“Yes,” said Walt Disney to the speechless woman, “I do.”

Walt may have surprised the woman in line, but to May and his Disneyland co-workers during the Park’s early years, Walt’s presence was a regular—and often unpredictable—occurrence. In fact, he would often appear and be gone as soon as he learned what he wanted.

“I was testing the Skyway one morning soon after the installation of the new cabins” May recalls. “I was watching them come in when Walt appeared and asked how they compared to the old models. I said that they were much better, and that our line was moving much more quickly. He said, ‘That’s why we spent the extra money,’ and then he was gone.”

“That was just his way,” explains May. “Most of the time he would walk through the Park alone—no security or anyone with him—with his hands in his pockets and his hat brim pulled down low. It was his way of getting a feel for how people were reacting to his park, and finding out what could be done to improve the show.”

Disneyland employees who worked in the Main Street area would often be the only ones with any advance notice of Walt’s visits. That clue was always his big grey Lincoln, which he parked backstage near his private apartment above the Disneyland Fire Station.

Many times he would use the apartment to spend the night in his Park. On those occasions, it was not uncommon to see him walking down Main Street after closing time, coffee pot in hand, en route to a casual meeting with the late-night cleaning crew to fill them in on his latest trip or project.

“Walt was so aware of people, so aware of quality,” stresses May. He gave the final approval on everything–from major construction projects right down to the portions served in the employee cafeteria. He could do this because he cared so much for everybody and everything at the Park.”

It was this facet of Walt’s personality that caught May’s attention, and more than any other, has stayed with him through his own career over the years: Walt’s desire to give the public what they wanted, and his insistence that they always came first.

“I was in charge of the Rafts one day,” May remembers, “and here came Walt through the area on one of his walks. As he was passing, a man recognized him and, after running to catch him, grabbed him firmly by the upper arm. Before Walt could utter a word, the man literally dragged him over to where his wife and child were sitting and said, ‘Here, Walt, I want my kid to meet you.’ And Walt knelt down in front of that little boy and made over him like he was the only child in the world.

“Walt really loved this park,” concludes May. “For him, it was nothing but a labor of love.”

- Originally published in the Disney News Magazine, Fall 1988 (Volume 23, Number 3). A Portion of it was also used in Howard Green’s wonderful book Remembering Walt (Hyperion 1999, page 44). Copyright TWDC. All rights reserved.

Read Joshua 1-4

Some stories recall triumph and victory. Others evoke hardship, brokenness and pain, and leave us wondering “if only, if only…” But all stories have at least one thing in common: they take us to a place in time – sometimes to a time before our own – to experience a moment, learn a lesson, or examine a decision.

God uses stories to teach us His truth.

Joshua knew all the stories. He was God’s handpicked successor to Moses. He’d stood beside his mentor to celebrate the triumphs over Pharaoh, and mourned the willful disobedience of the people. Because of his faithfulness, he was chosen to lead the new generation into the Promised Land. Just as significantly, he was instructed to tell the stories – stories he had witnessed and heard – so that the people would remember God’s mercy and grace, and His great love for them.

The Israelites must have had mixed emotions as they looked across the Jordan River. The joy of seeing God’s promise about to come true filled them with excitement, and yet their anxiety was most likely at an all-time high. Taking the land and conquering its inhabitants would not be an easy task. But if Joshua had learned anything over the years, it was to obediently follow God’s word. So while the people rested, he made final preparations.

Imagine some of the conversations as the people looked across the Jordan to the Promised Land.

When three days had passed, Joshua called everyone together. The night before he’d said that the Lord would do great wonders among them, and his instructions that morning were more specific as he reminded them of God’s wonderful promises. When the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant into the river – he told them – the water would part, and everyone would cross the riverbed on dry land. The people were amazed. They had heard the miraculous story of the Red Sea crossing. Now they were about to live it for themselves.

When the crossing was completed, Joshua instructed one man from each tribe to select a stone from the middle of the Jordan and construct a monument in their camp. An identical pile was created in the riverbed. When these memorials were completed, Joshua made sure there was no confusion regarding their significance.

“When your children ask, ‘what do these stones mean?’” he instructed simply, “tell them the story of what happened here, and about the power of the Lord.”

Stories continue to serve a vital function in our lives. Through them, we learn vastly more than we could ever experience alone. And yet we must constantly remind ourselves to listen closely, for – much like the Israelites – we are a forgetful people. If we ignore the stories, we will probably miss out on some essential truths that God is trying to teach us.

What great stories have you heard or experienced lately?

Who are YOU going to tell them to?

I was a corporate speechwriter in a past work life, so writing books for others was a smooth and logical transition for me. Why? I’d become adept at writing in voices besides my own.

But even if you haven’t written speeches or scripts, you can do it. All you need is skill, a collaborative spirit, an open mind, and a good ear. Oh…and an assignment.

Need more encouragement?

Here are five good reasons to become a ghost:

1. People with good book IDEAS outnumber good writers at least ten to one (no hard data here, just a gut feeling based on dozens–possibly hundreds–of conversations with prospective “authors”), and the world is full of subject matter experts who can’t write to save their intelligent souls. This translates to potential job security for you, a person who CAN write.

2. Good writers write to learn. As John McPhee has said, “the fresh eye is a distinct asset.” Ghostwriting for a subject matter expert in a genre outside your own will broaden your experience and personal knowledge, which may expand the market for your own work.

3. Publishers don’t care who writes the book. They just want it to be written so they can package, market and sell it. Publishers keep lists of “can-do” writers, women and men who have proven to deliver the goods. If you make it onto one or more of these lists, you can celebrate Reason 1 above.

