or HOW I BECAME A LUCILLE BALL SUPERFAN
I was born on February 14, 1962, at 10:40am. While my mother was in labor, many of the hospital televisions were diverting patients with a re-run of “I Love Lucy”. (Exactly which episode remains a mystery I have yet to solve.) Seven months later, Lucille Ball made a come-back to network television with “The Lucy Show.” Television was my babysitter and I grew up watching re-runs of “I Love Lucy.”
Sadly, I never met Lucille Ball. Here, at a visit to Orlando’s Stars Hall of Fame (1975-1984), I came close. This wax figure was from the “Lucy Show” years, a show where Gale Gordon played Mr. Mooney! Needless to say, I grew up with people drawing attention to the fact that I shared a surname with Lucy Carmichael’s boss! “Oh, Mr. Mooney!!!!!!”
In 1994 I joined the staff of Paper Mill Playhouse, a regional theatre in Millburn, New Jersey, and discovered I was not alone in my Lucy fandom. Two years later marketeer Nancy Marino and I made a road trip to “Lucy Land” (aka Jamestown NY) during “Lucy-Desi Days”.
We visited all the popular tourist stops, including Lucy’s childhood home, the Lucy-Desi Museum, and of course we took in a “Broadway” show.
While working at Paper Mill, Eddie Bracken would often drop by the offices to talk about the ‘old days’ of Hollywood. Naturally, I wanted him to talk about Lucy and Desi. His faded signature on the above photo is a cherished memory of Eddie. Ann Miller joined Eddie in signing the photo when they both were in an acclaimed production of Sondheim’s FOLLIES in 1998. I would never complete the signatures as Lucy had died ten years earlier.
One year, my fellow Paper Mill Lucy lovers threw a Lucy Party with me as guest of honor. We had a ‘favorite episode’ contest (the winner: “The Operetta”) and dined on spaghetti cut with cuticle scissors and biscuits pitched from the kitchen (”Ethel! Let’s have those biscuits”).
The above Lucy lights were a wonderful gift from Nancy and Susie, the hostess (who did not, sadly, wear Ethel’s hostess pants).
Over the years, people have given me many lovely Lucy items, and I also invested quite a bit of money in collectibles myself. But eventually it came time to downsize (I moved to a trailer and had medical costs from a brain biopsy) and I had to part with most of my collection.
One summer day, I took a table at the popular Collingwood Flea Market but I couldn’t decide what to call my little Lucy Shop in the field.
When I began writing for BroadwayWorld one of my first reviews was a book about Lucille Ball. Read the full review:
Which brings us up to this blog. I always remember how Betty White, through tears, eulogized Lucille Ball in 1989:
“I loved Lucy.”
Doesn’t everyone?
Papermoon Loves Lucy 
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