I’ll get back to the formation of my comic book literature class next time, but unfortunately this week it’s obituaries again.

ITEM #1: In a world…of chaos…

When we need…a hero…

One man…will tell us what the movie is about.

Don LaFontaine died this past Monday, and that kind of opening for a brief tribute to the man has doubtless appeared four million times on the Internet in the last few days. Never let it be said that I was original.  

For a man that by all accounts was one of the most dedicated workaholics in the movie business, it may be appropriate that he died on Labor Day. Until recently, you never saw his face, but more people have come to know a bit more about the enigma that is Don LaFontaine in the last few years. For most of us, however, he was just “The Voice.” The “in a world” voice, the “one man” voice. The voice of every movie trailer for the last several decades, the voice of countless television promos, radio commercials, and eventually even parodies of his own work. In fact, Don LaFontaine has virtually been The Voice of Entertainment for generations. And now he’s gone. Movie trailers will never sound the same again.

ITEM #2: The Snowman has the hammer down and has motored away into the sunset.

For anyone that grew up in the 1970s, Jerry Reed was much more than just a country singer or an entertainer, he was one of the greatest best friend/sidekicks you could hope for. In Smokey and the Bandit (and two sequels, but we’ll forgive him those), he virtually steals the show from Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason, no mean feat, by just being an all-around great guy (his revenge on some boisterous bikers is a highlight). And as the voice behind the propulsive song that led the Bandit and the Snowman all the way from Texarkana to Atlanta “Eastbound and Down,” not to mention hits like “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot, “Amos Moses,” and “She Got the Goldmine, I Got the Shaft,” he was one of the distinctive sounds of country crossover music for years.

Snowman, you got your ears on? Rest in peace, son.

ITEM #2: In the Special Edition gallery at Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, we’re stepping “Out of the Box” and allowing visitors both young and old to get hands on with pop culture by giving everyone an up close look at the characters that are popular right now with toys that you can actually touch and play with. Those toys you see in the stores today and all those TV shows and movies you’re watching now are going to be the subject of museum exhibitions themselves before we know it…so why not get a head start on the process? It won’t be as easy to play with them when they’re locked behind glass! “Out of the Box” runs until December 2008.

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Don’t forget to

Visit Geppi’s Entertainment Museum online at www.geppismuseum.com

or in person at

301 W. Camden St.
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 625-7060