DEEP GOLDEN AMBER BONANZA OF A SELTZER BOTTLE...

SOMEWHERE AROUND THIRTY YEARS AGO, BEFORE MY KIDS CAME ALONG AND WHEN LIFE WAS MORE NORMAL, WE TOOK A TRIP TO THE WEST COAST.FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WE HEADED OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF NEVADA THROUGH DONNER PASS AND ON TO RENO.WE WENT TO CARSON CITY WHERE I SAW THE PLACE THEY MINTED SOME OLD SILVER DOLLARS I OWN, AND TO VIRGINIA CITY WHICH LOOKED PRETTY MUCH AS IT DID WHEN THOSE DOLLARS WERE NEW.VIRGINIA CITY WAS ONE CITY I ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE, MOSTLY BECAUSE IT REMINDED ME OF THE OLD WEST, AND MOST PARTICULARLY THE CITY, MADE EVEN MORE FAMOUS BY THE INCREDIBLE OLD WESTERN TV SHOW BONANZA.NOT ONLY DID I GROW UP WATCHING BONANZA AS IT AIRED LIVE EVERY WEEK, MY WIFE WHO WASN'T BORN WHEN IT FIRST AIRED IN 1959 USED TO WATCH IT, IN RERUNS MAINLY, IN DUBBED IN PORTUGUESE IN BRAZIL.SO WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE TO GO TO THE PLACE WHERE THE ORIGINAL HOUSE WAS STILL UP IN THE WILDERNESS, AS A TOURIST DESTINATION, WE JUMPED AT THE CHANCE.I WAS MESMERIZED AND MY WIFE FASCINATED AT BEING THERE...IN 1960 IN MIAMI BEACH BY THE LINCOLN MALL THEY HAD A WORLD PREMEIRE FOR THE MOVIE CLEOPATRA..IN THE PROCESSION WAS LORNE GREEN WHO PLAYED BEN CARTWRIGHT..I RAN TO HIS LIMOSINE AND ASKED HIM FOR HIS AUTOGRAPH AS HE ROLLED BY..HE BRUSHED MY HAIR AND SAID,"NOT NOW SONNY." I WAS NEVER SO HAPPY TO BE BRUSHED BY ANYONE BEFORE NOR SINCE.FAST FORWARD TO MAY 30, 1999..IT WAS A SUNDAY..MY FATHER DIED SLIGHTLY LESS THAN A YEAR EARLIER AND FOR A YEAR UNTIL HIS UNVEILING I WAS TOLD NOT TO GO TO THE CEMETARY, BY MY FAMILY, FOR SOME REASON. I WENT THERE THAT DAY AND SAW HIS NAME ON THE TOMBSTONE AND COULDN'T STOP CRYING. I REMEMBERED HOW FROM THE DAY HE DIED TILL THE NEXT DAY I COULDN'T SPEAK..NOT TILL THE RABII SAID HIS WORDS AND WE LOWERED HIM IN THE GROUND, AND I PUT ONE OF HIS SELTZER BOTTLES NEXT TO HIM WHEN NO ONE WAS LOOKING.I SUSPECT THERE'S PLENTY OF PEOPLE WHO WOULD LOVE ME TO SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE BUT THAT HASN'T HAPPENED SINCE, FORTUNATELY.ON THAT DAY I SAID TO HIM THAT I PROMISED I WOULDN'T LET PEOPLE FORGET YOU AND I HAVEN'T KEPT MY WORD,BUT I SAID I'LL HAVE A SUPRISE FOR YOU ON YOUR BIRTHDAT WHICH WAS A WEEK AWAY.THAT WAS SUNDAY. THE NEXT DAY I GOT A CALL FROM A REPORTER FOR THE NY TIMES WHO WANTED TO DO A STORY ON MY BUSINESS.I DIDN'T CALL ANYONE BUT PROJECTED THE THOUGHT OF SOMETHING DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT, AND HE JUST CALLED. THE FOLLOWING SUNDAY THEY DID A HALF PAGE STORY ON MY BUSINESS AND MY FATHER WAS TOTALLY FEATURED. THE NY TIMES HAD 2.2 MILLIONS READERS ON A SUNDAY THEN, AND IT WAS WHEN PRINT WAS KING..TWO DAYS LATER I WENT TO SEE MY FATHER AND I READ HIM THE STORY AND FELT INCREDIBLY PLEASED THAT I HAD KEPT MY WORD.THAT STORY LEAD TO MANY THINGS AND I WOULD GET A CALL FROM ANDREW SMITH, WHO WAS JOY BEHARS WRITER AT "THE VIEW" AND DELIVERED TO HIM AT ABC THE NEXT DAY.I WOULD CONTINUE TO DELIVER TO HIM AND LOTS OF OTHER PEOPLE THERE. THE AMOUNT OF CELEBRITIES I'D MEET WAS ENORMOUS. IT COULD BE GEORGE CLOONEY ONE DAY..THEN SANDRA BULLOCK ANOTHER DAY, AND I WAS THERE WITH LOTS OF SELTZER BOTTLES WHICH MADE FOR SOME GREAT EXPERIENCES.THEY SHARED THE STUDIO WITH THE SOAP OPERA "ALL MY CHILDREN" AND I BECAME FRIENDS WITH THE STARS, THE CREW, AND THE EXECUTIVES.THEN ONE DAY ONE OF THEM ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO MAKE SOME EXTRA MONEY AND I STARTED DOING THE SETS IN THE NIGHTIME.I ALSO WORKED FOR ANOTHER SOAP OPERA "ONE LIFE TO LIVE" IN THE NIGHT SOMETIMES AND HAD MY SELTZER BOTTLES AS PROPS ON THE SETS-MORE FOR MY SATISFACTION THAN ANYTHING ELSE.IN THE DAYTIME I'D SOMETIMES HAND OUT FOR THE ACTORS..ONE OF THEM BECAME MY FRIEND, AND IT WAS AN HONOR TO TALK TO HIM. HIS NAME WAS DAVID CANARY AND HE PLAYED A DUAL ROLE OF TWO BROTHERS ON AMC.THE MOST FASCINATING PART OF HIS RESUME WAS THAT HE PLAYED THE HIRED HAND, WHO TOOK OVER AS BEN CARTWRIGHTS THIRD SON, WHEN PERNELL ROBERTS LEFT THE SHOW.WE'D DISCUSS HOW THE PRODUCER DAVID DORTORT INSISTED THE SHOW BE FILMED IN COLOR IN 1959, WHEN COLOR TV'S WHICH GAINED PROMINENCE IN 1966, WERE A DISTANT FANTASY..DAVID DORTORT WAS BORN DAVID KATZ..I HAVE DAVID KATZ SELTZER BOTTLE... read more