Tearful Old Men

Harry had a gigantic fan club. This is Denise and their daughter Casey. He spent pretty much his whole adult life working on the carnival. He dodged my camera for a long time but finally gave in around the time this baby was born. Babies give you a whole new perspective. Harry died of a heart attack in Alabama, in September of 2008. Or was it 2007? I can't remember now but I remember very clearly being the one who inadvertently told Pops. It was three days later. I assumed he knew.

Some of you may already know this but for anyone who hasn't had the experience - when you accidentally tell an eighty-year-old man that someone he loves has died - he's going to cry. And so are you. And so is anyone else who happens to be there.  Doesn't matter how big a bad ass they are. Tearful old men: one of the world's great equalizers. Rest in peace Harry.

Call me in the morning

Leo

Ring of Fire

 

 

  

Backside

John Strong's sideshow tent at the Tennessee State Fair 2003

Second Shift

Jojo, getting ready for work in the dunk tank; Tennessee State Fair

Crazy Mouse with Roses

DC

The Wait

John Strong's sideshow tent

Every once in a while you used to be able to find sideshow banner artist John Hiner holding court inside this tent. He'd been friends with John Strong forever and In later years he repainted or touched up some of the old sideshow banners visible in this photograph although according to him they weren't his best or most notable work. Once John stopped painting entirely, someone else came along and finished what he wasn't able to.

He admired my photo vest one year (2006) and we agreed that if I would send him one he'd paint me something. His choice. It's important to note that John wasn't feeling all that well at the time, he was sober but ailing. I knew the chances of my getting a painting were slim. I couldn't afford to buy him a vest but I wanted to believe it might magically turn into an original John Hiner sideshow banner. Whether it was on canvas or painted on a pizza cardboard didn't really matter so one day before Christmas I spontaneously tossed a black vest on the counter at the camera store and mailed it off to John's mom Dorothy's apartment. Then I waited. After a few weeks I called him on the telephone only to find out that the package never reached him.

We talked one other time a couple of years after that. He was staying somewhere near his brother in a place where they had asked him not to use the phone. I was so pleased to be the person he thought of in that moment. Not only was he using the phone but long distance for an hour and fifteen minutes! It was glorious to hear from him but somehow I knew it would be the last time.

John Hiner died in his home town of Indianapolis on February 7, 2010. He was sixty-one.The John Strong Circus is still very much at large, playing at Coney Island and other venues. We'd love to give them a shout in fact, wish them all the best. Their last date at the Tennessee State Fair was (if I'm not mistaken) in 2007. If I am mistaken - someone will correct me eventually.

One in Wins

This is Stephen. We've been seeing each other once a year for about eighteen years or something like that. He's very, very good at what he does. A lot of people walk up to his joint assuming he's going to try to rip them off. It takes him about six seconds to change their minds.

Ten years ago today

The crew of the Dream Machine takes a few minutes to reflect on the days events; September 11, 2001

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I woke up in the doghouse of the Skywheel at the Tennessee State Fair.  It was cool and damp as it always seems to be that time of year and I remember sitting up in the hammock and wishing for a clean pair of socks before heading out with my camera to Gracie's cookhouse for roll call. The early risers were already there Lefty, T.J. Smitty, Wayne Kunz.

Always cheerful in the morning, Lefty poured me a big cup of coffee. I handed him a dollar and sat down at the nearest table. A small television situated on the counter, rattled off the morning news and traffic reports. They were showing the national radar when the first newscaster broke in. In the minutes that followed we didn't know what we were looking at. After that no one could believe it.

Hardly anyone came out to the fair that day. At seven o'clock in the evening, right after the lights on the midway had been turned on, all the ride jocks stopped their rides and stood facing the Skywheel for a few minutes in a mutual show of respect to those whose lives had changed forever that morning, while we were all at roll call.

Observations

North American Midway Entertainment's Century Wheel sits unadorned at the top of the hill in Nashville, just a couple of days before the 105th kickoff of the Tennessee State Fair

Only yesterday I had a conversation with a gentleman about how dismal most media coverage is of state and county fairs throughout the country. A long history of Google news alerts would indicate that news and feature stories about the fair usually fall into three categories: ride safety and/or rigged games, background checks for carnival workers, and what I like to call - the cotton candy story. This includes a wide range of feel-good topics covering everything from blue-ribbon Pygmi goats to deep fried butter. They are rarely original, much less creative.

Fortunately, the Hutchinson (Kansas) News missed the memo.
Two entertaining and worthwhile reads here:

Cab driver's a waiter - as in waiting for fair customers by Kathy Hanks

And, the much lighter yet still interesting: Overheard at the fair

Willie

Blizzard

Scooter

Water

Yo Yo +

Carnival Junkie

There's a long story I want to write on this page. It's very nostalgic, a true story filled with love and sadness, humor and history and all of the things that make human beings wonderful. The thought of writing it makes me get all clenched up and tearful and much as I'd like to start the morning off with half a box of Kleenex, there's a carnival in town parked over at the fairgrounds. It is set up day and the show opens tomorrow. So the story, the words anyway, will have to wait.