I guess it was inevitable, given the vivid dreams I’ve been experiencing: Aaron Hernandez, NFL TE accused of murder, visited me in my sleep this morning. He was supposed to play golf with us but was so drunk as to be staggering. “See you next time,” I told him. Why I would want to play with him is beyond my comprehension. The mere sight of him, his tattoos, gives me the creeps.
Lou Lumenick, one of the NY Post’s movie reviewers, has trashed the new Lone Ranger movie, which stars Johnny Depp as Tonto. In a recent article, Depp said he took on the role to elevate the status of the character from sidekick to equal. I wonder if he suffers white guilt about what the Indians suffered. Does he buy his tobacco products, tax free, on reservations? Does he patronize Indian-owned casinos? Anyway.... I always thought of Tonto, as portrayed by Jay Silverheels in the TV series, as heroic. Silverheels was born Harold J. Smith on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, near Brantford, Ontario, son of a Canadian Mohawk tribal chief and military officer, Major George Smith. He excelled in athletics and lacrosse before leaving home to travel around North America. In the 1930s, he played indoor lacrosse as Harry Smith with the Iroquois of Rochester, New York in the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association. He lived for a time in Buffalo and in 1938 placed second in the middleweight class of the Golden Gloves tournament. He has 102 film and TV credits listed at IMDb. He appeared in 217 episodes of The Lone Ranger series, opposite Clayton Moore. At one point, after the series, he worked as a salesman to supplement his acting income. He later earned money lampooning the character on a sketch on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and in a couple of commercials. He wrote poetry about his youth on the reservation and recited some of it on TV. From the 50’s to the 70’s he lived in Brooklyn, which, as an adolescent fan of the show, I was thrilled to learn. In 1993 he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. He was named to the Western New York Entertainment Hall of Fame, and his portrait hangs in Shea's Buffalo (NY) Theatre. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. First Americans in the Arts honored him with their Life Achievement Award. He died in 1980 at the age of 67, and his remains were taken back to the reservation. Kudos, sir. (Facts culled from Wiki).
There was a part A and B to the floating book shop today. It started raining at about noon, so I moved everything into the car, waited a few minutes to see if it would stop, then decided to purchase mini blinds, which I'd put off for about a week. I went home, installed it, and went out to find the rain had abated considerably. I waited about 15 minutes, then again set up shop. It wasn't a great day, but I did have sales on both sides. Thanks, folks.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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