Well, who knew this would ever happen? When we started out on this ride on Thursday, June 17, 2010, I thought I’d just catch friends and family up on the activities of the past twenty years, tell a few good stories and be on my way. I mean, everybody has only so many great stories to tell. I once asked an old friend of mine, Lee Shaw, why he and his terrific wife Suzie parted ways. He said he had told her all his stories and he needed to start over again with a new wife. Okay, then….
After a few months spent regaling everyone with The Best of Bill—stories of growing up in Massachusetts, starting up a college humor magazine during the years at Oklahoma State, cavorting around Austin with a 19-year-old folk-singer named Janis Joplin, opening a psychedelic shop in Gainesville, Florida in 1967 and inexplicably ending up in the thoroughbred horse business in 1975—I, like Lee Shaw, was out of great stories (although, unlike Lee, I would have kept Suzie). So I sat down one day and composed a final column, which even included a little song from Big Brother Bob Emery’s kiddie TV show, the Small Fry Club (“So long, small fry, it’s time to say goodbye…”). When Thursday came, however, I had another idea for a column so I put the lyrics to the song in a drawer until the following week. Same thing happened then. In the meantime, I had been corresponding with an old friend, Leslie Logan, about the situation. Leslie told me to “Just write about anything, it doesn’t have to be a spectacular story. Whatever you write will be good”. And Pat Brown, a revered friend of many years from Austin, told me I was forbidden to interrupt the column and, believe me, nobody wants to get on the wrong side of Pat Brown. So on it went, evolving, more or less, into an account of my days and my perceptions, my triumphs and disasters, replete with travelogues through the western states and scary medical procedures. A Day In The Life times one thousand (and counting).
As time went by, the original Thursday Blog Crew of 35 notified souls grew. People passed it on to their friends. Others trolling the Internet ran across it and, for some, it stuck, until several hundred regulars started coming by every week. Google Diagnostics tells us that people in almost every state have read The Flying Pie, even Minnesotans. I don’t recall anybody from the Canadian border states of North Dakota or Idaho (state motto: Militias ‘r’ Us), but that’s probably because everybody up there lives in caves and eats dirt. We also get a lot of people from other countries, although they never write. In order of numbers, Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Canada, France, China, Ukraine and Poland lead the parade (it must be the Polock jokes). France was very big this month. Maybe Gilbert Shelton is proselytizing.
At first, we included few pictures, didn’t even have a proper logo. Then, on the 500th anniversary of Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine Chapel, an idea struck, and with the aid of photographer Moishe Groger and photoshop genius/friend of God, Mike Kranz we came up with the current—and forever—header (and yes, that is me in the hat for everyone who keeps asking). The inclusion of pictures, with an assist from Siobhan, has brightened things up considerably, especially with the vacation blogs. In olden times, we used to run a slide show, very nice, but when the week was over it disappeared forever. Now, the photos are permanent.
Let’s get on with it then and open our suggestion box, where readers—SOME readers—have taken the time to advise us of their favorite columns, the better to figure out what to pursue for those new to the fray. By now, I’m sure just about everybody has figured out how to access the older pieces via the Blog Archive box to the right of the column proper, just under the corner photo. If not, locate the nearest first-grader for advice.
The Envelope, Please!
It’s difficult to name a favorite blog because I like them all….love the way you write, very readable articles with a liberal sprinkling of humor in all the right places. But if I have to choose one as my favorite, it would be the one from March 31, 2011: Take Me Out To The Ball Game. It brings back so many sweet memories of times gone by and transports me back to those carefree days of childhood when our world was much smaller.
I loved the way you wrote about your father and the “good old days”. Even though I’ve loved every phase of my life, reading this blog brought back so many great memories of growing up in the 50s and 60s, a great time to be young. Once, people actually knew their neighbors, and, since our society wasn’t as mobile as today, we knew most of our classmates from kindergarten through high-school. It’s always a joy to read shared experiences from that era of relative innocence.
