SUNDAY MORNING OUT OF THE PAST: Photos and Words ... In and Out ...

Some recent images that charmed my fancy, or fancied my charm, along with whatever random musings muse up my mind ...


From the new Kelly-Miller program magazine. I was very saddened to learn on Steve and Ryan's blog of Steve taking a very nasty fall. What a trouper this guy is, still going on with the show. I wish you a speedy recover, Steve. And please, insert a touch of caution into your domestic flights of fancy ...


Here's a photo, circa 1938, I saw of JRN in his bustling prime. Found it in Wikipedia, surely the finest on-line source for circus history. Heck, it was this website who gave the world likely the fullest account of the life of the great Barbette. BTW, you Texans, Sir Harry at the forefront, may know that Mr. B. hails from Rock Round -- or is it Round Rock? I know I got it wrong in my book Behind the Big Top.


The man you can thank for my being here this very moment. The man you can thank or blame for my open-ended mouth. The man possibly responsible for all the books I wrote and luckily got published. The man who published me in my precious fourteenth year: Walt Hohenadel, then editor of the White Tops. Never had seen what he looked like until I came across this shot in an old Cole Bros. Circus program. It was he, whether he intended to or not, who gave me permission, merely by publishing intact my first review, to tell it exactly as I found it.


Jack Ryan forwarded me this wonderful picture. Nice to see two trapeze titans (easy alliteration, I know) sharing a warm moment. Whatever friction there may have been, I like to think they have come to appreciate each other. Go Tito! Smile, Miguel!


Grandma plays the Shrine! Yes, Barry Lubin recently accepted a Shrine date. Not sure what that means. I was touched, although maybe his security at Big Apple Circus is a bit wobbly, and he's opening up new options. Why not a triumphal return to Ringling-Barnum, from whence he came? I might pay for a better seat to enjoy Grandma, double the tariff if he promises to sing in the rain ...


Scene from Chimelong Circus. This is one show Boyi and I did not get to in China, likely the most un-Chinese of all the circuses there. As tempting as it is, I refuse to offer a suggested review because you've got to see these things in person from first blast to final finale to see how the acts roll. It does impress, okay, theoretically ...

first posted 5.16.10