"Let that be a lesson. In the future, be more careful from whom you accept free lemonade."
One of the many famous Adam West quotes. As Batman, of course. On the TV show. Adam West 1929-2017.
My godfather, Fitz, managed the Windjammer Hotel at Gearhart, Oregon, in the 1960s. My dad had the advertising account and helped him get the job. The Windjammer, sadly gone from this location, had been The Sands of Gearhart at one time, but a new owner had come in and refreshed it all. There was a slightly curved main building, simple in its design, the lobby centered. A separate box of a building to the left for the restaurant, fine dining but no chicken (the owner didn't like chicken), and a separate glass building below the rooms, for the big swimming pool, and a mezzanine with a fireplace above, for the bored adults. The lobby was big with gold carpet, scattered with chairs, my mother in one pretending to read, in the brochure my dad made. Quite an elaborate brochure, us free family models posing. My favorite part was the defunct coffee shop, hidden across from the lobby, with its sunken bar, so the server would be level with the counter-sitters. All the dishes were still there and I got to play restaurant every time, serving my dad empty cups and cups of coffee.
Adam West was a frequent visitor to the Windjammer and he and Fitz became friends. We never seemed to time our visits when he was there, but I was always asking. My dad and I watched the TV show together all the time. Though my dad wasn't much on silly shows, certainly not on super-hero series, he liked seeing the old actors like Cesar Romero and Vincent Price playing the villains, and he liked the canted camera angles and "POW!" cartoon words coming at you.
On my seventh birthday there was a call for me in the kitchen of our Portland home. I took the harvest gold receiver from my mother and said "hi," uncertain, because I didn't get a lot of calls, and a voice said "Happy Birthday Martha. This is Batman." My stomach fell to the floor. I thought of the autographed Adam West head shot framed above my bed. Then I thought of the masked man in the TV show. And of Bruce Wayne and how I liked his voice as he issued trusted orders to Alfred and always attended his galas with a pretty woman on his arm. I didn't know what to say. But I will not forget that Batman called me. That Fitz must have been standing beside him, having dialed, with his usual infectious grin filled with love.
One of the many famous Adam West quotes. As Batman, of course. On the TV show. Adam West 1929-2017.
My godfather, Fitz, managed the Windjammer Hotel at Gearhart, Oregon, in the 1960s. My dad had the advertising account and helped him get the job. The Windjammer, sadly gone from this location, had been The Sands of Gearhart at one time, but a new owner had come in and refreshed it all. There was a slightly curved main building, simple in its design, the lobby centered. A separate box of a building to the left for the restaurant, fine dining but no chicken (the owner didn't like chicken), and a separate glass building below the rooms, for the big swimming pool, and a mezzanine with a fireplace above, for the bored adults. The lobby was big with gold carpet, scattered with chairs, my mother in one pretending to read, in the brochure my dad made. Quite an elaborate brochure, us free family models posing. My favorite part was the defunct coffee shop, hidden across from the lobby, with its sunken bar, so the server would be level with the counter-sitters. All the dishes were still there and I got to play restaurant every time, serving my dad empty cups and cups of coffee.
Adam West was a frequent visitor to the Windjammer and he and Fitz became friends. We never seemed to time our visits when he was there, but I was always asking. My dad and I watched the TV show together all the time. Though my dad wasn't much on silly shows, certainly not on super-hero series, he liked seeing the old actors like Cesar Romero and Vincent Price playing the villains, and he liked the canted camera angles and "POW!" cartoon words coming at you.
On my seventh birthday there was a call for me in the kitchen of our Portland home. I took the harvest gold receiver from my mother and said "hi," uncertain, because I didn't get a lot of calls, and a voice said "Happy Birthday Martha. This is Batman." My stomach fell to the floor. I thought of the autographed Adam West head shot framed above my bed. Then I thought of the masked man in the TV show. And of Bruce Wayne and how I liked his voice as he issued trusted orders to Alfred and always attended his galas with a pretty woman on his arm. I didn't know what to say. But I will not forget that Batman called me. That Fitz must have been standing beside him, having dialed, with his usual infectious grin filled with love.
