Since this column was quite some time ago, and I’m new here, it might already have been pointed out.
Neither Jerry Mathers nor Bob Denver is deceased …
It was a joke.
Sarcasm, however, apparently is.
It was lost on me … but since the tagline for this site (again, I’m brand new here, so I haven’t learned the nuances) is “fighting ignorance since 1973,” I made an erroneous assumption that responses would not include erroneous information.
My bad, I guess …
I think that’s a very fair complaint. I know that column in the context of all the other columns of that period, so I knew he was being a smartass. But for someone who isn’t a hardcore Cecilphile, the sarcasm is so subtle as to be nonexistent.
I’m not much of a revisionist by nature, but I think this is valid. Even with the likes of Cecil and the Mikkelsons around, it’s hard enough to fight the good fight without easily misunderstood stuff like this.
I’d like to call for an update to this one, even if it’s just a snarky “PS: Yes, everyone, I know.”
And welcome, terrier.
Thanks, andros, for your comments and your welcome. I’m no neophyte when it comes to message boards, so I know all too well that each has its own personality (and personalities), and a newbie like me really should explore a lot more before commenting. I didn’t follow those “rules.”
I just happened to stumble here and ended up in that thread … I’m very interested in urban legends, and am constantly sending those intent on forwarding bogus email stories to sites that debunk the stories. I have heard in the past such stories about celebrities and how they died … even those who are very much alive … so the comments stood out to me.
Again, as a newbie, I’ll just sit back and watch a while and get a better feel before commenting … if I can. (Not my nature to not express myself.)
Part of the problem, I think, is that Cecil and the Teeming Millions have been whupping on ULs for so long now that we sometimes forget that the most stupid and obvious legends are still believed by someone out there.
But Richard Berry and John Denver are.
My first reaction when seeing the thread title was "Huh, is there an ‘Eminem is dead’ rumor floating around, which was quickly followed by “John Denver faked his death?”
Of all of Cecil’s little scarcastic asides, this one seems to cause the most trouble:
Myth?–Jerry Mathers killed in Vietnam
Has anyone noticed that Jerry Mathers is still alive?
Bob Denver and Jerry Mathers aren’t dead
Cecil must have corrected this by now
Snopes takes a stab at explaining the Mathers legend.
Northern Piper, thanks for pointing out how much this has been misinterpreted. I’ll see what can be done.
Just when you think you’re making progress eradicating ignorance, you get something like this. Bob Denver, Jerry Mathers, etc., were the subjects of pop culture legends current at the time the column was written, and my references to them were intended as, duh, a joke. However–I know, I know-- I left off the <joke></joke ends> tags, which on specially equipped workstations issued to the humor-impaired trigger bells and smoke bombs and such lest one’s witticisms slip past unnoticed or, worse, be completely misconstrued. I’ll leave a note for Little Ed–you know what a miracle of efficiency he is; I’m sure he’ll gets things fixed up toot sweet.
“Toot Sweet” is the name of a song in “Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang”, not a… Oh, never mind!
OMG!!!
I almost got to post at the same time as Cecil! I bow in humble awe before his magnificence!
Northern Piper, you should be (quietly) proud. I brought your comments to the attentions of the Powers, and lo! you’ve got a response from Himself!!
Oooh, I don’t think its often that one gets to quote *the * Cecil Adams.
But, uhh, Perfect Master?? Isn’t that overstating things a wee bit?
Don’t BAN me! I was kidding, Cecil, I swear!
I notice no one is saying anything about Paul McCartney.
(See, if you hold the Magical Mystery Tour album up to a mirror…)
I am, of course, duly humbled that my minor efforts at fighting ignorace have received the attention of the Perfect Master himself.
However, I cannot resist pointing out that this is in fact the second time that I have succeeded in dislodging Cecil from his normal zen-like state of abstraction and withdrawal, leading him into manifesting his presence amongst us.
In this thread, Belly Button Lint: Cecil Scooped: Aussie Wins Ig™Nobel Prize, I had the temerity to suggest that **Cecil ** had fluffed his researches into belly-button lint, thereby triggering this response from Cecil:
So I take modest pride in having had two communications from the Perfect Master.