More Famous Friends

As Some have commented, I know many more famous people.

11. Spike and Mike of the Festival of Animation. I knew Mike better. I actually rented a room at one of his houses for a couple of years. I have always thought that, if there is such a thing as being haunted, that house may have been haunted. As my brother said when Mike died, "He didn't waste any moments." When Mike would come up and stay at the house, I would often walk in and catch him napping in his chair. He would wake up and immediately be awake, where most of us would be a little groggy at first. During this time, Mike wore a half beard, ala Man Ray, often died purple. What ever he was doing, he was in all the way, whether it was work or play. Every time we talked, he would recommend books that he had read to me. As an English teacher, I always appreciated that. At the house where I stayed, his bedroom wall was lined with books. After he died, I accompanied his girlfriend down to his other house where he lived most of the time to help her go through all of the books he had down there. Some were to go to friends, others to the local library, and others to Goodwill. I spent the entire day helping her. It got to a point where it was getting dark and we had all of our boxes filled and there still a lot of books. That's when she said, "Why don't you take some with you." I just started grabbing books. I got a few for my brother. One was a first edition novel by Ken Kesey, signed. I didn't find this out until after he opened it and found this ornate, colorful signature done in magic marker. I went home and went through a few of my own books and found that I had a few myself-the main one being a first edition "The Making of Bambi" signed by two of Disney's Old Men of Animation and "Chuck amok," signed by Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones.