Robert Taylor vs Robert Taylor

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Technorati Tags: And this is Robert Taylor

It's late on a Friday night & I've just finished an entertaining comparison on who might play Robert Taylor on a discussion board at: Robert Taylor Movie Star.

I just had to show everyone the Robert Taylor of today, as opposed to THE oh-so-famous Robert Taylor of classic movie fame. What if ... what if there WERE a movie being made of his life, based, of course, on my book, "Reluctant Witness: Robert Taylor, Hollywood, & Communism?" What if?

Who do YOU think should play the young Bob? Just look at these photos. Add the widow's peak to the young Robert Taylor--and, truthfully, the young man's name IS Robert Taylor. He has similar coloring, dark hair, piercing eyes (we'd have to do blue contacts, but that's no big deal) ... and he IS an actor.

So think about it. It's a fun exercise.

Happy weekend, folks. I'm Famous at 54 because I wrote Reluctant Witness: Robert Taylor, Hollywood, & Communism, a book on one of Hollywood's most handsome actors of all times ... & it was a blessing to me to be able to do so.

Robert Taylor here, the young one, he's famous because--1. He's an actor; 2. He has a resemblance to that OTHER Robert Taylor; 3. He lives with the same name as one of Hollywood's most handsome actors of all times; and 3. He could just possibly pull off playing THE MAN himself.

If you saw him in person, you'd surely know what I mean....

It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Francis Scott Key lives in a neighborhood right down the road apiece from mine. Let me amend that. He resides in this nearby neighborhood … well, yes, I can say he resides there. I looked up the word, and it does say, “To be inherently present,” so knowing that Francis Scott Key is inherently present in every inch of his current—and permanent—neighborhood, he does reside there. In fact, there’s a grand statue of him, welcoming you to his home, as soon as you enter the gated community called Mt. Olivet.



Lots of individuals reside in this peaceful, attractive, well-kept neighborhood nestled in between the city’s minor league baseball park—named, appropriately, Francis Scott Key Stadium; with the team, of course, called the Keys—and on its other side … another neighborhood, not as old, not as stately, but still with many locals to call it home.



Francis Scott Key is famous because he incited a passion in the masses. We could all learn a lesson from him. He was in the midst of a country in battle, a civilian, when he heard that a friend had been taken prisoner by the British as they invaded Washington in 1814. Key was determined to do what he could to help. No less than the President of the United States agreed to allow him to be a part of the solution, and Key was placed upon a frigate called, appropriately, The Surprise, in the Baltimore Harbor. Fort McHenry
was visible and Key’s emotions overtook him. An attorney and burgeoning writer, he penned, “The Star Spangled Banner” and the rest, as the story always goes … is history.

And history is what you find when you roam the streets of Frederick, Maryland. Francis Scott Key wasn’t born in this town, but he was born nearby, in a more rural area called, again appropriately, Keymar. Yet it is here, in town, where so very much of his lasting legacy still resides.

Indeed, this city is his neighborhood, yet his closest neighbors are folks in the
Mt. Olivet Cemetery who have not necessarily received the fanfare which followed him into eternity.



For example, we have Minnie C. Dukehart, born on March 28, 1860—can you imagine?!—and died January 5, 1906. Minnie was on this earth for 46 years. In 1870, she lived in Baltimore with her parents and her brother, Eugene. Her dad was a railroad conductor. In 1900, just six years before she passed away, she lived on Fayette Street in Baltimore. Her dad had died, and she was still with her mother and brother. It appears Minnie never married, never had children, so how did she end up in Frederick?

Everyone has a story to tell, and everyone is famous because of their story.

Then there was Merle B. Bantz. Merle was born 1859, and in 1870, he lived with his parents—his mother kept the home fires burning while his dad was a well-to-do tanner. He had two siblings, he worked as a clerk in a local store, and the family had a “domestic,” which means, indeed, they were doing well enough to have live-in help. Merle moved to Winchester, Virginia at eighteen, and became a noted shoe salesman, well-respected in his field. His mother continued to live in Frederick and it’s likely that since his family home was here, this is why he was buried here when he died of spinal meningitis on March 14, 1899.



And guess what? I didn’t know it ‘til I did a very nominal amount of research, but Merle was related to Minnie. It appears they were cousins.

So it is that Minnie is famous at 150, Merle is famous at 151 … and I’m famous at 54. We’re all famous. We all have stories to tell—whether we make a permanent, well-publicized mark, like Francis Scott Key, or we make a quiet yet still important mark, like shoe salesman, Merle Bantz. I encourage everyone to tell their stories, to tell the stories of their family, and to tell any and every story that peaks their interest. As Thomas Carlyle was known to have said, and I never stop repeating, “History is the essence of innumerable biographies.” We need to record every last little bit of it whenever we have the chance.

Be famous … tell your story. Write it here, in fact, in the comments section. I’d love to read about you, about your family, about those people who inspire you. Why? Because we’re all famous. Really, we are.