So. Tell me about a low-level celebrity who influenced your life for the better or whom you just really admire. The more obscure the better.
Bob Kupa'a Smith
The other is another PBS instructional TV host: the late Bob Kupa'a Smith, host of the language arts and etymology show Wordsmith.
I first discovered him as a kid, of course. Wordsmith was the number one factor that inspired my love of words, linguistics, and classical etymology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordsmith_(TV_series)
And then I ran into him again as an adult, while he was still alive, after stumbling across his Facebook. Sadly, it's no longer around. But he had evolved into EVERYTHING you wanted your childhood heroes to be.
In his late 80s or so, he was taking computer science courses, had dyes his hair blue, and had taken up food criticism as a hobby. He was everything I wanted to be but lacked the energy and, above all I think, the *hope*. He was teaching kids and being the "groovy old guy" up to his last moments and I am so lovingly envious.
Hope you're on a nice celestial beach, Kupunakāne, where every grain of sand is a word cell and every word is kind and honest.
And wow, it turns out MOST OF THE SERIES is up on an archive. That was a nice, unexpected gift: https://media.dlib.indiana.edu/catalog?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_field=all_fields&q=wordsmith
Bob Kupa'a Smith
Oh yeah, the word-roots-on-balls guy! I remember that show!
@zx3 Those are both FINE examples. I have really fond memories of seeing The Star Hustler late at night, and shared love of Raymond Scott is kind of a mild Thing between Peg and me.
@zx3 you've heard the optigan cover, right?
@zx3 I would be SO HONORED :D
@zebratron2084 Davy Ferguson, an obscure audio drama writer/performer from Cork, Ireland. His works "The Bins of Ballywheelie (a dirty soap opera)" and "Tatoes in Space" are like Douglas Adams on extra amounts of acid. I could never hope to put out material as daft as these.
Dr. Julius Sumner Miller
First is this gentleman, Dr. Julius Sumner Miller, physicist and TV educator.
I actually have no idea at all how famous he is. Apparently he was actually pretty well-known in Australia, yet he was also a staple on NE Ohio instructional TV in the 70s/80s.
What I love about this guy is his unfiltered self-effacing HONESTY, of a sort you never see on TV (or even Youtube, mostly) anymore.
His shows were barely edited. If he fucked up an experiment... well, he fucked it up. He'd apologize to the viewers, explain concisely and frankly what he thought went wrong, grumble a bit about the majesty and unpredictability of nature, and then apparently to correct it. And sometimes THAT one would go wrong.
Also, he worked as a butler, met Einstein, created a word game, and fought ferociously against ignorance, anti-intellectualism, misspellings, and other fundamental human evils.
Just go and read his Wiki entry, it gets pretty entertaining. First is this gentleman, Dr. Julius Sumner Miller, physicist and TV educator.
I actually have no idea at all how famous he is. Apparently he was actually pretty well-known in Australia, yet he was also a staple on NE Ohio instructional TV in the 70s/80s.
What I love about this guy is his unfiltered self-effacing HONESTY, of a sort you never see on TV (or even Youtube, mostly) anymore.
His shows were barely edited. If he fucked up an experiment... well, he fucked it up. He'd apologize to the viewers, explain concisely and frankly what he thought went wrong, grumble a bit about the majesty and unpredictability of nature, and then apparently to correct it. And sometimes THAT one would go wrong.
Also, he worked as a butler, met Einstein
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s9psf01ldo
Dr. M at work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s9psf01ldo