Deb Peterson—Yachats, Oregon
Deb was in Gainesville in the early days of the Subterranean Circus and used to hang out and harass us at the store, not unlike her Pacific Northwestern neighbor, Marty Jourard. She was so taken with the Incredible String Band lyric on the outside wall of our shop, she made it a point to meet the band and now visits Robin Williamson in England almost annually. We didn’t believe it at first, but there actually IS a Yachats, Oregon. We looked it up. And it’s NICE.
All of your blogs are fantastic, they cover so many topics and the stories are so well-written and interesting and witty. Okay, SOME of them are weird. But animal lover that I am, the first one that came to mind for me was your March 28, 2013 blog featuring the birth of Norm—A Star Is Born?—which contained an explanation of the foaling process. Then there was the letter from China in A Dog’s Story (same date). Here it is a year later and I still cry when I read it. The writings are not only interesting but can also create a lot of emotion. Bruce and I always enjoy the stories of your travels and are often very glad we are not traveling with you.
Barbara Reissfelder—Ocala, Florida
Barbara and her husband, Bruce, are recent new England (Maine) transplants and regular gym companions at Lifetime Fitness, Bill’s thrice-a-week workout facility. They have taken to traveling out west themselves most summers but are breaking the habit this year with a jaunt to Europe. Let us know how that plane trip goes, Barbara.
Well, okay then. A lot of them are memorable and I love the Hotels From Hell—The Seed Of Crime Bears Bitter Fruit: August 23, 2012—but for very best columns I would have to cite the ones featuring Janis Joplin, particularly the one where the cops invade her house party. Hard to beat.
Court Lewis—Johnson City, Tennessee
Court is another ex-Gainesvillian, now operating a weekly Public Radio program which has had the unmitigated gall to have Bill on twice (without serious repercussions). He is married to the lovely and talented Margaret, a big fan of The Flying Pie, but not a big enough fan to send us her favorite column, although the nude photo was a meritorious substitute.
Court liked Janis Joplin Meets Thinking Like A Mexican and Janis Joplin Meets The Unwelcome Guest, both on August 26, 2010, and Janis Joplin Meets The Evil Folksinger: September 2, 2010 (also Pat Brown’s favorite column) and the one he mentioned last and not least: Janis Joplin Meets The Cops: September 9, 2010.
Every time I need cheering up, I scroll to a Lieuen Adkins story, in particular Lieuen Adkins, AKA The Sparrow: September 2, 2010. Being a fellow-Texan and having known Lieuen, I consider him irreplaceable, one of a kind. I have copies of every scrap he has ever written and dearly wish he were here today to write more. Never forget him!
Martin Register—Midland, Texas
We don’t know Martin very well, but any friend of Lieuen’s is a friend of ours. Adkins was a clever odist, punster and writer of humorous material unlike any other, not to mention a great friend. More Lieuen Adkins can be found throughout the blog of September 9, 2010.
What are my favorite blogs? Well, those would be the ones that have ME in them.
Irana Maiolo Yass Zisser—Boca Raton, Florida
….And there are a number of those, of particular interest being Return Of The Bumblebee: July 8, 2010 Irana has been around, in and out of our lives, for over 40 years now and she’s still kickin’, courtesy of double-knee replacement surgery and innumerable other medical assists. The sign on Irana’s door says “Hang In There! By Whatever Means”.
MY favorite? I’ve got to say every one of those columns where you saluted, praised, romanced or otherwise made obvious your love and respect for Siobhan. They made my heart sing because I could see and appreciate the fact that the love on both sides had lasted so long. We should all be so lucky.
Kathleen Knight—Gainesville, Florida
Well, gee, Kathy, how do you know Siobhan’s not sticking that stuff in there, being as how she has final copyreading responsibilities? No, seriously folks, whatever laudatory overtures Siobhan receives, they are not enough. For a sketch of one of her days, report to The Big Six-Oh: December 13, 2012, one of her many, many birthdays.
From a historical standpoint, the Anatomy Of A Decade blogs are invaluable for an accurate report on what it was like in Hippie Days. Much more colorful than many other retrospectives and from a person who was right in the middle of it and doesn’t have any particular slant to push. Thoughtful, objective and fun.
