The Bootblack Stand
Plunkitt, George Washington
he appears determined to speak of nothing but "big things" which come off sounding very small. When Holden's wife finds out about his affair with Faye Dunaway, Holden tries to explain to her...
...I want to run for Congress, and why not on the slogan "Alger's Back" ? Would you lend me some counsel...
...In the fifties it was TV that broadcast such heartful, compassionate works as Marty and Bachelor Party...
...When Holden's wife finds out about his affair with Faye Dunaway, Holden tries to explain to her what is at work in his attraction for this unscrupulous woman...
...Dear Dr...
...To allow one to comment extensively on international relations during the Carter Administration could jeopardize national security...
...Have the former secretary of state comment only on those aspects of his diplomatic career in which his performance was truly remarkable...
...Perhaps you could show him expounding on a memorable Bavarian Cream Pie, while standing before a blown-up X ray of his large intestine...
...and I never did find the Lederhosen, much to my chagrin, for I was on my way to a movie about concentration camps in Chile and many were irate when I arrived without my Lederhosen...
...In the far-off yesterday I was just a suspected Communist and ex-con...
...I, being more of a centrist, feel he should contain his comments to traditional Republican matters of interest, like international sports events...
...Kissinger, which show him spilling out of his already capaciously cut suits, inspire a solution to your problem...
...My more liberal colleagues feel we should only ask the Republican former secretary of state to discuss those matters in which he was intimately involved, mainly the senseless bombing and maiming of countless thousands of innocent Vietnamese men, women, and children...
...Things are going your way now, and if the media continues to celebrate you, you may be able to wangle a Supreme Court nomination or even a position on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission...
...If you fail to act the Public Broadcasting Service is bound to...
...I recall a gorgeous spring morning in 1959 when I snagged my crew neck sweater on a nail on my front door and walked six blocks before a Good Samaritan informed me that all I had left was a very long piece of wool thread and a collar...
...On another occasion I almost did myself irreparable damage when I mistook my son's pet cobra for a pair of Lederhosen...
...After all we have scrupulously avoided hiring Republicans in our news division...
...Anyway now that I have been dealt a new hand I want to renew my public life...
...Kissinger's circumference expanded during his years of public service...
...Plunkitt: Life is like nothing I've ever seen before...
...That really happened...
...Schlosser: Recent pictures of Mr...
...As ever, Alger Hiss Dear Mr...
...I suspect they were disappointed, for I had told them so much about them...
...George Washington Plunkitt, our prize-winning political analyst, has accepted a staff position with the House Ethics Committee, but he has graciously consented to continue advising American statesmen in these times of troubles...
...Give this suggestion careful thought...
...Have you any suggestions...
...How absent-minded I am, but harmless, absolutely harmless...
...By the way I thought it cunning of your son Tony to describe you in his new book as an extremely "private" man...
...I know he would be eloquent on all sorts of important events from a towering tarte aufromagefrais to a sentimental c/sou rouge ~ la limousine...
...I am now a media superstar...
...Clearly television has taken a precipitous spill since the "golden age," but no less than Chayefsky, its critic...
...As your series continued you could feature historic NBC news clips showing how Mr...
...Address all correspondence to The Bootblack Stand, c/o The Alternative...
...Hee hee, the cobra was furious...
...Boy, that Mickey Spillane, he sure can write...
...Hiss: Relax, stick to your stamp collection...
...You could interview his tailor and even feature an exchange with his gastroenterologist...
...The reference to Tolstoy, on the other hand, just smacks of a sorry pitch for intellectual status...
...GWP 32 The Alternative: An American Spectator April 1977...
...Yours cordially, Herbert Schlosser President, NBC Dear Mr...
...The reference is obviously meant to be laughable, and fully is, while at the core being somewhat pathetic and revealing...
...Now people stop me on the street to tell me that they saw me on the Today Show and mention admiringly that it appeared I had forgotten to wipe the shaving cream from my face or that my shoes didn't match or that throughout the interview my coat collar was up and my fly was open...
...What I like about Mickey Spillane is he knows how to handle women...
...one lady threw up...
...Along the wordy way he brings in an analogy to Anna Karenina, which, of course, is very sophisticated...
...Ask him to reflect on the really superior p~ches cardinals he has known...
...Some people have a lot to be private about, eh Alger...
...In the climactic scene of Network, the Dunaway character is described as "TV incarnate" because she is heartless and unfeeling...
...Plunkitt: Now that we have signed Henry Kissinger to a 1.5- to 3 million-dollar contract to comment on international relations, there is some disagreement around here as to precisely what sorts of international issues he should deal with...
...In Marty the only literary references Chayefsky made were to Mickey Spillane...
...6 ~ Q ~ O ~ U O O D U t O O ~ O ~ O ~ 6 m m O ~ 8 O O 6 0 m Q Q I ~ I ~ U D m t O O U O O O I J . . . . D O ~ O I Q O O I 9 0 t ~ O g j ~ O ~ m Q O O 6 . . . . . O O ~ I p Q I . . . . O O p t O ~ B O . . . . ~ . . . . ~ . . . . O~D . . . . . ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . THE BOOTBLACK STAND Dr...
...GWP Dear Dr...
...I myself have heard him discourse ardently on mousse au chocolat, and let me assure you his remarks were intelligent and poignant...
Vol. 10 • April 1977 • No. 7
