Selby connection

[BuzzH]

Was reading the obit for Don Knotts and it mentioned that he was born in David Selby's hometown of Morgantown, WV.  I never knew that!   What a small world!  I mean, it's not like Morgantown is a thriving metropolis like New York City!  

[BuzzH]

Was reading the obit for Don Knotts and it mentioned that he was born in David Selby's hometown of Morgantown, WV.  I never knew that!   What a small world!  I mean, it's not like Morgantown is a thriving metropolis like New York City!   

The similarities continue!  Knotts also went to West Virginia U just like David!

[Raineypark]

It's a small state with a small population (not quite 2 million as of the 2004 census estimate).
Wouldn't that make it MORE likely for two residents to have been born in  the same town, and attend the same college, rather than less likely?
The only thing I know for sure about Morgantown is that Joni Mitchell wrote a really lovely song about it.
 

[TERRY308]

West Virginia is probably one of, it not, the most beautiful state in the union.  I was born here and I moved back about 10 years ago.  My youngest daughter,Tessa, was attending Fairmont State a few years ago and David Selby was speaking there.  He is a great speaker.  What he was saying was that he is glad that people from 'the North'  think that we are still part of Virginia.  They think that you live near 'Roanoke'.  As he said, he doesn't want people from out of state to move here.  He wants to sit on a front porch in a rocking chair and listen to the train whistle blowing.  Which, you can do.  Anyway, next year, Tessa is going to go to WVU.  Just like Don Knotts and David Selby.

[BuzzH]

West Virginia is probably one of, it not, the most beautiful state in the union.

Indeed it is!  Driven through it several times on my way to KY and IN.     I especially love the blue shale-like hills along the country roads.

[MsCriseyde]

A few months ago, a book was published by the Appalachian Education Initiative to highlight West Virginians in the arts. Selby and Knotts are both included, and Knotts recorded a radio spot for the project that is included on their web site. If you check out the Artist List, then you can see the specific towns where a number of famous actors, writers, and directors from WV were born or that they called home.

[Annie]

Hey thats great to know Don Knotts was born in the same town as David Selby!!
                     Love Anne

[LdyAnne]

If Memory serves me and MsCriseyde will correct me if not but didn't Don Knotts have a voical roll in David's Cannon minor and the Griffen cartoon he did back in 2002?

LdyAnne

[MsCriseyde]

Yes, Don Knotts did voice work for The Griffin and the Minor Canon, which featured David Selby as the voice of the Griffin. Each actor recorded his/her vocals separately, so, while they may have been in a scene together (I can't remember off the top of my head), they were not in the studio together. Don Knotts and Soupy Sales have the distinction of being the only two actors in the project whose animated characters are drawn to resemble them.

WV Public Television has pretty much gutted their official site for the project. There used to be photos of Sales' and Knotts' characters somewhere on the web. I'm not sure if they were on that site, but I don't have a link handy to a site that has them.

There's another funny story about this project. The producers were looking for information about what exactly a "minor canon" is so that they could include it in the teaching materials. Their web search turned up my Selby site because I had read about the project in WV newspapers online and posted a blurb about it on the News page. At some point, they showed the site to Selby, and that's how he found out about it. (He's not exactly an avid web surfer.) The producer/animator also contacted me as the film was being released to thank me for the publicity, and we've stayed in touch. Are we all bored yet? 

[retzev]

My Grandparents (the two greatest people the world has ever known!) had a home in the mountains of West Virginia, outside of Harper's Ferry. I spent a month or two there every summer when I was growing up. Such a beautiful place...

[BuzzH]

My Grandparents (the two greatest people the world has ever known!) had a home in the mountains of West Virginia, outside of Harper's Ferry. I spent a month or two there every summer when I was growing up. Such a beautiful place...

Retzev, I absolutely ADORE Harper's Ferry!  Forget the historical aspect of the town (John Brown's raid) but it is such a neat place!  Love the train station too, always reminds me of Collinsport!  I could definately live there, but I'd have to live at the TOP of the town, safe from the river which has in the past risen to deadly proportions!