From: Angusson-AT-aol.com
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 17:21:17 -0500
Subject: Re: Roses



In a message dated 11/20/96 1:42:08 AM, Steven Widerman wrote:

>A favorite "Howdy" character of mine was Sandra Witch. Is she in the Rose's
>collection? BTW, I took some excellent video of Margo giving a tour of her
>house to those of us attending the O'Neill Conference in 1994. I sent a copy
>to Kurt Hunter who screened it at a Twin Cities Guild meeting. Margo is
>astounding!
>
>     -Steven->

I said this was a great thing happening here. Bit by bit, we are building a
clearer picture of some histories. 

For example:
I will confess to an ignorance of the existence of this character, Sandra
Witch, from the Howdy show. I have seen all of the Howdy figures at Margo's
and don't recall this one. Would you describe her for me? It is possible that
she might have been lost in the fire or that she just "disappeared" when the
show closed. There is no list of the puppets lost in the fire but through
process of elimination, we could come up with one. 

One of the "Howdy" characters at Margo's I neglected to mention was a
detective type. He had a Sherlock Holmes style hat and coat, and a magnifying
glass in hand. Sort of a leering look and silly grin, pencil mustache. I want
to say "Shamus" something, but I'm not sure. Any ideas? 

Some of the characters built for the show probably appeared for only a few
episodes. I don't even recall seeing the "GNU" on a broadcast. But that was a
while back. I was in high school for the first few years of Howdy and worked
>from then on so didn't see it all. 

But as I stated in my recently posted "novelette", I have a lot of digging
yet to do, so who knows what will turn up.  

Margo is indeed astounding! At this year's O'Neill Conference, she cracked
the whip and kept us moving. Even Jim Rose, who said "I ALWAYS listen to my
Mother."  (Steven, If I didn't know better, I'd swear Margo was humming "Dis
ain't no party. - Dis ain't no disco. - Dis ain't no foolin' around!") Think?

The marionette classes started at 8 am and went until 10 pm with breaks for
meals. Margo was at every session. She'd take a nap in the afternoon and
reappear for the evening meal and class, share what she could and go home. 

She'll be 94 on January 31, '97.

Best,

Fred Thompson 




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