4. Writing a book for/with a subject matter expert automatically gives you a partner in the process. Your collaborator may not have your writing chops, but they WILL have passion for the subject AND getting the work to market. One improves the final product, and the other drives the process to completion.

5. Finally, learning the structure and process of producing a book manuscript–and how the publishing world operates–while writing for someone else will absolutely help you when you pitch your own book projects.

That said, your work needs to be good…but that’s a given for ALL of your writing.

- Craig

“If a person saying he was something was all there was to it, this country’d be full of rich men and good-looking women. Too bad it isn’t that easy. In short, when someone says you’re a writer, that’s when you’re a writer…not before.”

Good advice. But where do you find some “someones” who count?

A few years ago, I entered my first feature-length screenplay in five reputable contests. All things considered, it fared well. The PAGE awards chose it as a Semi-Finalist in the Drama category, and three others (including Scriptapolooza) rated it as a Quarter-Finalist. These honors gave me the inalienable right to do, well, pretty much do what I just did.

Boast about it a little.

No studio deal, no sack of cash flung toward my front door from a passing stretch limo…just some very limited bragging rights.

But was my experience limited as well?

In retrospect, I don’t think so. At the very least, a writing contest guarantees that your work will be read by others, and that’s at least part of the goal, right?

The best part of any writing contest is that none of the readers know you from Adam or Eve, which guarantees some level of honest assessment. Sure, a reader may have a hidden agenda, hate your log line, or love slasher films (when the only knife in your script is used to spread Camembert sensuously across French bread), but so what?

Their coverage will–at the very least–balance out the biased input from family and friends who suggest that walking on water would be a snap for someone with your writing chops.

Quite frankly, I re-read that first screenplay recently, and was surprised it fared as well as it did!

So until the studios come calling (or emailing, or…whatever studios do when they like stuff), I’ll be satisfied with the judgment of several astute contest readers who — by virtue of their positive reaction to my work — consider me a writer.

(adapted from an earlier blog post on “Get it. Got it. Good.”)

Richard “Dick” Lane was born in Rice Lake, Wisconsin on May 28, 1899. After early success as an announcer and emcee (and as an “iron jaw” act in various circuses…an odd occupation for such a gifted talker), he came to Broadway in 1928, where he appeared in the long-running comedy Present Arms. In 1930, he appeared in the Vanderbilt Revue alongside eventual film and radio co-star Joe Penner (the subject of my Wanna Buy a Duck? website, where you’ll find plenty of info, video & photos of Lane).

Lane made his film debut beside Bob Hope in the 1935 comedy Shop Talk, and following 110 stage performances of George White’s Scandals of 1936 (where he appeared with Bert Lahr, Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards and Rudy Vallee, among many others), it was off to Hollywood for good.

In this rare autographed photo from the set of RKO’s 1938 feature I’m From the City, Dick Lane (third from right) receives a birthday cake from star Joe Penner. Also in the shot to the left of Penner are (l to r) director Ben Holmes, Kay Sutton and Lorraine Krueger. Co-star Kathryn Sheldon is on the far right. Check out stuntman/gorilla performer (yes, you read that correctly) Charles Gemora’s sketch of himself at far left.

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Starting with RKO’s New Faces of 1937 (where he portrayed a conniving stockbroker opposite Milton Berle), he appeared in six of Joe Penner’s feature films, as well as on the comedian’s CBS radio program, The Park Avenue Penners. In the 1947-48 season, he starred as Oliver Anderson in his own syndicated radio series, The Anderson Family (to stream or download an episode, click HERE).

Frequently cast as a fast-talking con-man, carnival barker or grifter, he was also at home in roles on the good side of the law. From 1941 (when Penner passed away) to 1949, he portrayed Inspector Farraday in thirteen Boston Blackie program pictures for Columbia Studios. He also was cast as a baseball coach in The Babe Ruth Story, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and The Jackie Robinson Story.

Lane was born with the gift of gab, and could keep up a steady patter with the best in the business. By the late 1940s, he’d largely returned to his first love, the announcer’s booth, both in film roles and the new medium of television.

Dick Lane at work in the KTLA broadcast booth

As Dick Lane, he is perhaps best known to 1950s and 1960s Los Angeles sports fans as the ubiquitous broadcast voice of wrestling, roller derby (The Los Angeles Thunderbirds) and midget auto racing, among many other sports. He was a regular on The Spade Cooley Show, and his work for station KTLA’s weekly variety show, Dixie Showboat, earned him an Emmy nomination in 1951. He is also fondly remembered for his Chevrolet commercials, where he slapped the fenders of the cars to accentuate his sales pitch.

He frequently used the phrase “Whoooaaah, Nellie” to punctuate the action on his wrestling and roller derby broadcasts, and it was soon adopted by a young Keith Jackson. To his credit, Jackson has always attributed the phrase to Lane.

Dick Lane made his final film apearance in Kansas City Bomber (1972), starring Raquel Welch.

For two brief recordings (and a really bad screen capture photo) of Lane in the broadcast booth (including a terrific “Whoah, Nellie” at a “Gorgeous George” wrestling match), click HERE for a brief article with two Dick Lane audio/video links.

Here’s a short scene from The Day the Bookies Wept, starring Joe Penner. That’s Lane on the left:

For a video clip featuring Lane and Penner from I’m From the City, click HERE.

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Lane died on September 5, 1982 in Newport Beach, California. He was inducted into the Southern California Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2002.

(adapted from an earlier blog post on “Get it. Got it. Good.”)