And Now . . . The Rest of the Story

by Bob Sparrow

A nod to Paul Harvey for using this headline, which was the introduction to his most enjoyable radio broadcast for many years, as well as the title of the book about him written by his son, but that’s for another blog. This blog is abut follow-ups and corrections to previous blogs.     

Stuck in Space

Stuck in Space was published last September, telling of the plight of two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who had planned to spend eight days in space and instead spent nine months.  Just last week, on March 18 at about 6:00 pm EDT, the Starliner spacecraft carrying them and their last pair of underwear, home, splashed down off the coast of Florida. Being in space that long takes a toll on both the body and the mind, so they will be under close observation for some time. In the mean time, they’ll get caught up on the ‘love fest’ that’s been going on between political parties. They’ll be happy they kept their distance.

It’s the Most Important Election of Our Lifetime . . . Again

In this blog, published a couple of months before last year’s presidential election, I sort of mocked the people who were saying that this was the most important election of our lifetime, citing that this phrase has been used throughout history for almost every election.  As it turns out, no matter what side of the aisle you are on, it may not be THE most important election of our lifetime, but it could be one of them . . . we shall see! 

The Incredible Life of Don the Beachcomber

Published in October of last year, this title apparently should have read The Incredible Life of Donn Beach, according to the following comments left by ‘Andy’.  I don’t know Andy or where he’s from, but he is clearly a Don the Beachcomber aficionado.

A bunch of inaccuracies, I believe. You say “there really was a “Don the Beachcomber” as if that was his adopted name, but that was the name of the restaurant, not the man. He changed his name to “Donn Beach” with two n’s (misspelled throughout). His original first name was “Ernest”, not Earnest as you have written. Also, his first restaurant did not have a kitchen, that didn’t come until 1937 when he moved down and across the street to a bigger location. And I think it was called “Beachcomber Cafe” but I have seen other claims.

Admittedly, this is a difficult topic to research, as the internet is rife with contradictions. Your commenter from a few weeks ago, Cindi N, surely knows most of the facts, and her book on Sunny Sund was fabulous. I believe a definitive biography of Donn Beach is coming out later this year.

The biography Andy refers to above may be the preview I saw at the Newport Film Festival that inspired the blog

A Most Unusual and Brilliant Desert Denizen

There was also a correction to this blog about Einstein and the two places he stayed while in Palm Springs, which was published just last month.  This correction came from long-time good friend and neighbor, Bob Baldwin.  He correctly pointed out that the original tower of the El Mirador still stands on the site of the original hotel, but that site is now part of the Desert Regional Medical Center.  I did visit both that El Mirador site and the Willows Hotel site. When outside the gated Willows, there is a phone to call the receptionist inside, which I did and told her that I wrote a blog about Einstein’s stay there and was hoping I could come in and take a look around, maybe see the Einstein room. Nope, apparently my IQ and my net worth were not high enough.

As Suzanne and I have often said, we do not let the truth stand in the way of a good story, but we always appreciate our reader’s comments and corrections. (OK, Suz, was that just another lie?)