Brian Jay Jones's Blog, page 21

Missing Jerry Nelson

I was saddened last night to learn of the passing of Muppet performer Jerry Nelson, whose immeasurable talents brought to life such characters as The Count, Floyd Pepper, Emmett Otter, and Gobo Fraggle. I had the great pleasure of interviewing Jerry at his home in Cape Cod earlier this year — an absolute thrill — and he was a lovely, thoughtful man who loved what he did.  Like millions — yes, I said millions — around the world, I’ll miss him.

I’m on the road at the moment — perhaps fittingly, I spent the morning in the Sesame Workshop archives — but I’ll post a bit more about Jerry on my return.  Until then, here’s Jerry performing with Jim Henson in one of my very favorite bits: the yip-yipping Martians, as they make first contact with an Earth telephone.  (Jerry  is the pink Martian…)

Celebrational!

….and hello there once again. I know I’ve been away for quite some time, but, y’see, this finally happened:

The first draft of Jim Henson sits in all its 700-page glory, to the likely approval of the Jim Henson action figure (as well as the photobombing Jim and Kermit bookmark).

I delivered the first draft of Jim Henson (as I’m currently calling it) to my editor earlier this week. (Actually, I delivered an electronic version to him — this 700-page monster is the one that gets filed away, with all the other first drafts.)

I’m taking a bit of a break for a moment — I’m headed to New York later this afternoon, in fact, to talk about Washington Irving — and then the next round of fun begins.  Stay tuned.

Be Right Back . . .

I’m back from BIO 2012 and will have a full report for you just as soon as I can. In the meantime, I’m working hard to wrap up things on Jim Henson — which, trust me, is what you want me doing, instead of blogging.

Until then, head for the lobby!

Avengers Assemble! Sort of.

If you're a biographer or aspiring biographer, a reader of biographies, or even just someone who loves the Biography Channel . . . well, have I got an offer for you. It's not quite Avengers Assemble! but it's close.



Biographers International Organization — the world's premiere group of biographers and lovers of biography — is holding its third annual conference this May, at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. There'll be panels of research and writing, interviewing and negotiating, and even a bit of sex and violence. Yeah, really.  And all brought to you by a crack team of biographers, including Charles J. Shields, Richard Schickel, Will Swift, Jonathan Eig, Kate Buford, and Pulitzer Prize winner . 



There'll also be two all-day sessions on Friday to choose from — one where you can tour the Academy of Motion Picture Arts library, the other where you'll get a peek into the archives of the Los Angeles Public Library, where they keep their old photos and maps and directions to  finding the Ark of the Covenant. 



Oh, and did I mention the lunchtime keynote address by Arnold Rampersad? Now I have. And now you know you need to be there, right?



For more information, go here.  And I'll see you in Los Angeles.

Five Months and Counting

Hello there, and Happy 2012! Sorry to be away so long — I hate when this thing sits idle, but it's been a busy couple of weeks.

I'm still due to deliver the first draft manuscript of Jim Henson to my editor in May (which I choose to define as "by close of business on May 31″) — and looking at my outline, that means five chapters in five months. Even I can do the math on that one.  At the moment, I'm deep into Mystics, Muppet water ballet sequences, and Fraggles — so if you're a Muppet fan, you can guess how far along that makes me.

I spent the first week in January, in fact, back at the Henson Archives in New York, where archivist Karen Falk once again took extraordinarily good care of me, patiently helping me locate and carry one box after another to the office they'd set aside for my use.  (If you're interested, here's an interview with Karen Falk, where she talks about the the actual layout and look of the Henson Archives—which does not resemble the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.)

We also had the opportunity to oooh and ahhh over her advance copy of the new Jim Henson's Tale of Sand graphic novel, which is every bit as terrific as it sounds (and I just received an e-mail earlier this week informing me that the copy I had ordered from amazon back in June(!) should be arriving this week).  Jim and his long-time writing partner Jerry Juhl began writing Tale of Sand in the mid-1960s, during an incredibly experimental time in Jim's career. They continued to tinker with the script on into the early 1970s before finally setting it aside in the midst of Sesame Street fever and the countless other balls Jim was juggling at once. It's very different from most of the Jim Henson projects you're familiar with — and yet, it's also "very Jim," especially the Jim at that time. Be sure to check it out—it's not only an intriguing story, but the book itself is also a really nice piece of work.

