Shep Receiving Doctorate of Humane Letters at Indiana University in 1995
courtesy: Professor James Lane - Indiana Univerity and Nick Mantis
Here's a photo of Shep receiving his Doctorate of Humane Letters at Indiana University on May 15, 1995.
February 17, 2014
From 1959 - "Clean H-Bomb - Ghosts of Gothic NY Architecture"
Early Shep
Thanks to Dan Fine, a 24 minute excerpt from one of Shep's Saturday or Sunday night shows in approx July 1959 has surface for all to enjoy. As usual, Shep covers a bunch of topics in a short time.
February 13, 2014
The Hunting of the Snark
as read by Jean Shepherd
Thanks to David Director and David Singer, Shep's reading of Lewis Carrolls "The Hunting of the Snark" has come to light for Shep fans to hear. Follow the link 'continued on next page. . .' to hear the January 29, 1963 show.
January 16, 2014
"Destry Rides Again"
St. John Terrell's Lambertville Music Circus
In 1961 Shep performed in "Destry Rides Again" at the Lambertville Music Circus. The show played only a few weeks because the Music Circus has a long line-up of performers and performances that rotated through the big tent (Yes, tent!) over the years. Check out the website created by Jon Case, who worked both on stage and behind the scenes back in the 60s.
January 5, 2014
Free 1926 Sears Prefab House
Just haul it away!
Located in Arlington, VA, this 960 square foot house can be all yours. Shep fans will recall this type of house being one of the sub-plots in "Phantom of the Open Hearth"
November 23, 2013
Jean Shepherd reflects on Kennedy
After a long, sad weekend following the assassination of John F Kennedy on Nov 22, 1963, Jean Shepherd took to the airwaves for his first show back on Monday Nov 25 with a somber, reflective program. For the entire week he declined to play his jaunty theme song, and took several days to discuss the American scene and mood.
Thanks largely to Shep fan Jean Tepper, we have three of these programs that were taped from FM over the air at the time of broadcast. The first show is actually a composite of three different recordings, starting with a very poor copy which was the most complete, tagging on a bit more from a slightly better recording, then the bulk of the show is from the very nice sounding copy from Jean Tepper. The other two recordings are flawed due to signal interference that comes and goes throughout the broadcast, but despite the whistling and hooning, Shep's words come through. Two of these programs have been aired in the past over WBAI, the third has never been replayed as far as I can recall.
During the coming week you will get a chance to hear them all on the radio or on the web. The first show from Monday Nov 25, 1963 will be played on the Saturday morning show on yesterdayusa.com.
The Thanksgiving show "Shadows and Haiku" will be aired on WBAI on Sunday evening. At some point during the week I will upload the third show to Mixcloud - this show was from either Tuesday or Wednesday of that week, and I call it "The Ugly American".
I hope you will listen.
(If you miss these, they will be archived here in the "Max Schmid presents Jean Shepherd" section)
November 22, 2013
NPR plays Shep's eulogy to JFK
interview with Eugene B Bergmann
On November 25th many NPR stations will be playing Jean Shepherd's November 25th 1963 show on which he talks about Kennedy and politics in general. How they affect our lives.
Gene talks about the effect that the assassination had on Shep
Shep did not play his usual theme song at the start or finish of his show for the entire week out of respect and spent the week doing shows related to the subject.
October 29, 2013
Scott Schwartz (Flick) poses next to the statue
Hammond statue to immortalize 'A Christmas Story' prank
By Andy Grimm Tribune reporter
Visitors to the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond will get a special treat now after the unveiling of a statue of Flick in the famous "Triple Dog Dare" scene from A Christmas Story. The statue was cleverly placed right up against the existing flagpole in front of the center to complete the scene.
October 1, 2013
Marching Band Pileup Nearly Takes Out High School's Entire Tuba Section
Where's Wilbur Duckworth when you need him?
Like a scene right out of "Great American Fourth of July" (upper left in photo) the Lake Travis High School Marching Band find themselves in a choreography snaffu. As the band goes into a reverse march, the leading (trailing?) sousaphone player trips and begins a 'domino effect' as the others back into and trip on each other.
September 23, 2013
Photo Credit: Elena Dijour / Shutterstock.com
How Corporations Co-opted the "Flash Mob"
AlterNet / By Paul Krassner
Paul Krassner who was one of many people inspired by Shep has penned an article about modern day flash mobs being used by corporations for marketing purposes. Beginning with the seventh paragraph he makes the "Shepherd" coinnection.
