Last Night Zelda Put Me To Sleep With A Tale Of Southern Racist Bigotry

The lady you see raising her fist here is Sheila James Kuehl.

Sheila James Kuehl rose to fame in the early 60s due to her portrayal of Zelda Gilroy on the CBS sitcom known as The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Last night whilst watching TV on my phone, horizontal in bed, waiting for the sleep bug to bite me, I came upon a YouTube video of Sheila James Kuehl reminiscing about an aspect of her time on Dobie Gillis.

With that aspect being Ms. Kuehl's fond, poignant memories of the castmate she refers to over and over again as Bobby.

Bobby, as in Bob Denver, he of Maynard G. Krebs fame on Dobie Gillis and Gilligan fame on Gilligan's Island.

The first fond memory of Bobby was not the part of the video which impressed me. It was the story Sheila told of an incident she and Bob Denver experienced  in Birmingham, Alabama which impressed me. An experience which ended with Bob Denver beaten by three white racists because he had the temerity to come to the defense of an elderly black woman the three bigots were harassing.

Racism that I have personally experienced in the modern day South has been troubling my conscience for a couple months now. In the video Sheila remarks that the racism experienced in Alabama was shocking to her and Bob Denver, with their Southern California sensibilities.

I'm guessing it is my Pacific Northwest sensibilities which cause me to have a difficult time understanding why so many people I have contact with, people born and raised in the South, seem to have no trouble being co-horts of overt racists, rationalizing being tolerant in ways unfathomable to me.

Anyway, watch the video below to hear Zelda's tale of Gilligan getting beat up by three idiot racists....

Fort Worth Mayor Proclaims National Beatnik Week In Fort Worth

I missed part of Don Young's message that I just blogged about. The message had an Earth Day Green Flag image that I had not scrolled past.

When I did scroll past the Green Earth Day Flag I was surprised to read...

"The only photo I could find of Mayor McCann will surprise you. Here he is in 1960 signing a proclamation for, "National Beatnik Week". (LIFE magazine)"

The photo is brought to you courtesy of Pat Kirkwood.

Obviously, the surprising thing is the idea that Fort Worth had a Mayor, Thomas A. McCann, who signed a proclamation for "National Beatnik Week." I can't imagine current Fort Worth Mayor, Mike Moncrief, signing such a thing. In 1960 had the Good Ol' Boy Network not yet taken over Fort Worth, turning it into an Oligarchy?

The Beatniks were sort of the precursors of the Hippies who came along a few years after 1960. I've been told by people who lived in the Fort Worth zone during the 60s that the turbulence of that era, pretty much passed this area by, including the Hippie Phenomenon.

Maynard G. Krebs, with Maynard being a Beatnik, a few years before he became Gilligan, stranded on an island, was a popular pop figure of the late 1950s, early 1960s. Maybe Mayor McCann was a big Maynard G. Krebs fan, hence the National Beatnik Proclamation.

It's very perplexing.