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Sweet Tea, June Lockhart, and Me 
2004 Dragon Con Convention
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You really haven't lived until you've ridden through the South in a huge tour bus with the word "romantica" emblazoned on the side. A word, company founder Jaid Black has trademarked. My hat is still off to EC's Crissy Brashear who drove that monster almost all the way to Atlanta. I sat next to her for most of the trip, only because the cab of the bus was as cold a meat locker. Being its maiden voyage they still weren't sure how everything worked. Everyone else sat in the back and froze even with blankets. We wondered for hours why there were bells going off, from God knows where, for no apparent reason. It seemed before we knew it we were in the land of Southern accents, where "sweet tea" rules. I'm sorry, but "sweet tea" is just sweet "iced" tea. What IS the big deal? Please explain to this Yankee. Stopping at one of the many general store/gas stations in Tennessee, the entire gang piled out. I got back into the bus after I paid the cashier for my postcards. Jaid Black came in after me laughing. She related to me that the cashier said to her "That boy sho' do got it goin' on, don't he?!" It's nice to be appreciated in the land of "sweet tea". We made our way through downtown Atlanta, which was no easy feat in that 40 foot bus. The Marriott Marquis Hotel was our destination and it was beautiful. There were already some Sci-fi types (green and orange hair) hanging around when we got there. When
the convention finally got into full swing I came down the escalator
only to see a sea of Star Wars Storm Troopers in the lobby. There
must have been a thousand of those white, plastic suited commandos.
They all seemed to be having a ball. The
EC staff was set up in one of the main rooms of the hotel. I think
we were all a little overwhelmed by the thousands of people who
stopped by our booth. A woman stood in front of me looking at the books and looking at me for the longest time. I finally said "That's me...on the cover." She looked again and said "No, it's NOT! That guy's perfect!" I gasped and choked a little and said "YES, it is...." She once again shook her head and said "No, it isn't...." Luckily for me, Lani Aames, one of the authors from my anthology was next to me and said "YES, that IS him!" The woman mumbled something about "airbrushing". She walked away and didn't buy a book! An elderly, white haired, Grandmotherly-type woman buzzed over to our booth in her motorized wheelchair. She had an armload full of novels and asked me "How many of these books have S&M in them? I can take a little, but not too much..." After I got over my initial shock I found someone to help her. The woman was thrilled that only one of her selections had the dreaded S&M in it. She also got to meet her idol, Jaid Black. It was a good day for ol' Granny. I told Jaid of my wish to meet June and Sybil. She also confessed she wanted to meet her dream man, Marc Singer of "Beastmaster" fame. So, arm in arm we fought through the throngs of humanity to the "Walk of Fame" where they were keeping all the "celebrities". It was there I spied June Lockhart. Be still my heart. She did look good and was very friendly. The man ahead of me was going through her catalogue of 8x10's. I heard June say "8x10's are $20 and I autograph them for free..." Autographs alone were $20! Then, she said "Hello!" to me. I said hello back and made a hasty retreat. Star struck, I guess. I didn't see any pix of June I liked for 20 bucks anyway, but I did meet her! (PS, Mark Goddard aka Don West, and Marta Kristen aka Judy, both from "Lost In Space" were next to June. They BOTH looked great. Mark has hardly aged at all.) I saw Dee Wallace Stone, the mother from the movie "E.T." and asked if I could take her picture. She said "I can't stop you, but if I say you can I have to charge you $20..." I said "OK" and as soon as I started to take the picture she conveniently turned her head. Nice profile, Dee. And, NO, I didn't pay her. Jaid Black and I made our way over to meet Gil Gerard and Erin Gray from the TV series "Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century". I was very surprised at Gil. I didn't recognize him at first. Erin was also not what I was expecting. They were also selling autographs for $20. Jaid did buy a "Buck Rodgers" DVD...autographed. Ca-Ching! I looked across the room and there I saw the Goddess, Sybil. She was standing there alone, for some reason. Dressed in skin tight black pants and top, she was still stunning. I said "Hello!" So, much for being star struck. The star of "Hercules", "Battle Beyond The Stars" and several Playboy pictorials said "YOU, are very HOT!" We chatted for a while and YES, I did buy an autographed photo. It reads "To my darling CJ, You are very hot! Love always, Sybil Danning". Could it be love? Jaid
was off meeting Marc Singer. He turned out be a very nice guy and
still holding his own in the looks department. We also met Lorenzo
Lamas, who has incredible skin, but was thinner than I expected,
and we are almost the same age. Cover
hunk Cherif Fortin showed up at the convention and we hung out for
a while. The place was full of interesting sites. There were a lot
of men in kilts: Denim kilts, plaid kilts, leather kilts. And too
many people in spandex that had no business in it. Our weekend was over before I knew it and the entire Partridge family, I mean EC gang piled back into that freezing bus as another of our madcap misadventures had come to and end. The next week after we got back the whole office was sick with colds. I told them it was from that damn sub-zero temperature in the bus. I managed to stay healthy and avoided illness. I bet David Cassidy never had these problems?
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