Thursday, March 13, 2008

Davy, Davy Crockett...

Yee-haa!!! I'm Carl, the greatest blogger that ever sat in front of a computer screen! I'm half-horse, half- alligator, with just a touch of snappin' turtle! I can ride a streak of lightning, outgrin a hailstorm, shoot a rifle ball through the moon, and whip my weight in wildcats!!!

Well, do you really think I can do all that? Maybe not, but there was one American who said he could--the great Davy Crockett! He was the one who said all that (except the blogging part!) and, tarnation, I believe he could have done it! I'm writing about Davy today because I did a Heroes program about this true-life hero last Tuesday. He told a lot of tall tales about himself, which made him famous, but his real life was as great an adventure as any of his stories. He was born in 1796 to a poor backwoods family, had only 100 days of formal education in his whole life, and failed at every business he ever attempted, including farming. Yet this poor backwoodsman was elected to Congress three times, became a national celebrity, had magazines named after him, plays written about him, and he finally died a hero's death at the Alamo. The library has several copies of a book, Davy Crockett: Defender of the Alamo by William Sanford and Carl R. Green, that you ought to check out. Good information about the man behind the legend--and he really did live a larger-than-life story.

Davy told some very funny stories, especially about those about his being able to grin animals out of trees. His grin was so big and bright that critters, like raccoons, would just fall down dead into his sack--or his pot. Here's a picture of me as Davy and some kids from the program doing our best Davy Crockett grins.


Here's something new--a video! Here's Fess Parker, who played Davy in the great old Disney series, singing the famous theme song. (whole generations grew up singing this):



Click here to see a very funny video of the Kentucky Headhunters singing the same song.

OK, my friend Alan Silberberg, the Pond Scum author, wrote me a couple of weeks ago and asked me (and Bill) to write 5 things about ourselves. Well, you've heard one today--I think Davy Crockett was one of the greatest Americans who ever lived.

PS--Bill is back. We'll tally the votes and hope to post them soon.


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