Tale 42

Those Audiences Are My People

this personal birthday gift from American cartoonist Bob Dunn to Fred Waring

on the latter’s 50^th birthday ‘June 9 1950’ (as it says)

features characters who are Dunn’s own well-known fictional comic cartoon creations;

Dunn called Fred ‘Fearless’

and teased him via cartoons whenever he defeated Fred in golf, as here

(Dunn could only be ‘World’s Greatest’ if he had beaten Fred)

(there may be a suggestion here that ‘Fearless’ Fred was so irritated by losing to Dunn

that he threatened him physically with a golf club – in jest, we are sure)
(the more intimate message to Fred via 'Cres' is enlarged below)

"The one place Fred is secure, though," said Bill, "is in front of an audience on the road."

A simple thought, but sad for Bill; because not getting Fred on TV meant no special triumph for Bill getting Fred on TV, which he knew he could do, and well, for he had done it several times; and it meant no credit for Bill’s people, especially the Huron.

"He figures, 'Those audiences are my people. And they'll do as I tell them’!”

The High Priest of Music, Fred Waring, stomped the tabernacles of God’s Chosen, for he was past master of the art of live concert, preferring it to the impersonal audience of TV, where you could not look your people in the eye or talk to the audience and feel what they were answering. Any fool could be out there watching him on TV. Who knew who? So naturally the master of charisma preferred live audiences of real, genuine fans on whom to work his music and charm, in real and spontaneous ways that the audience more or less drew out of him as they went along; and this he could never do on TV. But it was sad, for Bill had wanted to be a hero to his boss, to his wife Betty Ann, and his friends, including mj and Dlune, and all his people.

And himself.

"When he goes out into Pohunk, Indiana,” said Bill, as if agreeing with such thoughts of mj’s, “that audience is in there because they're Fred Waring's fans. And anything he says is golden."

Bill handed mj the very last item in his pile and left him alone for a few minutes to study it.

The concert schedule for the past year:

FRED WARING'S PENNSYLVANIANS INC.

"America I Hear You Singing"

1973-1974

Date                       City                                  Auditorium                       
Sat. Oct. 27    Hershey, Pa.         Community Theatre          
Sun. Oct. 28   Hazleton, Pa.        High School                     
Mon. Oct. 29  Delaware Water Gap  (Rehearsals only)                  
Tue. Oct. 30   Delaware Water Gap  (Rehearsals only)                  
Wed. Oct. 31  Easton, Pa.           Kirby Field House             
Thu. Nov. 1     Scranton, Pa.        Masonic Temple[1]              
Fri. Nov. 2       Orchard Park, NY Central High School          
Sat. Nov. 3     Harrisburg, Pa.      Zembo Mosque                          
Mon. Nov. 5    Grand Rapids, Mich.  Civic                                      
Tue. Nov. 6     Lima, Oh.              Memorial Hall                             
Wed. Nov. 7    Warren, Oh.          Packard Music Hall           
Thu. Nov. 8     Youngstown, Oh.  Stambaugh                                
Fri. Nov. 9       Detroit, Mich.        Masonic Temple                         
Sat. Nov. 10    Canton, Oh.          Memorial                                    
Mon. Nov. 12  Kalamazoo, Mich.  Miller                               
Tue. Nov. 13   Miami Beach, Fla.  Fontainebleau Hotel          
Wed. Nov. 14  Ottawa, Ill.            Township High School      
Thu. Nov. 15   Peoria, Ill.             Robertson Memorial Field House 
Fri. Nov. 16     Belvidere, Ill.         Jr. High School                 
Sat. Nov. 17    Chicago, Ill.           Auditorium Theatre           
Sun. Nov. 18   Milwaukee, Wisc.  Uihlein Hall                       
Tue. Nov. 20   Thief R. Falls, Mn. High School                     
Fri. Nov. 23     St. Paul, Minn.      Civic Center                     
Sat. Nov. 24    LaCrosse, Wisc.    Sawyer                                      
Sun. Nov. 25   Rockford, Ill.         College Field House          
Tue. Nov. 27   Green Bay, Wisc.  Brown County Memorial    
Thu. Nov. 29   Lexington, Ky.       Memorial Coliseum           
Fri. Nov. 30     Charleston, W.Va  Municipal                                   
Sat. Dec. 1     Waynesboro, Pa.  High School                     
Sun. Dec. 2     Pittsburgh, Pa.      Heinz Hall                        
Mon. Dec. 3    Westminster, Md.  High School                     
Tue. Dec. 4     Allentown, Pa.       Agriculture Hall                 

