Follow-up to Big Dark Shadows News!

[Deester]

Hi Everybody!

I wanted to add a few comments to Rod Labbe's post regarding his forthcoming DS article in Autograph Collector (AC) magazine.  For those of you who may not know me, I am Dee Kearney who used to run the official Louis Edmonds fan club in the late 60's to 1970.

Rod's article in AC is very interesting, entertaining and one in which I believe you will truly find enjoyable and fun to read!  It gives a great perspective from a fan club president's point of view and covers our experiences with running a fan club (f.c.) back in the original days of DS.

If you'd like to check out AC's website, Mr. Juggins has provided the URL below.  Thanks, Mr. J!

http://www.autographcollector.com/acm.htm

Hopefully, there will be mention of the forthcoming DS article on their website soon.

Also, with the help of our incredible Mr. Juggins, I plan to launch the new DS Fan Club President's website next month, around the same time the DS article is published in A.C.  The website will feature:

Many pics of the f.c. presidents from the late 1960's to 1971 (some with DS stars);

A photo taken at Lara Parker's apartment in NY;

Examples of the various items distributed in f.c. membership kits such as a Joan Bennett postcard and a David Selby (Quentin) "Wanted" poster;

Several articles written by f.c. presidents and fans who have had personal experiences with meeting and visiting DS stars (such as Grace Pichardo who attended Alexandra's wedding on October 28, 1967;

Plus more!

As Rod mentioned in his post, we are hoping DS fans everywhere will "feel and experience what we all went through as addle-brained fan addicts".  

I am hoping everybody will share our excitement and enthusiasm as we walk down memory lane or should we refer to it as "Collinwood" Lane? :-)

Thanks very much!

Dee

[DStoDA]

Hey Dee! I think I've seen your website before.

[Deester]

Yes - that's my DS Gallery of Pics website.  I decided to start a separate website (with Mr. J's help) which will be dedicated to the fans and fan club presidents!  Mr. Juggins will transfer some pics over from the Gallery to the new site, but the emphasis will be on the fans and fan club presidents during the original run of the series.

Many thanks!

Dee (Money) Kearney

[petofi]

Your new website sounds outasite(oops- sorry about the old teen magazine vernacular), and I'm sure it is, judging from your previous website.  This particular aspect of DS fandom has interested me for quite some time.  Looking forward to both your and Ron's contributions, as I always enjoy "insider" information!

Thanks for the heads up, Dee![thumb]

Petofi(an old "ran home" fan from the good old days!)

[Deester]

Thanks for your message Petofi!  Do I know you from perhaps meeting you at a DS fest?  

As you may know, I met Thayer David on several occasions at the DS studio.  He was sooo nice to the fans and stayed outside for a long time signing autographs, posing for pics and chatting with each one of us! I will always remember his "bellowing" laugh.  And, of course, his fine acting on DS.  I don't believe he ever flubbed any of his lines or at least I don't remember him doing so. The only Thayer David blooper I can remember is when he walked in "on camera" during the ending credits.  Are there any others?

Deester      

[yendor]

Thanks for the plug, Dee!  I haven't checked out the Autograph Collector site yet--hopefully, there'll be something about our article posted!

To everyone here, Dee and I met a loooong time ago, via snail mail! Let's see, I'd say it was approximately the fall of 1969, when I was all of 16 years old (I'll be 50 in two weeks! Gah!). And Dee is "slightly" younger, right, Dee? She ran the Louis Edmonds fan club (and very professionally, too!), was a wonderful correspondent, and made this isolated kid feel very much a part of the DS "action!" I'd sit there in my striped bellbottoms and op-art shirts and read Dee's newsletters from cover to cover--ah, what memories!  

Alas, we lost touch when DS went off the air--but thanks to the immense power of the Internet, we connected again in 1999! What's a 30 year break between friends?  We're finally gonna meet FACE TO FACE this December, if things go as planned!

DS fandom may be a whole different ball game than in 1969, but one thing has remained constant: it builds friendships, crosses miles, and makes people smile.  And that, my friends, makes everything worthwhile!

Rod

[petofi]

I don't think we've really met, Dee- I have only attended one fest-NYC 1999.  I was new to it all, and the city, so I kept pretty much to myself, though I remember seeing and briefly meeting Bobubas and a few others.  I'm sure I saw you there, just didn't formally meet.  I'm from Bangor, Maine, and, as a child, it was always "cool" being from a place mentioned on the show!  I hope to attend the fest again this next summer.

Petofi

[yendor]

Oh my Gawd, Petofi!  You're from Bangor? I live in Waterville!

Rod

[Annie]

Hi,Dee can't wait for your new website sounds
really cool!!!  Hope you are doing fine these days.
       Take Care Love U Anne

[Deester]

Hi Anne -

Thanks very much!  Hope you are doing fine, too.  You'll love the Quentin "Wanted" poster on the new website.  It's really cute!  

Take care.

Love, Dee

[yendor]

Dee and everybody--just wanted to let you know that the first half of my "Return to Collinwood" article will be in the December AUTOGRAPH COLLECTOR...on sale NOVEMBER 12th! This project was written with the help of several "old" Dark Shadows fans, including Dee and Robert Finocchio...plus, Marie Wallace and Jim Pierson (of Dan Curtis Productions) also lent their much-needed hands!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get a cover!

Rod

[petofi]

Oh my Gawd, Petofi!  You're from Bangor? I live in Waterville!

Rod

Rod-  Are you originally from that central Maine bastion of Franco-american culture, or did your French heritage(I believe Labbe is a name of French extraction, mais, non?) draw you there?  I used to work at Lakewood Theatre in Madison(close to Waterville) years ago, when it was a professional union house(1982-3)!

Thanks for the update on the AC article!

petofi

[yendor]

Petofi, I've lived in Waterville all my life, except for college (USM and UMaine). My Orono experience made me very familiar with the Bangor area...home of a certain Mr. King (and I don't mean Angus!). Ahhh, Lakewood Theater! Between 1968 (when I was just a young'un) and 1976, I saw at least three plays a season there. That's when "real" stars did their thing on the strawhat circuit! In fact, I met David Selby at Lakewood when he was touring with "Eccentricities of a Nightengale," which was in August of 1976!  I recount that episode in the Autograph Collector article, by the way!

And though Waterville is indeed a Franco town--and my paternal grandmother could only speak French--all I know are a few words!

How long have you lived in Maine?  Ever bump into any of the Collins clan?

Rod

[petofi]

I was born in Bangor, and have spent a great deal of my life in the area- as an actor I have worked in several Maine theatres and toured New England, but never strayed far for long. By the way, I have in front of me a vintage poster from that Selby production of "Eccentricities."  My brother, the antiques and collectibles dealer,picked it up for me a number of years ago, and it is part of my Lakewood collection, along with old programs, post cards and a felt pennant!  Interestingly,  I believe the last professional production done at Lakewood was a post-regular season production of "Mass Appeal"( a Frid connection!),starring Robert Merrill, in 1983! They planned to package it in early September of that year, but I left and never found out if they actually did it.

As for the incidence of Collinses, you know as well as I do that we have a Collins for senator, though she wears red so often I think of her more along the lines of being the sister of a certain Mr. Nicholas Blair!

petofi

[yendor]

Of course--how could I forget Senator Collins?  She's rather frightening, too, if I do say so myself!  Alas, wolfbane and a crucifix won't make her go away...LOL!

Were you involved in any of the films made up here?  I covered "Pet Sematary;" "Graveyard Shift;" "The Langoliers" and "Thinner" for Fangoria magazine. "The Langoliers" was filmed right at the Bangor Jetport!  Horrible film!

Rod