George Harrington—Manchester, England
Gee, hate to admit it but we almost forgot about those, George, and we really liked writing them. Reference here is to a set of three remembrances stimulated by an interview on Court Lewis’ radio show we did earlier in the year. The blogs are Anatomy Of A Decade: October 4, 2012 and then Anatomy Of A Decade—Part II; Rise Of The Druggies: October 11, 2012 and finally, Anatomy Of A Decade—Part III: The Salad Days: October 18, 2012. Even noted Historian Marty Jourard was complimentary.
It would be hard to beat the blogs which were written during the last weeks of Stuart Bentler’s life when his survival hung in the balance and many of us were afraid to turn on our computers, scared that the bad news might finally appear. When it did, The Flying Pie handled it with great tenderness and appreciation for a unique life lived aggressively, if not always adroitly. I still think of him today and I am glad he continues to write us now and then.
Jacqueline Guilmette—Amiens, France
The abrupt demise of our old friend, Stuart Bentler, is reported throughout several columns in the spring and Summer of 2011, culminating in So Long, Pal: May 26, 2011, shortly after Stuart finally said the hell with it, let me out of here. Keep an eye out, however—he likes to drop us a line every now and then, usually in mid-Summer, from his current digs one block over from The Cloudland Tavern.
I loved your The Fastest Horse In The World: February 21, 2013 blog….great writing. Blog of The Year? The winner for me is Schmuck Dynasty: Television For Morons: February 6, 2014 I used to think Dog, The Bounty Hunter was as bad as it got but Duck Dynasty is even more terrible. I type this from the lobby of the Pullman Hotel in Aukland, New Zealand, where my band played tonight after a previous performance in Perth, Australia. Great to read your blog here. They don’t know about you yet in this part of the world but we’re putting up posters so it’s only a matter of time.
Marty Jourard—Kirkland, Washington (and points South)
Well, you know what I’m going to say. The blog about my favorite horse, The Story Of Zip: March 17, 2011, is my favorite. Right up there with it is March 3, 2011: Precisionist, which also contains Jay Hovdey’s Eclipse-Award-winning tribute to the horse, and the blog about China (mentioned above in Barbara Reissfelder’s letter). Also, all of the vacation blogs and the eulogies. Interesting to read about the manners in which the various subjects took to explore and find a path to success, followed by fulfilling lives. I recall one of your newsletters written prior to the blogs, the title of which was “The Pair Went Over The Mountain,” about our travels. There are still limitless mountains for us to see and climb. I’m hoping for SMALLER mountains, though, moving forward. Congratulations for making it to 200.
Siobhan Ellison—Next Door
We like all the travel blogs, but the biggest and bestest written at one sitting is the Glacier National Park epic Vacation Time: August 9, 2012, which took until six o’clock at night to finish. Taught us a lesson, that one did. The following year, we broke the trip up into three parts—much easier on the blogger. One final recommendation from Bill, himself—The Girls Of Summer: January 13, 2013. A lot of thought and more preparation than usual went into it and the result was pure, the writing about as good as I can make it.
The Top Five All Time By Readership
1. November 18, 2010, dealing with the Eternal Quest for the damsel and one great song.
2. July 15, 2010, concerning the early days of The Subterranean Circus.
3. May 30, 2013—memories of youth, family and friends departed.
4. May 13, 2014, concerning the terrible fragility of existence and the sad passing of Newt Simmons.
5. January 23, 2014, a discussion of the Libertarian philosophy, scalpers and Driving While Stupid.
6. January 13, 3013—The Girls Of Summer, a tribute to my First wife, Marilyn, who deserves as many as she can get.
Epilogue
We hope you’ll check out some of the offerings above, both those of you who took the time to send in a suggestion and all the worthless bums who did not. As you go back in time to the earlier columns and then forward to the later ones, you’ll note an evolution of the blog towards more organization and coherency, hard as it might be to beat the old stories. And not that we’re striving for coherency all that much, it just happened that way. To everybody who sent stuff in, we’ve got a box of gold stars in our pocket here, just like the nuns, and the next time we see you we’ll stick one on your forehead. Just remember, it’s good for one day only and if you keep wearing it past that period people are going to look at you funny. See you for the 201st.
That’s all, folks….
