Ron the Yarnspinner

  Knucklehead Smiff   Knucklehead lost his voice twenty years ago. Paul Winchell, the famous ventriloquist and voice actor, died in 2005. Paul and his puppet Jerry Mahoney and second banana Knucklehead Smiff had a career that spanned a half-century. Ventriloquism as a stagecraft reached its peak in the 40s and 50s. It’s popularity declined in the late 1960s as entertainment tastes evolved. Ventriloquism, which was often seen by newer generations as a simple or novelty act, struggled to compete with   emerging genres and trends.   The humor in the ventriloquist performances typically   relied on puns and simple jokes, which many from newer   generations starting with ”X” believed were outdated.   1950’s stagecraft and entertainment humor mirrored a more conservative and stable post-war society. For fourteen years viewers followed the “Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” The show exemplified the classic, family-oriented humor of the 1950s,...

                                                                                                                                             Shepherd There are tens of thousands of beautiful   metaphorical images of Christ the Good Shepherd and the shepherd's life is often depicted as a simple one, free from the complexities of urban life. His needs are few, and he relies on the resources that nature provides. His home is often a humble shelter, possibly a small hut or a ten...

                                                                      He Gave Back*     "Success is not measured by what you accomplish in life; it is measured by what you leave behind."   *   He was born on August 8, 1918, in Chicago, Illinois and   grew up in a working-class family. His father died when he was young, which meant he had to take on responsibilities early in life. During the Great Depression, he worked   at a gas station. Following high school, he saved his money and bought one - a Sinclair gas station for $360. Returning to Chicago after serving in the US Army, he added a used-car lot, then opened a Huds...