David Loehr’s First James Dean Fan Tribute Weekend (1998), more photos at the Gallery

Updated 8 March 1999 URL is http://our.tentativetimes.net/fanweek/folx2.html
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Fans Weekend at the James Dean Memorial Gallery, More Pictures

This couple had a relative who was helping clean a basement. The 1949 Fairmount High School Yearbook in a box of trash appears to have two signatues by James Dean. This book is for sale, but I don’t know who the couple are.

Here’s the 1949 debate club page. Of course some girl long ago could have written "Jimmie" in the yearbook, and I don’t know if he spelled it with the "ie" instead of the "y" when he was in high school. I know he spelled it "Jimmie" in the early elementary grades. (The couple who own the yearbook of course did not write the names. They just hope they are Jimmy’s writing.)

Here is the basketball photo from the 49 yearbook.

The box of trash also held this 1955 Fairmount H.S. yearbook with the photos of Jimmy when he came back in February 1955. He stopped at the Valentine dance, as you all know so well. This would have been a week after his last birthday. Maybe he was home for his birthday in 1955! Does anyone know? Possible Trivia Question??

Here;s a screen shot of Joe Schulte’s video of his home movie of Rebel Without A Cause. The picture isn’t really green. That’s a camera problem, photographing a video on a TV screen. Anyway, you recognize the police station scene with Joe playing Jim Stark. What fun! Kids, try this at home!

Carol Thailing from near Cleveland, Ohio brought framed Dean pictures to sell. Carol wouldn’t sell this Natalie Wood early photo. Carol’s mom had written to the studio to get this, when Natalie Wood was a new child star. Carol matted it in a pale pink. The photo is black and white.

Did you? Did you see him? He was in the show about James Dean that was on a cable TV channel Otto couldn’t receive. Bob Rees was interviewed in the same show. Did anyone tape it? Can you write about it for Otto? The show is called Strange Universe. Mark is a good lookalike!

Did you wonder if you have to shave wherever they are going to tattoo you? Well, this man said yes, he had to shave his arm before he got his tattoo. The face has a James above it and a Dean below it. This is on the arm of Mr. Lesniewski who has the Rebel Without a Carrot tee shirt on another page (not made yet.) Mary and her husband were both so glad to be here at the fan weekend. What if he had taken up bass fishing and she had gone in for lacemaking, and never the two had met? James Dean – a subject for everyone.

Here’s another baby fan. I wish someone would make baby shirts with James Dean on them, maybe his baby picture…. We keep the flame alive by finding new fans to carry on after we are gone. There isn’t a plush James Dean toy or a Beanie Dean-ie either. Hmmmm. A Deanie Beanie. There is a Beanie Princess Diana, and she and James had parallel lives.

Last but never least, two Fairmount residents, Tom Tucker and Phil Ziegler share memories in the gift shop. Phil gives tours at the Fairmount Historical Society Museum, where you also learn more about Jim Davis, Fairmount creator of Garfield, and Phil Jones, the ABC sportscaster. Adeline Nall taught Jimmy, Jim and Phil at Fairmount High School, and she was just as proud of the rest of her students too.

Links to Otto Pages

Want to go back to the Fan Week Index?

Otto’s big index of James Dean Pages
This year’s June event, the Dean-themed Rockabilly Rebel Weekend #6
See the Mercurys at the James Dean Run car show in Fairmount, Indiana. Info on how to register has been added.
Otto’s Roots Music Pages in Otto
You can go to the cover of Our Tentative Times any time.

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