Sheriff John by wysiwig
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Description
From the time we are born we begin to lose parts of our childhood. Memories fade. Friends drift away. Family members die. That candy you loved as a child is no longer sold.
A piece of my childhood came back to me today.
John Rovick was an Ohio boy. A veteran of World War II, he flew twenty-five missions in a B-25 bomber. After the war he came home, married, and went into broadcasting. In 1952 he put on a khaki shirt and white cowboy hat and became Sheriff John. His television show was targeted at children under ten. He showed cartoons but also talked a lot about safety, courtesy and manners, warning children not to play in the street or get into empty refrigerators. I guess you could say he was my generation's Sesame Street.
John Rovick died yesterday at the age of ninety-three. I had not thought about him or his show for over fifty years but, as I read his obituary, the words of his theme song came, unbidden, to my lips.
Laugh and be happy
With a merry melody
A song can make a hat rack
Look like a Christmas tree
Get rid of worry in a hurry
Chase the blues away
Just laugh and be happy
All the live long day
And as I finished reading I noticed, to my surprise, tears on my cheeks.
Memory never dies. Its there, just under the surface, waiting for you.
Bless you, John Rovick, and may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
Comments (13)
Faemike55
Very beautiful tribute to a great man it's those people who helped guide a lot of us to where we are today
vaggabondd
this is beautiful my friend, very nice dedi
auntietk
What a wonderful memory, and a lovely story. Such a gift, when these things come back to us unbidden. You brought back the "Wunda Wunda" theme song for me, a 50-year-old memory just waiting to happen. :)
durleybeachbum
Marvellous! You have such a great way of transmitting the immediacy of the moment. A true talent, Mark.
alanwilliams
a life well lived, and who could wish for a better tribute, masterful prose so sensitively put.
ZanderXL
I've never heard of this character but, from the sound of him, he was one of those old heroes that is nicely commemorated here by you. It just that, as you say, memories never vanish - they are just filed away somewhere waiting for the right stimulus to bring them forth. In that way, i suppose the object of those memories never dies either.
Fidelity2
It is very nice . I thank you for it. 5+!
bobrgallegos
Wonderful lyrics and tribute!!
hipps13
my computer bit the bullet and my twin gave me her old tower had to install the operating system and such so thought I would say hi....HI and as I read close to tears myself a wonderful memory stays in the light warm hugs, Linda
sandra46
a great tribute
JuliSonne
And from time to seek our past. Even the childhood .... and in these moments we remember, as if it was yesterday. And then we think about how "old" we have become. There are several life between...
netot
I never met Sheriff John , but I understand why his death affected you. He was a hero to you, a friend, and for me it was Guy Williams (Zorro and Professor Robinson), Jonathan Harris (Dr. Zachary Smith),Bill Bixby (Tim O'hara and Hulk) and others who embodied characters we loved. We did spend great moments with Their adventures and we were looking forward to his weekly visit to take us into the world of fantasy. Old friends who never knew our names but filled with joy and our childhood dreams.
Chipka
You posted this a minute or so back...well...in geological time at least, and I happened to come across it while browsing. Needless to say I lapped it up and enjoyed it immensely. It's quite telling how we're touched by others we never met, never really knew, and yet they have an effect on us that lasts a lifetime. We are who we are, in part, because of these people. For me, it's such people as Carl Sagan, Octavia E. Butler, and to a lesser degree, pathos-riddled degree, Amy Winehouse. No passing is a pleasant thing, from the point of view of the living, but there was something touching about her that was totally at odds with the hot mess everyone liked to laugh at. I remember her appearance on a rather mean-spirited game show. She was...well...a hot mess, but during a particularly mean spirited portion of the show, she interrupted the program, walked over to an old man who served as the butt of a joke and just gave him a hug. It's odd what we remember and how we remember it. I never even heard of Sheriff John, but it makes me wonder what I'd feel upon learning that a Sesame Street actor went to the great Children's Television Workshop in the sky. This is quite well written and evocative.