Celeb One Day In Black History
posted by on February 6 at 15:25 PM
This is a part of black history:
The man in the image is Pat Harrington, Jr. He plays the janitor in the TV show One Day At Time. The show no longer exists but was popular at around the time I was 10 (1978-1982). At around this time I, a black boy, and my sister, a black girl, met Pat Harrington, Jr. in Salisbury, Maryland. We met him in a community center and spent the afternoon discovering his comic greatness. He was hyper in attitude and no line existed between the Pat Harrington, Jr we saw on TV and Pat Harrington, Jr we saw in real life. He could only act like himself. And the food we ate for lunch was not at all bad. I recall lots of chips, hot dogs, and a big salad. At around four of that fine day in black history, that sunny Saturday afternoon we spent in the glow of Pat’s stardom, the TV janitor shook my hand, hugged my sister, and said goodbye to the small community center, to Salisbury (which is near Ocean City), to the world of hard things and happy black children, and he returned to the TV for two more seasons. We will never forget you and your mustache.
This is possibly my favorite Slog post ever. I never thought it would be you, Charles!
Next time the Game Show network airs Tattletales reruns you'll catch a lot of Pat.
Brilliant, Charles. Aflame with consciousness.
Charles:
"The show no longer exists but was popular at around the time I was 10 (1978-1982)."
You were ten for four years? That explains a lot--like how you've had the fucking time to read all that philosophy AND listen to all that hip-hop. Me, I was 21 for four years (1980-1984).
charles listens to hiphop?
dude, you met schneider. why didn't you mention this before?
Charles, we have to get you drunk way more often & get these precious stories out of you!! (you're buying)
charles, this is easily the best slog post of the new year and possibly the best post EVER.
only you could wax poetic about schneider and make me love every goddamn word of it. thanks.
Thamks for sharing your brush with mediocrity. I hope for our sake that you've encountered Harry Bentley in your travels and that someday we'll be fortunate enough to read about it.
WTF? I stopped watching that show after about a year because it got too preachy about social issues. Plus, the one daughter acted like a slut and I'm gay so there there was no attraction. Schneider was kind of funny, though.
That is awesome. And ridiculous, and touching. Valerie Bertinelli lived on my block in Northridge, CA in 1978, when I was ten. Just sayin'.
Just in case Valerie is reading this; you are not the person who was slutty. Your character was the good girl. I think your character was the good girl. Not only that...You married Eddie Vedder... ( I think).
Mackenzie (sp?) Phillips was the slutty daughter, and Valerie Bertinelli married Eddie Van Halen. I think they are still married.
I always thought Schneider was sexy.
according to wikipedia she filed for divorce two years ago, but nothing about it being finalized...
This was a nice post. I liked the nostalgia of around the time I was ten that covers a four year period -- kind of a gauzy recollection. I also liked it that it violated two "rules" Charles has stated for writing he finds interesting. He has said in the past: children are not interesting because they are children. And he has said memoir is not interesting. I've been puzzled by this stand wondering what he thinks of SPEAK MEMORY, AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE, or SWAN'S WAY -- diaphanous memoirs by writes about their childhoods. I suspect, though, that he may be reacting to the glut of memoir that is still being produced despite/because of James Frey -- RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, THE GLASS CASTLE, etc. by fairly literal minded writers. In fact this kind of memoir tends to never draw attention to how it is written because that would into the uncomfortable questions about how true this work actually is. SPEAK MEMORY is all about how it was written and the truth of it is kind of beside the point. Here Charles presents a lyric fragment of memoir. If it had line breaks it could even be a lyric poem.
But I can't help but wonder if this is true? Did Charles actually meet this famous man as a child? How true is this if he can't even remember which four year period when it occurred?
matt, i do love speak memory and, you are right, i don't find care for boy and girl stories. so, this post is a contradiction. i can't offer a resolution. but the event did happen in my time as a boy. i just don't have exact dates.
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