I will guarantee there is not a bigger fan on this site. His style and substance would never be noticed by the big awards folks but for me he was the supreme storyteller. Part of that comes from a similar view of childhood and part from the fact that although we were 20 years apart, we grew up in the midwest heartland and for many years it changed very little.....in some ways it is still the same.

For every Jean story I have a corresponding experience. Sure there are variations but at the center it is still the same tale. I've been to those same 4th of July "festivities" and frankly the scene in my own Cletus story of the 4th of July blatantly stole the giant Dago bomb explosion from him. One of my prom experiences was not so different than "Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories" and I've been to our own "Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss."

All through his stories I see myself in my own childhood. From the county fair to the roller rink, I've been there. I had a secret decoder pin from Ovaltine except mine came from their sponsorship of "Captain Midnight and the Secret Squadron" instead of Little Orphan Annie. I figure now they were leftovers.   Reading Jean always takes me back......and makes me laugh....and cringe.....and sometimes cry right before I laugh again.

Although I should have discovered him in any number of other ways, I first encountered Jean Shepherd when he wrote for "Car and Driver" magazine. Once found though I was hooked and every story had meaning for me. It may have been nuts and silly to a lot of readers but it was my childhood too that he told and I loved the way he told it.

The movies are composites of several stories together and I think they did a good job with most of them, but nothing replaces reading the books of collections. Go pick up "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" or "Wanda Hickey" or "A Fistful of Fig Newtons" and see for yourself. One thing you'll find is that my Cletus stories are pathetic imitations of him but there is no writer I would rather flatter with even a bad imitation.

I was very sad when he died. But I tell ya' what........Many of the stories which I've read a dozen or more times can still make me laugh uproariously, cringe deeply and sincerely, and cry uncontrollably. A great writer can do that and Jean Shepherd was a great writer.


Spaw