The
banner above is "borrowed" from the Hammond,
Indiana website honoring Jean Shepherd. As you may know, Jean Parker
Shepherd, author, film maker, and story-teller par excelance, was born in
Hammond, Indiana in 1921. And Hammond played a central role in many of his
stories, books and movies.
Shep died early Saturday, October 16, 1999 in a hospital near his home on Sanibel Island, Florida. He was 78 years old.
There have already been several articles written about his passing and a New York Times Obituary. The best place to find out more about Shep is on the following websites, the best of which is the one built by fellow Shep-fanatic, Jim Sadur. Jim has posted dozens of messages from fans and they tell Shep's story much better than I could on this brief page.
I've updated this page and have added a new GREAT Shep site - FlickLives.com which was created by "fellow victim" - Jim Clavin. See link below...
So, please go and visit these sites. There are also abundant resources including samples of some of the old WOR Radio broadcasts that one can listen to and download.
My own brief story about Shep follows:
It was 1971 and Shep had begun a tradition of holding a "press conference" for college newspaper and radio reporters at the Overseas Press Club in Manhattan. At the time, I was a freshman at Pratt Institute and a devoted follower. I also had two small radio programs on the campus based station WPIR which had a broadcast range of about three feet. Actually, it was a closed circuit system an only played in the dorms and cafeteria. Good thing. My Barker Bill Show, which featured popular folk rock music and my occasional banterings, news clips and movie reviews, was probably pretty bad. I was known to mix Janis Joplin with the sound track from the movie, The Wizard of Oz back-to-back. Hey, it was the 70's.
Anyway, as per the directive, I sent off, on official WPIR letterhead, a request for an "official press pass" to the Jean Shepherd's America Press Conference scheduled for April 8, 1971. In preparation, I "acquired" my sister's fairly new Norelco cassette tape player and planned to record the whole event (I still have, and just listened to the tape and will see about making it available to download).
When the important day arrived, I made my way by subway from our apartment in Brooklyn to the Overseas Press Club on West 39th Street, adjacent to the main branch of the New York City Library. The OPC, an ornate Victorian style building, had a small clunky, funky elevator. Since the conglomeration of "reporters" all arrived at about the same time and all had to take the same elevator to get to the upper floor where the press conference was to be held, it was pretty wild scene. As I was stuffing myself into the small, sardine-can like conveyance, a small, rather extremely attractive woman approached and begged to be allowed to squeeze in. Being the gentleman that I was, and noticing the stunning quality of this auburn haired beauty, I elbowed the kid behind me and pressed back making room for the latest fan.
In the brief trip up to the fourth floor, I tried, somewhat in vain, to strike up a conversation with my brown haired friend. It was obvious that she was significantly older than the median pimply-faced kids on the elevator, but not all that old. Maybe thirty? But, boy was she one fine- looking lady with a dark colored outfit and all that luscious brown hair.
The conversation I tried to initiate was not very memorable. She did respond briefly and admitted to being a "big fan" and looking forward to seeing Shep. I tried to find out where she was from, thinking that she too was a college student somewhere -- perhaps a graduate student. But, when the elevator door opened a few minutes later she quickly disappeared into the large throng of student reporters milling around and crowding into the small, humid room. Oh well, such is life.
Now, anyone who has listened to the Jean Shepherd radio show on WOR has heard Shep mention his Producer, "Lee" Brown. In fact, during many programs, Shep would literally talk to the off-microphone Lee who was obviously in some sound-proof control room nearby. Since Jean's style was so often rhetorical, and almost conversational, it probably helped to have someone in the control room who could at least give the semblance of an audience.
Well, up until that memorable day in April, I assumed that "Lee" was some paunchy, middle-aged guy with a cigarette butt handing out of his mouth, thick glasses and perpetually wearing a set of old-fashioned radio headphones. I mean, what else could you expect. What kind of person would spend five nights a week working in a cramped control room listening to Shepherd's rants and raves. It had to be some guy!
As fate would have it, during the next hour of the press conference, which by the way was quite entertaining, Shep took occasion to explain, in detail, the production staff of his new TV series on PBS called, Jean Shepherd's America. And, one of the Associate Producers for that show was Lee Brown. Except -- it wasn't Lee Brown, it was Leigh Brown. A woman. A woman?
And then, before my very eyes, he brought Leigh up on the stage to introduce to the crowd.
My God, it was my auburn-haired mystery woman from the elevator. Holy Smokes! I had ridden up the elevator with Jean Shepherd's Associate Producer. I've been blessed!
Now, if you have made it this far on this page you are probably figuring -- this guy is totally wacky. Like, who cares! Big deal!
Well, what I didn't know then, and only learned later, was that Leigh and Jean -- were "an item." That's right. They were more than just "professional colleagues." And in fact, in 1978, according to my spies, Jean married his old flame (his third, at least her second).
So, you might say Jean Shepherd and I lusted after the same woman. Or, perhaps we had the same taste in women. In any case, it is my most personal memory of Shep and I felt the need to share it.
Sadly, I learned today that Jean had out survived Leigh. According to Jean's obituary, Leigh died last year after 21 years of marriage. I guess they are now just hanging out together in Heaven, talking about that goofy kid who called himself Barker Bill.
BTW, I suspect that Shep would be a bit amused at the outpouring of affection. He could at times be a bit vain, but I think he was also a realist and would encourage us all to get on with it and not to dwell on his passing. I understand a memorial service is being planned in NYC. Maybe then we can find out more about his final wishes.
Jean Parker Shepherd lived a long, full life and seemed to have fun doing it. He will be immortalized in his writings and his other crafts and I will always remember him.
Shep was a self-described, personal friend and colleague of Jack Kerouac, the rather infamous author of the book, On the Road. Ironically, there was a story in this past Sunday's Maine Sunday Telegram about Kerouac, a native of Lowell, MA. The article begins with a reminder that Kerouac died 30 years ago this month. I remember that night. Shep devoted the whole 45 minutes of his show talking about Kerouac and claimed that one of the characters in the book, On the Road, was based upon him. And, as I remember it, the character was called the "angel-headed hippy." Perhaps some one knows more about this, but it sure seems fitting.
As a Christmas present to myself this year I purchased a copy of the 20th Anniversary DVD of The Christmas Story. Shep devotees should drop everything and run out and get this DVD today because it has some real treats. In addition to lots of memorabilia regarding the film, the filming process and many of the players involved (including Shep), there is a section with some original recordings of some of his radio shows.
One should make sure they listen to the Director's Commentary version of the playback. There are some interesting highlights and insights which I never knew. The biggest surprise for me - and I think this is fitting given the discussion above - was that in addition to Shep playing a cameo (you all know the scene), the woman standing with him is in fact his real-life wife and co-producer, Leigh Brown.
So gang, hang by your thumbs, write if you get work. And remember,
jeb
revised: January 5, 2004