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15 MINUTES OF FAME
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Andy Warhol promised
we'd have it, didn't he?
of TheColumnists.com
Despite my best
efforts, I'm just not going to chalk up the 15 minutes of worldwide
fame due me as the late artist Andy Warhol promised in 1968.
"In the future," he predicted then, "everyone
will be world-famous for 15 minutes."
Well, the future is now and I haven't made it.
Not that I didn't have a chance or two. Maybe not for global
glory but at least for a little local recognition. In 1954, as
a senior at Santa Cruz, Calif., High School I was invited to
speak about how our student newspaper covered sports--I was the
sports editor--on the school's weekly radio show, "SCHS
on the Air," over Santa Cruz Radio Station KSCO.
But stick a microphone in front of my face before an audience
of people I don't know, even though I can't see them, and I'll
turn into a blithering boob, a personal trait I wasn't aware
of until the moment of truth arrived that evening. I can even
remember the word that did me in forever as a prospective talking
head: "statistics." As I attempted to report on the
numbers we sportswriters compiled from games, stats kept coming
out as "sta-sta-sta-stis-stis-stis" until I relented
in mid-word and resorted to "facts."
The great radio broadcaster Bill Stern, if he were still alive
today, certainly would never be in jeopardy of losing his job
to me.
I came off a bit better in my next appearance on the airwaves,
thanks mainly to 48 years of additional maturity. I was interviewed
in 2002 by a reporter at one of our Central California Coast
TV stations, KSBW out of Salinas, Calif., regarding my efforts
to persuade the City of Santa Cruz to preserve the only building
remaining in Santa Cruz County that had once served as a drive-in
restaurant and teenage hang-out in the Fifties. (See "My
Fight With City Hall: Can a Former Drive-in Diner Be Historically
Valuable" on June 19, 2006, on this website.)
I warned the reporter in advance of potential mishaps with the
mike in front of me, but, unlike the "live" broadcast
over radio, the TV piece was taped. The interview took place
midday for the 6 o'clock news, so whenever I stuttered or stammered
or mumbled, the reporter simply repeated his question and the
camera rolled again and again until I could articulate. The station's
film editors surely earned their pay editing that report.
The TV station serves three different counties, but no one I
knew ever mentioned seeing me on TV. Another chance at building
my minutes toward temporary stardom was lost.
The big break in my bumbling quest to attain celebrity status
came when I was interviewed to help celebrate the 100th anniversary
this year of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, the oldest seaside amusement
park in California. (I posted my remembrances of the Boardwalk
in writing with TheColumnsts.com on June 5, 2006, headlined "Summer
on the Boardwalk: While the Tourists Played, Local Kids Worked
Overtime.")
The Boardwalk's owner, the Santa Cruz Seaside Co., was putting
together a history of the park on a DVD that included some amazing
home movies from the past, vintage still photos, and interviews
with a couple of real historians, Boardwalk management and staff,
and a bunch of us who had played and worked there as kids.
No fleeting fame this time around. I'm etched forever on the
DVD, along with a swarm of other oldtimers who grew up in Santa
Cruz and still live in the area, including six others alone from
my SCHS Class of 1954 who fondly remembered those (G)olden Days
of the Fifties on the Boardwalk.
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Boardwalk DVD which features commentary by Klempnauer. |
We were joined by such better-recognized luminaries as Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits, rocker Eddie Money, and the surf-singing group Papa Doo Run Run. What the hell, if I have to gain my 15 minutes of fame by association, so be it.
I'm on the DVD three times for a total of maybe three minutes. So I'm still about 12 minutes shy of my promised 15 minutes. But, unlike my previous radio and TV appearances that disappeared into thin air, this one is permament. At least until some other electronic system comes along and makes DVDs obsolete.
The DVD historical piece lasts 90 minutes. There are also some side features, including a ride on the Giant Dipper and a close-up of the merry-go-round, both National Historic Landmarks.
Anyone who has ever visited the Santa Cruz Boardwalk might be interested in getting the DVD, titled "100 Years: Millions of Memories." There's also a 100th birthday book, "The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk--A Century by the Sea." They cost $19.95 and $18.95, respectively, and can be purchased on-line, along with a lot of other Boardwalk 100th anniversary memorabilia, through the Boardwalk's web site at:
http://beachboardwalk.com/store/
Unfortunately for my bank account, I have
no financial connections with the Boardwalk or Seaside Company,
so any purchases of the DVD bring me absolutely nothing monetarily.
I'm turning 71 this Labor Day Weekend, and my chances of getting
the rest of my 15 minutes are becoming slimmer and slimmer. On
the other hand, I understand there's something called YouTube
on the worldwide web, where anyone who so desires can make a
fool of himself. And if CNN picks up on it, maybe you can add
a few more minutes to the fame game.
I wonder whether Warhol had the Internet in mind in '68?
©2007 by Len Klempnauer. The cartoon illustration is from IMSI's Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA. The DVD cover reproduction is courtesy of the Santa Cruz Seaside Co. This column first posted Sept. 3, 2007.
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"The Editors" or Len Klempnauer. To send an email,
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