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THE PETEY GREENE STORY ON FILM
[Lurma Rackley wrote "Laugh If You Like" about Petey Greene, about whom
a movie is about to be released]
LURMA RACKLEY, WASHINGTON POST - Washingtonians of a certain era knew
Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene in his various life phases: as a raggedy kid
who could "play the dozens" better than anyone in 1930s black
Georgetown; as an often inebriated yet phenomenally funny young comedian
at "picnics" in Wilmer's Park; as a rapping, rhyming emcee at Lorton
Reformatory, where he served time for robbery; and finally as a
legendary broadcaster who charted new territory in straight talk and
community activism until his death in 1984 at age 53.
This week, moviegoers nationwide will be introduced to Petey's story in
"Talk to Me," starring Don Cheadle. I got to know Petey while we worked
on his memoir, "Laugh if You Like, Ain't a Damn Thing Funny," which I
published in 2004. To those of us who knew Petey, the movie will
challenge our memories (was it really Petey who calmed the city during
the 1968 riots?), will misrepresent facts (did he really bomb on "Johnny
Carson"?) and will ignore Petey's ultimate triumphs and his return to
the church. . .
But people will be talking about him, and for a man who enjoyed stirring
controversy as a means to an end, that was always the bottom line. Petey
would be delighted by the edgy panel discussions and debates the movie
has ignited. He would also approve of the more than 200,000 hits that
"How to Eat a Watermelon," his routine from the early 1980s, has
received on YouTube, spiking arguments about the N-word among the Dave
Chappelle generation. . .
In late 1981, Petey asked me to help him tell his life story. . . I
spent most of my time cracking up with laughter. He told me that he
honed his rapping, rhyming and "joning" skills as a preschool kid dead
set on taking the focus off his disadvantages. His father was in jail
more often than he was at home, and his mother had her own brushes with
the law. His beloved pipe-smoking grandmother Maggie Floyd, known as
A'nt Pig, instilled in him a fortitude and an optimism that carried him
through the worst of times in his personal life. From the age of 3,
Petey heard A'nt Pig say: "Boy, I know your mouth is gone get you killed
or get you rich one day. 'Cause you the talkingest damn boy I ever
seen.". . .
Not surprisingly for a biopic, [the movie] leaves out much of Petey's
story. Toward the end of his life, Petey began to step into his A'nt
Pig's full vision for him. He stunned his friends in 1979 when he
finally gave up binge drinking. In 1981, he was baptized by the United
House of Prayer's Bishop Walter "Sweet Daddy" McCullough. . . The movie
also overlooks the towering role that A'nt Pig played in Petey's life.
Yet she was the person he most wanted to honor through his life story.
That story ended too soon. In mid-1983, as I was starting to transcribe
my mountain of interview tapes, Petey was losing his battle with liver
cancer. An estimated 20,000 people lined up for his wake on a cold night
in January 1984, and 2,000 mourners packed the church for his funeral
the next day, with hundreds more outside. . .
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/06/
AR2007070601998.html
KATHRYN SINZINGER, COMMON DENOMINATOR - At his death, "Petey Greene's
Washington" was broadcast locally on Channel 20 and nationwide to 5.5
million homes in 53 cities by Black Entertainment Television. . . Greene
began his shows with a monologue and a trademark lead-in: "Well, let's
cool it now. Slide on in, adjust the color of your television, hole up
and get ready to groove with Petey Greene's Washington."
PETEY GREENE ON HOW TO EAT A WATERMELON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w7YPlGRX5w
LAUGH IF YOU LIKE
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1413432883/progressiverevieA/
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO, CELEBRATES WHATEVER HAPPENED 60 YEARS AGO
ELLIOT LEE SPEIGEL, ABC NEWS - In July 1947, something remarkable
happened outside Roswell, N.M., something that literally put the town on
the map. The debris is long gone, but the reverberations have never
stopped.
Was it an alien spaceship that crashed, killing its otherworldly
occupants? Or just a weather balloon? It depends on whom you ask or what
you read, and whether you believe them.
Enough people, however, believe the UFO story to warrant two
simultaneous festivals this weekend as Roswell, population 53,000,
celebrates the 60th anniversary of an event that etched Roswell into the
memories of the public.
Ten years ago, for the 50th anniversary of the Roswell incident, an ABC
News poll asked people what they thought of UFOs: "Are they something
real, or just people's imagination?"
Forty-eight percent of those polled said they were real, with 36 percent
saying they were imagined. From those who said they were real, 16
percent said they were likely to be alien spacecraft. . .
The one and only thing that absolutely everybody - believers, skeptics,
military and the U.S. government - agrees on is that in early July 1947,
something fell out of the sky and crashed on a ranch near Roswell,
leaving scattered debris. . .
One of the biggest problems with the Roswell scenario is that the
pro-alien authors and researchers vehemently disagree with one another
as to the actual timeline of events and eyewitness accounts.
But this weekend, all are welcome in Roswell as two separate festivals
pay tribute to the events of 1947.
"We've got alien hot air balloon rides, an air show, a huge carnival and
a number of bands playing music every day," said Roswell's Mayor Sam
LaGrone. "We also have an alien chase, where people dress up in alien
costumes for a 5k or 10k run/walk."
