Hayden in Hollywood - A Story for Bibliobloggers

My dad, Hayden Brentlinger, was born, raised, and lived most of his life in one small Missouri town. So it was no small thing when, in the the 30s, he left home for California to seek his fortune, like a lot of others from that part of the country during the "dust bowl" days. His destination - Hollywood!

And once in Hollywood he found work in one of the major motion picture studios, meeting stars such as Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, and the original Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller.

One day I asked daddy about his Hollywood days, wanting to learn more about this important story in our family's oral tradition: "Tell me, what did you do out there in Hollywood? What was it like working with those movie stars?"

"Well, Son, it was like this. I worked on a lot of Tarzan movies. My job was to stand by with a shovel. Every so often the director would stop the filming and yell, 'Brentlinger, bring your shovel. Tarzan's elephant needs a clean up.' And then I would run onto the set and start shoveling s _ _ _ ."

So bibliobloggers, on those days when the elephant visits your world (links that don't work, comments that miss the point, posts that fall flat, etc.), listen for direction:

"(Bird, McGrath, West, et al), Tarzan's elephant needs a clean up."

Then grab your shovel and get to work.