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lAtTIRN NORTH
VOLUME 10
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1967
NUMBER 26
Time doesn’t march on, It
gallops. Thousands ot New
Bemlans felt Instantly older
when the announcement of
Shirley Temple’s bid for Con
gress mentioned that she will
be 40 her next birthday.
One of our pleasant screen
memories of Shirley Is the
tap dance she did with the
greatest of all hoofers, Bill
Robinson, affectionately known
to millions as ”Bo Jangles of
Harlem."
Bill, a Negro, was born In
Richmond, Va., and was a be
loved person In that dty. Each
year, on the date of his birth,
"Bill Robinson Day” was de
clared by Richmond’s Mayor,
and Robinson returned home to
entertain at children’s hospit
als.
This happened In the town that
describes Itself as "Down
Where The South Begins."
White people didn’t hate Bill,
and Bill didn’t hate white people •
And when 10,000 turned out for
his funeral in Harlem, there
were plenty of whites in the
throng.
Probably In these troubled
times, Robinson would be call
ed an "Uncle Tom” by some
members of his race. Even
so, he proved that a Negro with
talent and goodness in his heart
not only could succeed, but
earn recognition as a much
loved American.
We saw Bill Robinson only
once, in 1939, performing in
"The Hut Mikado" at the New
York World’s Fair. The man
was so obviously wholesome and
sincere that you took an Im
mediate liking to him.
Broadway knew him well as
the best tap dancer in the busi
ness. We night add that no
one before him, or since his
departure, ever challenged his
reign as the king of them all.
Eleanor Powell, whose own
nimble feet brou^t her movie
fame, learned her best steps
from Bo Jangles, and to this
day the finest compliment you
can pay any tapper Is to say
he is "almost as good" as
Bill Robinson was.
BIU went for the U^t touch.
He didn’t stomp the boards,
he caressed them. When we
saw him at the World’s Fair,
he danced In dose proximity to
a sensitive microphone, and
It picked up his beat like the
ticking of a watch.
Robinson was not only a su
perb dancer, but a far better
comedian than a lot of not so
funny guys who are around to
day. His wisecracks may have
been studiously rehearsed
(though we doubt It) but they
rippled as freely as a brook In
early spring.
During a "Mikado” monolo
gue, he told some of his World
War I experiences. Including
the opportunity offered him to
take a ride In an Army plane
while on overseas duty.
"Don’t bo afraid," said the
officer who offered him the ‘
trip, "you aren’t going to die
until It is your time to go.”
To which Bill replied, "I’ve
heard that before, but what if
it Is the pilot’s time to go?”
Robinson followed the same
line of reasoning, when he fell
flat on his face in the trenches
every time he heard the whine
of a shell headed In his
direction.
"The time to worry,” abuddy
(Continued on page 8)
CLOUD NINE—^That’s what Buzzy Holton was on,
quite a few seasons back, at the moment this scene
was snapped. Billie Slater, if we’re not badly mistaken,
is the winsome cheerleader embracing the exhausted
New Bern High school lineman, after a thrilling Bruin
victory. Buzzy, worn to a frazzle, appears to be drift*
Ing off into dreamland like a contented cat when he
swallows double-yolk mouse with a single expansive
gulp. Life being what it is, Buzzy and Billie went their
separate ways following graduation, both happily mar
ried to somebody else. In fact, this particular em
brace was probably a random thing, in the midst of
post-game excitement. At any rate, John R. Baxter,
who recorded the sight for posterity, came up with a
photograph that is as ageless in appeal as it is self-
explantoiy. We can’t resist sharing it with you.