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3343905
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE PETEY GREENE STORY ON FILM
[Lurma Rackley wrote "Laugh If You Like" about Petey Greene, about whom
a movie is about to be released]
LURMA RACKLEY, WASHINGTON POST - Washingtonians of a certain era knew
Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene in his various life phases: as a raggedy kid
who could "play the dozens" better than anyone in 1930s black
Georgetown; as an often inebriated yet phenomenally funny young comedian
at "picnics" in Wilmer's Park; as a rapping, rhyming emcee at Lorton
Reformatory, where he served time for robbery; and finally as a
legendary broadcaster who charted new territory in straight talk and
community activism until his death in 1984 at age 53.
This week, moviegoers nationwide will be introduced to Petey's story in
"Talk to Me," starring Don Cheadle. I got to know Petey while we worked
on his memoir, "Laugh if You Like, Ain't a Damn Thing Funny," which I
published in 2004. To those of us who knew Petey, the movie will
challenge our memories (was it really Petey who calmed the city during
the 1968 riots?), will misrepresent facts (did he really bomb on "Johnny
Carson"?) and will ignore Petey's ultimate triumphs and his return to
the church. . .
But people will be talking about him, and for a man who enjoyed stirring
controversy as a means to an end, that was always the bottom line. Petey
would be delighted by the edgy panel discussions and debates the movie
has ignited. He would also approve of the more than 200,000 hits that
"How to Eat a Watermelon," his routine from the early 1980s, has
received on YouTube, spiking arguments about the N-word among the Dave
Chappelle generation. . .
In late 1981, Petey asked me to help him tell his life story. . . I
spent most of my time cracking up with laughter. He told me that he
honed his rapping, rhyming and "joning" skills as a preschool kid dead
set on taking the focus off his disadvantages. His father was in jail
more often than he was at home, and his mother had her own brushes with
the law. His beloved pipe-smoking grandmother Maggie Floyd, known as
A'nt Pig, instilled in him a fortitude and an optimism that carried him
through the worst of times in his personal life. From the age of 3,
Petey heard A'nt Pig say: "Boy, I know your mouth is gone get you killed
or get you rich one day. 'Cause you the talkingest damn boy I ever
seen.". . .
Not surprisingly for a biopic, [the movie] leaves out much of Petey's
story. Toward the end of his life, Petey began to step into his A'nt
Pig's full vision for him. He stunned his friends in 1979 when he
finally gave up binge drinking. In 1981, he was baptized by the United
House of Prayer's Bishop Walter "Sweet Daddy" McCullough. . . The movie
also overlooks the towering role that A'nt Pig played in Petey's life.
Yet she was the person he most wanted to honor through his life story.
That story ended too soon. In mid-1983, as I was starting to transcribe
my mountain of interview tapes, Petey was losing his battle with liver
cancer. An estimated 20,000 people lined up for his wake on a cold night
in January 1984, and 2,000 mourners packed the church for his funeral
the next day, with hundreds more outside. . .
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/06/
AR2007070601998.html
KATHRYN SINZINGER, COMMON DENOMINATOR - At his death, "Petey Greene's
Washington" was broadcast locally on Channel 20 and nationwide to 5.5
million homes in 53 cities by Black Entertainment Television. . . Greene
began his shows with a monologue and a trademark lead-in: "Well, let's
cool it now. Slide on in, adjust the color of your television, hole up
and get ready to groove with Petey Greene's Washington."
PETEY GREENE ON HOW TO EAT A WATERMELON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w7YPlGRX5w
LAUGH IF YOU LIKE
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1413432883/progressiverevieA/
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO, CELEBRATES WHATEVER HAPPENED 60 YEARS AGO
ELLIOT LEE SPEIGEL, ABC NEWS - In July 1947, something remarkable
happened outside Roswell, N.M., something that literally put the town on
the map. The debris is long gone, but the reverberations have never
stopped.
Was it an alien spaceship that crashed, killing its otherworldly
occupants? Or just a weather balloon? It depends on whom you ask or what
you read, and whether you believe them.
Enough people, however, believe the UFO story to warrant two
simultaneous festivals this weekend as Roswell, population 53,000,
celebrates the 60th anniversary of an event that etched Roswell into the
memories of the public.
Ten years ago, for the 50th anniversary of the Roswell incident, an ABC
News poll asked people what they thought of UFOs: "Are they something
real, or just people's imagination?"
Forty-eight percent of those polled said they were real, with 36 percent
saying they were imagined. From those who said they were real, 16
percent said they were likely to be alien spacecraft. . .
The one and only thing that absolutely everybody - believers, skeptics,
military and the U.S. government - agrees on is that in early July 1947,
something fell out of the sky and crashed on a ranch near Roswell,
leaving scattered debris. . .
One of the biggest problems with the Roswell scenario is that the
pro-alien authors and researchers vehemently disagree with one another
as to the actual timeline of events and eyewitness accounts.
But this weekend, all are welcome in Roswell as two separate festivals
pay tribute to the events of 1947.
"We've got alien hot air balloon rides, an air show, a huge carnival and
a number of bands playing music every day," said Roswell's Mayor Sam
LaGrone. "We also have an alien chase, where people dress up in alien
costumes for a 5k or 10k run/walk."
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3343905
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