Dan Curtis Has Died

I spoke with John Karlen recently. He was a paul bearer.

David Selby was also a pallbearer, and Jim Pierson.  There's a bit more about the memorial service on www.collinwood.net.

i not shocked by the news i lost my dad last year after a five month bout of cancer but i do feel sad
 but also glad that he had a good life and saw his show live on in all our hearts. it does make me feel
that life is a gift and we have to enjoy each minute.Thank you Dan for all The Great DS and all the
joy that show brought to me hope they all gave you a great welcome in DS heaven!

jennifer

Nice tribute Darren.  Really nice!   

I have to agree, Darren, very fitting tribute, and it is nice that Dan got to see some of the restored footage, that is a comfort.

I do admit to being tired of hearing Jin Pierson's name, though,,,,

As for the Times obit, was it necessary for Ms. Nelson to use campy AND rabid (as in "rabid fan base") in discussing Curtis' DS involvement? 

But Midnite, threre are a minority of fans who ARE rabid, and breath and eat DS, making it the prime focus of their lives!!

Wonderful heartfelt tributes, Stuart and Darren!

As for the Times obit, was it necessary for Ms. Nelson to use campy AND rabid (as in "rabid fan base") in discussing Curtis' DS involvement? 

But Midnite, threre are a minority of fans who ARE rabid, and breath and eat DS, making it the prime focus of their lives!!

There's no getting around the fact that the term "rabid" is a negative commentary.  One could just as easily call fans "loyal to a fault".....but that wouldn't have the negative connotation the speaker actually means to imply.

But Midnite, threre are a minority of fans who ARE rabid, and breath and eat DS, making it the prime focus of their lives!!

Oh, I agree with you there.  I recall a fan proclaiming to a Fest panel of DS actors that she could not get out bed without DS (and it isn't the first time I've heard similar comments during Q&As).  The audience tittered and a few of the actors seemed to squirm a bit because you BELIEVED her.  I wonder how the poor dear is doing with the show off the air?  Anyway, being a fan of something already implies that you're ardent about it; the word is, after all, a shortened form of fanatic.  So a rabid fan would be excessively fanatical like the one you've described.  Not that I'm passing judgment on anyone that would make DS their central focus since it apparently fills some need in their life, but as you said, a minority of the show's fan base feels that way yet it has colored the public's perception of the average DS fan.

And it's prejudice, if you ask me.  A small minority of fans painting their entire upper body the colors of their favorite football team when it's 10° below doesn't lead to any media depiction of that team's fan base as "rabid."  But I'm not bitter.   

Regarding the topics of the Curtis memorial and so-called rabid fans, I was wondering if anyone heard anything about "crashers" at the memorial service.  This might not be a true story, but I recall hearing that a rather "enthusiastic" fan showed up at another memorial service for the sole purpose of obtaining autographs and snapshots of whatever DS cast members happened to be there.  When the memorial was announced for DC, I immediately thought about that incident and hoped for his family's sake that no such events would occur.

This sort of thing is by no means exclusive to DS.  Apparently, funerals are considered to be excellent opportunities for celebrity sightings among the most enthusiastic of fans (not to mention the papparazzi)...

People like that aren't fans.  The correct term for them would be "ghouls".  Family members and actual friends and neighbors have a place at a funeral.  Others outside that inner circle might be welcome at a memorial service.  People who are only attending to gawk and ask for autographs should be shown the door.

And it's prejudice, if you ask me.  A small minority of fans painting their entire upper body the colors of their favorite football team when it's 10° below doesn't lead to any media depiction of that team's fan base as "rabid."  But I'm not bitter.   

You're also not alone in noticing the distinction in treatment. It comes up in Henry Jenkins' Textual Poachers, which is the go-to text if you're interested in academic discourse on media fandom.

The standard argument that you hear from folks is that sports are "real" whereas media fandom is built around a fantasy or fictional world, but that all goes to hell when you start thinking about sports fans participating in fantasy leagues, and there actually is fan fiction based on sports figures.

When I taught my freshman composition course centered on fandom, the department asked me to include more material about sports fans. Other than articles on their buying habits or on soccer riots in Europe, it was very difficult to find anything that treated sports fans as oddballs that I could use in the course reader.

Soap Opera Digest mentioned the passing of Dan Curtis on Page 13 in the March 18, 2006 issue.  The text, in the REAL-LIFE STATUS column, follows.

DARK Day:  DARK SHADOWS creator Dan Curtis died on March 27 from a brain tumor.  He was 78.  His late wife, Norma Mae Klein, had perished 20 days earlier from heart failure.  Curtis also directed the TV miniseries WAR AND REMEMBERANCE and horror movies Burnt Offerings and Trilogy of Terror.

----- Sally -----