Showing posts with label Bob Crane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bob Crane. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Ronald Reagan would vilify today's Republicans



Ronald Reagan was first a Democrat, later becoming a Republican, then he wrote a book, and that is where I met him. The book's name is "Where's the Rest of Me?"

then referring to the fact that being a Democrat was unfulfilling for him, thus, his switch to the Republican Party. The phrase originally came from his 1942 movie Kings Row, where he woke up in the hospital with both legs amputated, provoking the remark. I was charged with publicizing the book in Los Angeles.

In my first experience learning who was boss in the Reagan family, I received a shipment from my New York office containing 50 copies of his book. Minutes after arrival, there was a call from New York telling me before distributing the publicity copies I must remove a page from the book. On this page was Jane Wyman's photo and, after tentative approval by Raegan, apparently his second wife, Nancy, had ordered that the page with Wyman's picture be removed.

Pictures in a book are bound in similar to the rest of the pages making it near impossible to remove one of them without the recipient noticing. I had five media appointments the next day along with three major Los Angeles book outlets to pitch the book. I spent most of the night meticulously severing the page from eight books. I made the calls the following day with no critical comments. Later, I wondered, did I do that great a job or was there just little interest in the book.

It did catch Bob Crane's eye when I called him later to pitch the book, also with Reagan's first wife removed. In those days Crane did a top-rated morning talk show on KCBS radio in LA. He was a nice guy and, if he noticed, said nothing about the photo. But I got a life lesson from Reagan on our walk from the car to Crane's studio. I stepped on some gum, sticking to my shoe sole. Scraping it on the ground to remove, Reagan stopped me right there in the parking lot.

He said, "I'll tell you something I learned years ago. When you step on gum that sticks to your shoe, you simply cover it with a small piece of paper and keep on walking. I did, and we proceeded on to Bob Cranes studio for the interview. The event went well and we left heading back to our cars. In the parking lot again, after discussing the interview, Reagan told me to check my foot for the gum. I had forgotten but when I looked the gum was gone. Simple, but pragmatic.

There were other talk shows, both radio and television, and in some instances the interviewer would attempt to provoke Reagan on how he became a Republican, others, do we really need Hollywood in politics? You have to remember, this was the mid-1960s. The movie star turned politician was very serious when he would reply that after his success in movies and television, he wanted to give politics a chance and see what he could do for California, maybe the country.

I was repeatedly impressed with the way the man presented himself and the sincerity with which he did it. On a couple of occasions I visited his Pacific Palisades home in the Los Angeles area to discuss strategy on the book with him and his wife, Nancy. It was here that I learned who had the strongest influence on Reagan's life...Nancy. She called him Ronny and would regularly impose ideas for



promoting his book. And most were good.

I could see from these meetings that Nancy would have a profound effect on any political office he held. That, of course, was true throughout Reagan's presidency. But it was a very positive effect in that Nancy was a good person, like her husband, and together they espoused a genuine interest in his political future. I wasn't politically active in those days, but even if I had been, and feeling the way I do about Republicans today, I could never see Reagan participating in this GOP chaos.

Ronald Reagan was strong and with his stature would likely be able to keep Moscow Mitch in line. If not, Nancy would annihilate him. And the likes of Jim Jordan, M.T. Greene, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Reagan would cut them off at the knees. He was not the best president, but far from the worst. His "trickle down economics" is no longer viable but whatever else was wrong with his administration it far exceeds the likes of the recent White House lunatic.



Monday, December 5, 2011

David Gergen quotes from Ronald Reagan book to cover Mitt Romney campaign

Gergen’s article, “Mitt Romney – Where’s the rest of him?,” all but clones the title of Ronald Reagan’s autobiography, “Where’s the Rest of Me?,” published in 1965.  The title was taken from what was considered his best movie, Kings Row, where a sadistic surgeon amputated both his legs.  Reagan wakes up from the anesthesia and says, “Where’s the rest of me?, referring to his lost limbs.  In his book it pertained to the fact that he didn’t consider himself whole until converting from a liberal to a conservative.

I know.  I was there.  My job as District Manager for then Meredith Publishing Co., whose subsidiary, Duell Sloan & Pearce, published the title, was to assist in the promotion and publicity of the book in the Southern California area.  Our New York office set up an autographing for Reagan in Tustin, CA, in the middle of Orange County, a bastion of extreme right-wing politics.  The man arrived, followed shortly by his daughter, Maureen, and the book signings began.

As a professed liberal then—that’s before we became progressives—I kept my distance from most of the weird looking minglers.  However, Maureen was approached by a guy who demanded her attention for some time, and I could tell there was consternation on her face.  Finally, once she had shed her ear bender, she rushed over to me and said, “We have to get him out of here,” meaning her father.  Apparently her talker was a John Bircher and was accusing everyone in government of being a communist, plus more.



I finally convinced her it would cause more uproar to just yank him out of the autographing than to let it run its course, then make sure it never happened again.  She finally agreed and I let our New York Office know to keep me in the loop on any future plans for promotional events.  But most of the Southern California publicity was set up by me using my contacts set up over the years.  One such incident was an interview on the Bob Crane radio talk show.  Crane would go on to star in Hogan’s Heroes.

I had just picked up Reagan from his home in the Pacific Palisades and we were now on our way through the CBS parking lot in Hollywood.  He apparently stepped on some gum and stopped to do something about it.  Taking a piece of paper out of his pocket, and standing with his leg bent to access the bottom of his shoe, he placed the paper over the gum, and we continued walking.  He looked at me after a few seconds and said, “Now you see what I did?  By the time we get to the studio, the paper will be gone and so will the gum.”

I have never forgotten that because it reflected a down-to-earth practical person that, with all his celebrity baggage, could easily deal with the simple problems.  I also wondered if he was just putting me on.  He did the interview which was good, with Bob Crane holding back on his normal antics and zany sound effects to address Reagan’s political issues.  There was a small bump in sales from this and other interviews with Los Angeles radio personality Michael Jackson, but for the most part the book was a flop.  People weren’t taking Reagan seriously at the time, and wouldn’t until he ran for Governor of California. 

Back to Romney, David Gergen describes “the rest of Him” as his personal and religious life.  Thinks Romney is missing a bet by not addressing his Mormon faith as John F. Kennedy did his Catholicism in 1960.  Gergen even praises the Mormon people saying they “…they build strong families, create successful businesses, and serve as outstanding citizens.”  What’s not to like?  He also described a completely different Romney in the Parade interview he did as warm and personable, compared to the normal business-like demeanor. 

Although I have no intention of voting for Mitt Romney, I will fight to the death for his right to run a normal campaign based on his qualifications, and not be judged by religious zealots.

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