Mon. Jan. 14   New York, N.Y.     (Rehearsals only)             
Tue. Jan. 15   Atlantic City, N.J.   Convention Hall                
Wed. Jan. 16  Reading, Pa.         Rajah Theatre                            
Thu. Jan. 17   Norfolk, Va.           Chrysler Theatre              
Fri. Jan. 18     TBA[2]
Sat. Jan. 19    TBA
Sun. Jan. 20   Washington, D.C.  Kennedy Center                         
Tue. Jan. 22   Roanoke, Va.        Civic                                
Wed. Jan. 23  Chattanooga, TN   Tivoli Hall
Fri. Jan. 25     Augusta, Ga.        Bell
Sat. Jan. 26    Atlanta, Ga.          Civic
Sun. Jan. 27   Rome, Ga.            Municipal
Mon. Jan. 28   Macon, Ga.          Opera House
Wed. Jan. 30  Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.  War Memorial
Thu. Jan. 31   Daytona Beach, Fl. Daytona Beach
Fri. Feb. 1       Ft. Myers, Fla.      Exhibition Hall
Sat. Feb. 2      Sarasota, Fla.       Van Wezel Hall
Sun. Feb. 3     St. Petersburg, Fl. Bayfront Center
Tue. Feb. 5     Nashville, Tenn.    TBA
Wed. Feb. 6    Jackson, Tenn.     TBA
Thu. Feb. 7     Memphis, Tenn.    Ellis
Sat. Feb. 9      Wichita, Kan.        Century II
Sun. Feb. 10   TBA
Mon. Feb. 11  TBA
Tue. Feb. 12   TBA
Wed. Feb. 13  Austin, Tex.          Municipal
Thu. Feb. 14   Denison, Tex.        Eisenhower Sr. High
Fri. Feb. 15     TBA
Sat. Feb. 16    Amarillo, Tex.        City
Mon. Feb. 18  Bartlesville, Okla.  Civic Center
Tue. Feb. 19   Hutchinson, Kan.   Convention Hall
Wed. Feb. 20  Great Bend, Kan.  City
Thu. Feb. 21   Topeka, Kan.        Municipal
Fri. Feb. 22     Kansas City, Mo.   Music Hall
Sun. Feb. 24   Denver, Colo.        Auditorium Theatre
Tue. Feb. 26   Tempe, Ariz.         Grady Gammage
Wed. Feb. 27  Palm Desert, Cal.  College
Thu. Feb. 28   Pasadena, Cal.     Civic
Fri. Mar. 1       Los Angeles, Cal.  Shrine Temple
Sat. Mar. 2     Los Angeles, Cal.  Shrine Temple
Mon. Mar. 4    Fresno, Cal.          Convention Center
Wed. Mar. 6    Portland, Ore.       New Concert Hall
Thu. Mar. 7     Spokane, Wash.    Fox Theatre
Fri. Mar. 8       Yakima, Wash.      Capitol Theatre
Sat. Mar. 9     Eugene, Ore.        So. Eugene H. School
Sun. Mar. 10   Seattle, Wash.      Paramount Theatre
Mon. Mar. 11  TBA
Tue. Mar. 12   TBA
Wed. Mar. 13  Vancouver, B.C.   Queen Elizabeth
Thu. Mar. 14   Calgary, Alberta    S. A. Jubilee
Sat. Mar. 16    Saskatoon, Sask.  Centennial
Sun. Mar. 17   Regina, Sask.       The Arts
Tue. Mar. 19   Winnipeg, Man.     Centennial
Wed. Mar. 20  TBA
Thu. Mar. 21   TBA
Fri. Mar. 22     Omaha, Neb.        Music Hall
Sat. Mar. 23    Sioux Falls, S.D.    Coliseum
Tue. Mar. 26   Hinsdale, Ill.          High School
Thu. Mar. 28   Ft. Wayne, Ind.     Memorial Coliseum
Fri. Mar. 29     Akron, Oh.            TBA
Sat. Mar. 30    Toledo, Oh.           Masonic
Sun. Mar. 31   Indianapolis, Ind.   Clowes
Mon. Apr. 1     TBA
Tue. Apr. 2     TBA
Wed. Apr. 3    Washington, N.J.   Warren Hills H. S.[3]
Thu. Apr. 4     TBA
Fri. Apr. 5       Syracuse, N.Y.      Loew's State Theatre
Sat. Apr. 6      E. Stroudsburg, Pa.    Field House[4]

“June 9^th, 1950 – Dear Fred: –

We do hope you will be blessed with fifty more happy, healthy and prosperous years.

It couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy. Sincerely, Your friend Cres”

these are the details of the greeting to Fred

in the cartoon found above at the opening of this tale

(Fred was born June 9, 1900 in Tyrone, Pennsylvania)