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DICK'S BIOGRAPHY |
One does not become a MAD fanatic
just by coincidence. It has been proven that the condition is
genetic. It is part of the DNA, the RNA, the other NAs. Here is a look at my MAD life!
Physical life started
for me on August 30, 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio (HOME OF THE
TRIBE!!!). For the first couple of years, I was a very dysfunctional child. I
didn't walk, I didn't talk, I didn't smile. In fact, all I would do is lie there in a
motionless state, staring at the mobile fixed above my crib. Somehow, I still remember
that mobile and envisioning it as a blimp of some sort. The only thing I DID do was
to grow one tooth on the right front side of my mouth. I was a listless, hopeless sack of baby-blah.
That is until one day, in the fall of 1952, my Mom took me into a local book store. As she
carried around her jellyfish like offspring, she passed the comic book section of the
store and a sign that read "NEW!!!!" From then on, things began to change for me
quite quickly.
A little voice boomed from her baby bundle that almost made her jump out of her shoes! "MOMMY, BUY ME! MOMMY, BUY ME!" said the voice. She looked down and saw me wildly pointing at the new comic on the shelf that read MAD...#1. My face was a glowing smile, my body pounding with excitement. What an amazing sight! Yes, it was on this October, 1952 day that life REALLY began for me. The day MAD was born, and the day I was REborn. The picture above was taken on the very day Mom bought me a copy of the new MAD comic.
As I grew up, my family
moved from Cleveland to New Philadelphia, Ohio, a small town about 80 miles to the south.
My Dad had been transferred by the Warner & Swasey Company, and that meant we had to
relocate, or get rid of Dad. I voted to get rid of him, not because I disliked him, but
because I was worried that MAD Magazine would not be available in small town America. Dad,
being the wise man that he was, took a lunch hour and scoured the city of New Philadelphia
for a place to buy MAD. In his search, he found a place called Eddie's News Stand. It was
a sub street level store on the square of downtown New Philadelphia. Eddie assured my
father that MAD would always be available at his store. Dad phoned the information home,
and we immediately moved. Thank goodness for fathers (and for Eddies)!
Throughout my teen years, I continued my MAD lifestyle. I had a MAD shelf with all the MAD junk I could buy. The bust, the poster, even a letter from MAD telling me not to bother them anymore. My stack of MADs had grown to about 3 feet tall. Each issue was placed on the MAD shelf in order. On new issue day, I would pump my bike to Eddie's News Stand, and anxiously await the arrival of the magazine truck. When I brought the new issue home, there would be a formal ceremony officially making the new issue a part of my collection, a tradition which continues today.
I went to college at Western Kentucky University, a college about 8 hours away from home. Eight times a year, I would come home to go to Eddie's News Stand and get the new MAD. I chose to come home at these times rather than waste trips home on dumb stuff like Christmas and Easter. After graduation, I began my career in radio broadcasting, got married and had a child, Rich, who we will meet in a minute. My stack of MADs remained with me. However, in the shuffle of life's changes, somehow the MAD goodies disappeared, something that would cost me $$$ later. The stack of magazines was now about 4 1/2 feet high.
Today, the stack is taller
than I am. I have every issue, many of them from my Eddie's News Stand days. When the new
MAD comes out now, I always buy two issues. One is never opened. It is placed in the
special comic protector and put away. The other is the "reading issue" which is
kept next to the toilet. And the MADS go on! Even my dog Amanda (pictured at right) loves
to tie into a new issue of MAD Magazine. She wanted a subscription for Christmas, not so much for the MAD Magazine itself, but more
for the additional visit to the home by the friendly mailman, known to her as "Mr.
Mace".
I have worked for over 30 years in commercial radio broadcasting. Today, I work as an account executive at WJER Radio in Dover, Ohio. If only I could have amounted to something, like maybe an errand boy at MAD. Oh well, there's always the next life.
Son Rich, my one and only and
pictured here, didn't have the traumatic start to life that I did. After all, the first 3
years of MY life was a life without MAD. I am glad of that. He grew up knowing
the true meaning of life. He grew up knowing there was always a new MAD just a few weeks
away. Letting him have his own copy of MAD was something I always insisted on. Ya know,
they are only little once, and spoiling him with his own MAD is something that I will
never regret. I can only
hope that his education will take him into a super career, maybe even working at MAD
Magazine. A parent can only hope!
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