Let's see, what else? Over the next few weeks, I'll be up and down the Eastern Seaboard to take care of some more interviews, each of which should be a lot of fun. I also get to work my way through films like The Great Muppet Caper and call it work.

Finally, I can't resist passing onto you some New Year's Words of Wisdom from the Always Remarkable Neil Gaiman — who really hopes you will make mistakes this year.  Click here and read on.

Happy New Year. Make mistakes.

Complete and Otter Hilarity

What's that? You'd like to see outtakes from Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas? Here you go:

Losses: They Come In Threes (and Sometimes Fours)

A tough week of losses in the literary/pop culture world, though there's some solace in knowing that, with one exception, all of them lived to ripe old ages. Let's start with the most recent one first:

I heard this morning that Christopher Hitchens, longtime contributor to The New Yorker, and the author of countless books and articles, died of complications from lung cancer at age 62.  Hitchens was explosive and ranting, conflicted and controversial — and whether you agreed with him or not (and it was probably impossible to agree with him  on EVERYTHING; he was all over the map), he was always passionate and always an entertaining read. Christopher Buckley wrote a nice piece in (where else?) The New Yorker, which you can read here.

On Tuesday, author Russell Hoban passed away at age 86. Hoban made his living as a writer of science fiction and fantasy novels (most notably Riddley Walker)  — but to me, he'll always be remembered as the author of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, which Jim Henson later turned into one of the finest Christmas television specials of all time. An American expatriate, it's probably appropriate that the best obit is here in the Guardian.

Comic book legend Joe Simon passed away on Tuesday at the age of 98. Simon — and his partner Jack Kirby — seemed to have his hand in nearly every comic book genre, from superhero to western to romance to science fiction. In the 1940s, while working at Marvel, he and Kirby created Captain America, then jumped to DC to revamp Sandman (the Simon/Kirby version plays a small but crucial role in the Neil Gaiman revival) and created the mighty Boy Commandos (which was, at one point, the publisher's third highest selling title).  Simon didn't always have the Midas touch — he's got Brother Power, The Geek on his list of creator credits — but his work was always interesting, and Simon was a true gentleman.  His obit in the LA Times is here, but I'm waiting for the long piece being promised by Mark Evanier.

Finally, Batman fans (like me) are mourning the loss of Jerry Robinson, who passed away late last week at age 89. Robinson was one of the true unsung heroes of the Batman mythos—even moreso than writer Bill Finger, whose name still doesn't appear on Batman's title page—for it was Robinson, ghosting for Bob Kane, who drew most of the early installments of Batman and Detective Comics.  And when it came to creating characters, Robinson gave us two icons: Robin, who pretty much became the template for every teenage sidekick that followed, and a villain called the Joker who . . . well, is pretty much the coolest bad guy of all time.

While Robinson never saw his name or Bill Finger's formally attached to Batman, Robinson was one of the great advocates for creator rights. It was Robinson who helped push (and then basically shame) DC Comics into giving Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster not only a creative byline on all Superman comics, but also lifetime pensions and health benefits. Robinson also served as a teacher at the New York School of Visual Art — where he helped make comics into an art form — and co-wrote one of the finest books on the history of the comic strip, The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art, which went back into print earlier this year.

Losses, all — but thanks to each of them, what memories we have.

Shameless Self Promotion of the Month!

In the event you still want or need Washington Irving on your Kindle or Other Electronic Device, it's now on sale for the wondrously low price of $2.99 over on amazon.  TWO NINETY NINE.  C'mon, it makes a great virtual stocking stuffer. Or something.

 

What’s So Amazing That Keeps Us Stargazing?

In honor of the official opening of The Muppets — and I’m thrilled to see it’s already getting rave reviews — I thought it might be appropriate to put up a little something to help remember what got them (and us) here.

Here’s the opening three and a half minutes of 1979′s The Muppet Movie. And I gotta admit, it chokes me up every time.

What's So Amazing That Keeps Us Stargazing?

In honor of the official opening of The Muppets — and I'm thrilled to see it's already getting rave reviews — I thought it might be appropriate to put up a little something to help remember what got them (and us) here.

Here's the opening three and a half minutes of 1979′s The Muppet Movie. And I gotta admit, it chokes me up every time.