RIP James Caan.

 Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Caan, John Cazale

The Corleone Family

Josh VanMeter and the State of the Pirates

 First off, let me state that I've got no beef with Pirates infielder Josh VanMeter.  He's a fringe ballplayer on a bad baseball team.  A utility player on a team filled with utility players.  He seems like a nice young man, and he certainly tries his best every time he is called upon by Derek Shelton and the front office stats geeks who make out the lineups every day.  Through no fault of his own, though, he - or, rather, what Sheltie has chosen to do with him - has come to symbolize what a goddamn disaster the Pirates are.  

Three times this year VanMeter has been called upon to pitch in mop up duty when the team is getting drubbed.  This culminated in his third - THIRD!!! - appearance last night when he was asked to pitch the ninth inning with the Yankees leading 10-0.  In that ninth, VanMeter gave up eight hits, two of them home runs, and six runs.  In three appearances and three innings pitched this year, Josh has accumulated an ERA of 39.00.

Now, if I am Josh VanMeter, I might be sorely tempted to go to Derek Shelton and say something along the lines of "I'm a team guy, and I'll do whatever I can to help you and the team out, but I've got some pride in my craft so please do not embarrass me any more by making me pitch.   Enough!"

Oh, and toss in the fact that infielder Diego Castillo has also been given the dubious "honor" of pitching in these kinds of games.  In two appearances and two innings pitched, his ERA is 36.00.  That makes five - FIVE!!! - times in half a season that the Pirates have used position players to pitch in games this year.  What used to be a rare maybe once a season occurrence that caused a few yuks among the players, has become, it seems, a part of the Pirates overall pitching strategy.  It's not funny, and it's an embarrassment.  Even Pirates Chief Propaganda Minister Greg Brown said "This is ridiculous" when VanMeter served up his second gopher last night.

Post Script.  I decided to call the Pirates office today and ask for Ben Cherrington to express the sentiments I just wrote of.  My hope was that I would get to his voice mail and leave a message.  When I got to an operator I was told "We are not allowed to put calls like that through."    Like Claude Rains, I was shocked, SHOCKED to be stonewalled like that.

Pirates Fever.  Catch it!!

Oh, Canada

Perhaps you have noticed that The Grandstander has been away from his post for several weeks now.  That is due to the fact that from June 16 through June 26, I along with the sixteen other folks pictured above took part in an absolutely fabulous trip through western Canada, from Vancouver to Calgary.  

During that trip we traveled by airplane (of course), three days by train aboard the "Rocky Mountaineer", by tour bus, by city bus, by a horse drawn carriage, by boat, and by mountain gondolas.

We traveled from Vancouver to Whistler (where the 2010 Winter Olympics were staged) to Quesnel to Jasper to Banff to Lake Louise to Calgary.

We saw scenery that was indescribable.  Mountains that were formed, literally, hundreds of thousands of years ago, snow in June, pristine mountain lakes, rivers, and streams, and at least five spectacular waterfalls.

We stood atop and walked upon a glacier and drank pure glacier water.

We saw bears, moose, elk, big horn sheep, mule deer, and something called a marmot, all in their natural habitats.

We saw at least four weddings taking place.

But mainly and perhaps most memorably, time was spent together among seventeen different people, and getting to know them may well have been the most fun part of the trip.  

This trip was put together by Tom Diecks, President of Greater Pittsburgh Travel, and his wife Betty back in November.  Dan and Susan Bonk proposed that I join them in making this trip.  This was just about a month after Marilyn died, and, as they put it, it would be an opportunity for the three of us to have one more travel adventure.  Marilyn would be with us in spirit, and it would be one hell of a way to say good-bye to her by doing what the four of us loved doing so much so many times since 2017 - taking a trip together!  

Among the group, I knew Dan and Susan, of course, and I also know both Tom and Betty.  The Bonks knew some of the others as Robinson Township neighbors of theirs, but most of the others were strangers to us, but we bonded quickly with all of them.  You learn quickly that just about everyone has a story to tell.  Stories of interesting careers and hobbies, exotic and not-so-exotic travels, families, and just about all of those stories can be interesting to share.  People learned quickly that Marilyn had died last year, and many asked me to talk about her, which I did.  It felt good to talk about her to people who never knew her, and it was a great feeling to share with them what a wonderful person she was, how much she would have loved this trip, and how she would have enjoyed talking with them.   It was hard to do, but strange as it may sound, it was also easy to do at the same time.  I know, that doesn't seem to make any sense, but, as I have learned, it is one more example of two things being true at the same time.  I also shared with them the news of my new relationship with Linda and our plans to be married in 2023.  Everyone was so happy and supportive.

When the trip idea was first proposed back in November, I wasn't sure that I should do it, wasn't sure that I wanted to be traveling solo with a group of "coupled" folks.  That aspect of the trip was hard, and you become acutely aware of your singleness when you walk into restaurants with tables for two or four, or gondola rides that require four people.  I mentioned that there were seventeen of us in the group?  Guess which one was the odd man Number 17?    However, the kindness of others helps you to overcome such matters.  Still, lots of memories pop up that made this an emotionally hard trip for me.  It was also a physically demanding trip.  We did a lot of walking over sometimes difficult terrain at very high altitudes.  In the end, though, I am so, so glad that I made the trip.  Being with old friends, meeting new friends, seeing spectacular places, and making new memories made up for a lot.  Knowing what I know now, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Digital photography is both a blessing and curse.   You can snap picture after picture without worrying about a thirty-six photo limit on a roll of film.  You can delete the blurred and the bad ones in your hotel room at night.  In the end, though, you end up with hundreds of photos.  I loaded over 900 pictures from this trip onto my computer.  Then there are the cool videos that you can take with your phone.  You can't print them all, you sure as hell aren't going to bore subject your friends and relatives to looking at all of them, and can you even remember which gorgeous mountain or what spectacular waterfall you are looking at in any given photo?  However, they now become the documentation of your trip, the forever memories that you will take with you to your grave.

I have just selected a few photos at random from this trip to show here.  Perhaps you will enjoy them, but they become a documentation in The Grandstander of one terrific ten day period in my life.

The Terrible Towel flies North of the Border....

From Olympic Park in Whistler....

Lake Louise..

My new friend Pat Myers became my Go To photographer on the trip....

Takkakaw ("It is magnificent")  Falls.  At 1,200 feet, it is the third larger waterfall in North America and is spectacular to behold....

Gold, Silver, and Bronze atop Blackcomb Mountain, where the Olympic Alpine events were contested in 2010...

At this point on the gondola ride in Whistler, you are higher off the ground than you would be at the top of the Empire State Building......

Representin' atop the Columbia Ice Fields, Jasper National Park, Alberta....

The morning view from my hotel room at Chateau Lake Louise.  Are you kidding me?

Nice toque, eh?  I couldn't resist....

Oh, Canada, we stand on guard for thee....