American Pie

My closest living relative is my Uncle Pat. He’s a real character – always has been. Over the years Pat has had many varied and interesting jobs. A few that I can remember include gas meter reader, manager of men’s clothing store, bartender, heating and air conditioning contractor, maintenance of weather data collection equipment, radio disc jockey, several time Mayor of the small town where he lives and, most importantly, set dresser for the movie Twister. One never knows what he might turn his hand to next, though he is now semi-retired.

One thing Pat has always done is plays. I remember growing up that my teenaged aunts and uncles all had hobbies, ones they continued with throughout their lives: Rita’s was sewing, John still plays trumpet, Pat still does plays. I don’t know what Linda does these days, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was still interested in make-up and clothes.

Most recently, Pat had a role in Bus Stop, for which he got favourable reviews. He seems mostly involved with the Ponca Playhouse and with Re-ACT (Regional Actors' Community Theatre). His involvement is not just as actor but also set builder, stage manager and director (including Board of -- very impressive). He just mentions these things in passing along with his other news in his emails. I confess to not understanding most of the play stuff, having never been involved in the world of playhouses (I do apologize, Pat, if I've got this all wrong.) I've been thinking lately of looking for some of the plays he mentions in the library, just to have a better idea what he's talking about.

[Note: If you look at the links, you won’t find reference to Pat, the name used by his family members; in the outside world he uses his other name: Larry.]

On one of our trips to Oklahoma we stayed at his house and one evening we watched a video of the play, California Suite, in which Pat played Sydney Cochran, a homosexual Englishman. I did enjoy watching it, though I recall jet lag caught up with me. I think it gave Bill pause when Pat said he used Bill’s accent to do the role....

Anyhow, I was pleased to learn that Pat is back doing some DJ work. You can listen to him online at WBBZ 1230 AM from 1 – 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. (This will tell you what time that is in your part of the world, once you've figured out that Ponca City is in the green stripe on the US). He calls himself a Really Old Guy and the name of the show is American Pie.


Pat plays the baker, from All in the Timing. Get it? American Pie? Baker? (sorry)...