Saturday 28 June 2008

A Different Bob

No, this isn't about Uncle Bob, my next-door neighbour who sold a skunky pinto to a stranger. This is about a long-time colleague at my newspaper who recently retired after forty years in the Production Department. We put together a fake newspaper all about Bob. I wrote a little article about his fictitious life before his newspaper career, and included Photoshopped versions of him in his 'fabulous' roles. I'm sure he won't mind if I repeat my story here:

Whatever Happened to Bob Greenfield?

Long gone are the days when Robert Greenfield's handsome visage graced the front pages of every newspaper and magazine in the country. Many wonder what this Renaissance man had been up to in the last forty years.

This persistent journalist was fortunate to run into Mr. Greenfield at a local g
arden centre. After much persuasion, Bob agreed to a brief interview. By chance, he happened to have in his possession a fine collection of photographs depicting his glorious past.

Today, he sits on the other side of a battered Formica table at the local Tim Horton's, a cup of coffee cradled in his big hands.

He wasn't always the statuesque specimen he is today. He once enjoyed a lucrative apprenticeship in the Sport of Kings. Yes, folks, he was a jockey. At Saratoga Springs, he started out cleanin
g stalls and soon moved up to apprentice rider. As a youth, he was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time when famed horseman Red Pollock failed to show for a race. Ready in a flash, Bob rode the intrepid Seabiscuit to victory in a key race.

After an unfortunate growth spurt, Mr. Greenfield hitchhiked from Saratoga to the City of Angels, hoping to find his fortune in Hollywood.

Always the lucky dude, he was discovered by the famous agent Duke Diggem while shopping for vegetable seeds at one of California's first garden centres. Diggem signed him on the spot.
Greenfield promptly landed a plum role opposite Debbie Reynolds in the Oscar-winning "Please Don't Eat The Tomato Plants." At
the same time, he starred in the tense detective drama "For Madame With Malice."
His blockbuster year earned him two Oscars.



Bob buried himself in his roles, often performing his own stunts. He kept in shape by participating in various sports like boxing and ice hockey.

He even used his residual funds to finance a trip to Nepal, where he successfully scaled Mount Everest.

His fame and fortune quickly preceded him wherever he went. Whether on the red carpet at a
movie premiere or during dinner at The Longhorn Steakhouse, crowds gathered to ask for autographs. Blinded by flashbulbs and numbed by generous offers to father many babies, Bob found public life increasingly difficult.

When he saw the Hel
p Wanted advertisement in the Era, he gleefully took the welcome plunge into anonymity. For forty years, he quietly produced the pages of the local newspaper, relieved that he was no longer in its headlines. And he's been there ever since.

I finally ask him, "So, Mr. Greenfield, what have you
been up to?"

"Well," he replies in his low drawl, "I kept pretty busy clicking buttons, looking at my computer, going home for a lovely lunch prepared by Mother, and collecting coffee money." He grins. "That is, until today."

7 comments:

laughingwolf said...

lol ...well done, sandrta :)

Bernita said...

This is charming, Sandra!

BernardL said...

He must have loved it.

Daisy Dexter Dobbs said...

What a wonderful and very clever tongue-in-cheek tribute you crafted, Sandra!

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm glad you discovered the joys of The Court Jester! :-)

Sandra Cormier said...

Bob indeed loved it. However, I didn't get a byline, so I ran around the party telling everyone I wrote it. I must have looked like a self-promoting idiot, but they all know I'm a writer so I'll be forgiven.

Yo, Daisy! Danny Kaye rocks!

Kanani said...

WONDERFUL!
I'm sure he enjoyed this. I know I did. I'll pass it on to some friends at the paper.

We said good bye to a great journalist yesterday. It's over on my blog.

Sandra Cormier said...

Feel free to share, Kanani, but don't forget it's all made up! Except for the part about collecting for the coffee fund, of course.