The Legend-News

Monday, 2000 January 10 : Volume 3, Number 2

Ask C.W.
I'm pretty sure that Bill Fries knows who we -- this web site, and the mailing list -- are, and I wouldn't be surprised if Chip Davis has had rumors of our existence. TVLand definitely knows.

Although there's a lot of C.W. McCall information and trivia on An American Legend, there's one item that we don't have: an interview with the man himself. The best course of action would be to travel to Ouray and talk with Bill Fries, but (1) I have a day job, (2) today is 10 January, and (3) only a desperate man would travel through the Rockies in winter. Okay, so I'm a wimp.

We all could call or write to Bill, asking the questions that need to be asked; but I think that Bill would get really tired of the same questions being asked over and over and over. So, here's the proposal: you, the eternal fan of C.W. McCall, will send your questions to me, Ed. I'll gather the queries, massage them into a presentable form, and entrust the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the manuscript to Bill. I'll include an envelope and return postage, just be be sure that we have a good chance of receiving a reply.

If you're on the Other Wild Places mailing list, just post your questions to the list. If you're not on the list -- and why not? -- send your questions to me, <cw@techren.com>. Please note that this is not Bill Fries' e-mail address; it's just one of mine.

I'll gather the questions for the remainder of this month, then package them for delivery to Bill. With any luck, The Man will tell us the meaning of life. :)

However, there is one warning: anyone asking "What's your favorite song?" will be shot on sight. And if I don't see you, well, there's always infrared scopes.

Which One Of You Is The Nut With The Web Site?
Back at the day job, I'm building one heck of a reputation. When I returned from the holiday break last Monday (3 January) I found that someone had cut the "Whatever Happened To…?" article from The Star and left it on my desk.

Not only am I the Macintosh fanatic in the organization, I'm the resident weirdo. Yeah, baby!

Song A’ Th’ Week
And now for the annual history lesson. Once upon a time, the Internet did not exist and neither did the Pony Express, which meant that news didn't travel as fast as it does today. A case in point: 8 January was the 185th anniversary of the battle of New Orleans, the final battle of The War of 1812®. The bad news? The war had actually ended fifteen days earlier, on 24 December 1814; but due to the slow communications of the time, Colonel Andrew Jackson didn't know that. Which is actually good, because if he did know that the war was over, we wouldn't have this song. :)

The Battle of New Orleans

(Jimmy Driftwood)
From the album Roses For Mama.