The Studio by Theodore Sturgeon

Here's an oddity. It's a review of the great 1982 art book, THE STUDIO, about the art collective of Barry Windsor-Smith, Michael Kaluta, Jeffery (later Catherine) Jones, and Berni(e) Wrightson. The review is written by the indisputable science-fiction master author Theodore Sturgeon and it appeared in, of all placed, an issue of Larry Flynt's HUSTLER.

 

Pop Culture Retro Sets Sail

SET SAIL WITH McHALE has been out since late April. My co-author, Denny Reese, and I have recently started appearing on podcasts to discuss the book and the TV show, McHALE'S NAVY. Our most recent appearance--actually recorded in July--went up this week in both audio and video versions. 

 This was POP CULTURE RETRO, Jonathan Rosen's wonderful podcast, currently with co-host Moosie Drier. Moosie was a child actor I used to see on everything from ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN to OH, GOD! with George Burns. He's also an impressive interviewer and it was a delight for us to appear on the show.

If you're the visual type, go here. Unless they get it fixed, there's currently a glitch where this version ends 13 minutes early. 

https://youtu.be/OKvSXpJS2EM?si=ReEOnQulUgLp_SUT

If you're an audio-only kind of guy, search any of our favorite podcast sources and you'll find the episode there, UNCUT! Complete with the missing 13 minutes. 

If you're at all intrigued, we'd appreciate it if you'd try our book, available here:

https://www.amazon.com/Set-Sail-McHale-Denny-Reese/dp/B0D1YHND35/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.iaAn4cVjBJ0e5zCNlD0iw7vJby75ufu7RYBnQoYGyiIeRvedapHliqlz4mWHE0ZOIVKiz-hl_dFNhcBf6jprFZiVn6s0R0tHP5klRWKVt7c.Xdai-eVL_Baui3OYKVEQg9URLbcBIxvNVpl6M9cui3M&dib_tag=se&qid=1726908734&refinements=p_27%3ADenny+Reese&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Denny+Reese

And also our regularly updated Facebook page for the book, which acts as a kind of DVD extra discussing the series and its stars, as well as the folks behind the scenes!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559226718109

Thanks! Let us know in the comments what you think, please!

Buddy Hackett and Jackie Gleason--1958

In the Fall of 1958, Jackie Gleason, absent from TV for several years but for HONEYMOONERS reruns, returned to weekly prime time on a new series that teamed him with fellow chubby comic Buddy Hackett. The two had been golfing buddies and must have thought it was a great idea but "creative differences" developed quickly and Buddy, meant to be the series' equivalent to Art Carney, was rarely on the show. By the end of the year, The Great One decided on his own to drop the series. This ill-fated incarnation was rarely mentioned again by either man and as far as I know no clips are available.

 

 

 

 

Kentucky in the Comics--1950

 

Rare Batman Preview Strips

 

In the 1940s, these strips ran for a week in advance of new newspapers picking up the BATMAN daily strip with stories already in progress. 

R.I.P. Annette Heinz (1953-2024)

ANNETTE HEINZ (1953-2024) You may not know the name but one of the last great exotic dancers from Newport, KY has passed. Annette Saylor aka Annette Heinz, died today at a nursing facility in Campbell County after taking ill very suddenly little more than a month ago. She was 71.

Annette started out working for Hustler’s Larry Flynt in 1970 at his club in Cincinnati. Then she switched to Newport. Her acts including everything from fire eating to snake charming. (Her main boa constrictor was named Mr. Cooper.) Over time she worked her way up to the big time, working at New York’s famed Melody Burlesk for a decade.

It was there where she was spotted by adult film director Gerard Damiano, of Deep Throat fame, which led to several years in adult movies during what is now considered the Golden Age of Adult Entertainment. In the 1983 XXX political comedy/drama Public Affairs, her character is integral to bringing down a narcissistic, sexist candidate who is consistently lying to everyone about everything.

In time, though, she returned to the Midwest, where she graduated Cincinnati State College with honors in 1995 with a culinary arts degree. This eventually got her a position as chef on one of the casino boats in Indiana for a number of years.

My wife and I had known Annette only since 2016. She had much the same issues with weather that I have with my PTSD and would often alert me to weather warnings. She would also offer me recipes and cooking tips.

With her fascinating background, I had tried to talk her into letting me help write an autobiography. As her friend Jeanne Silver told me, “She always thought there’d be more time.”

We got to visit her in person a couple of times over the past few weeks, the only times we ever actually met her in person. We aren’t even sure she recognized us but she seemed to appreciate that we were there.

R.I.P. Annette Heinz, one of the nicest, sweetest people I ever knew.

Walter Johnson, Comic Book Artist