06-24-2008
( Reply#: 2081 ) |
seejay2 |
Hi Alan,
I remember a Rick Roop from Hessville that used to come around to our apt. when I lived at Briar East. I didn't know him all that well, but I do remember him. I think a sister of his used to come there too. This was around '74. By the way, I used to work at Big Wheel around 66-67 when they still had the curb service......Cj |
06-25-2008
( Reply#: 2083 ) |
diskojoe |
Hi Alan, I'm an interloper from the other portion of the forum & I'm just wondering if Randy talked about his big brother much when you were hangin' w/him. I'm just curious, especially considering how Shep usually portrayed him (& I was a kid brother, too [:D]) |
06-25-2008
( Reply#: 2084 ) |
Alan Vandever |
Hi Guys,
Unfortunately, I didn't know of a "Rick" Roop. Tom lived in Hessville for quite awhile. I don't remember the street. Around 1975 he moved to a highrise in Chicago. Even when he lived in Chicago though, he was always out here.
As for Randy talking about Jean: He did at times. When he did, it was always with affection. Randy was proud of being Jean's younger brother. Randy was into a lot of things. He owned a beautiful Rolls Royce he was always working on. Many times Randy would pick up Tom, George, and I up and drive up the Playboy club in Lake Geneva for Sunday brunch in the Rolls. Of course, that was only if there was no threat of rain. The Rolls never came out in the rain. He also had a small import business and a realty broker's license.
I met Jean on several occoasions when he would visit Randy. I got everyone passes to the Indy 500 one year including Jean. I had press passes but I got the whole group inside the field. Those were fun years. |
06-26-2008
( Reply#: 2089 ) |
diskojoe |
Thanks, Alan. I appreciate your answering my inquiry. It's nice to know that Randy did OK in life & that he 'n Shep got along. |
07-05-2008
( Reply#: 2099 ) |
m10bob |
quote:
Originally posted by Alan Vandever
Hi Guys,
"He owned a beautiful Rolls Royce he was always working on. Many times Randy would pick up Tom, George, and I up and drive up the Playboy club in Lake Geneva for Sunday brunch in the Rolls. Of course, that was only if there was no threat of rain. The Rolls never came out in the rain."
I wonder if that was the same Rolls Shep was seen driving during some of the PBS Shep specials ?
(Just re-watched "The great American 4th of July..and other disasters", and the one Shep was driving had British right-hand drive....
In Hoc Agricula Conc
In Est Spittle Louk |
07-07-2008
( Reply#: 2102 ) |
Alan Vandever |
Nope, Randy's had left hand drive. Randy's was silver and black and had the old style running boards. I have pix of Randy's Rolls somewhere. If I can find them, I'll post them.
Al. |
07-08-2008
( Reply#: 2103 ) |
m10bob |
Great!..[:)]
In Hoc Agricula Conc
In Est Spittle Louk |
07-11-2008
( Reply#: 2104 ) |
Alan Vandever |
OK, I found 3 pix of Randy and his Rolls, but I'll be darned if I can figure out how to post them. Any suggestions? |
07-11-2008
( Reply#: 2105 ) |
wvcogs |
Alan,
First, upload your pics to a service like Photobucket.com and then paste the direct links into your posts on Sheptalk. Or, you can include the images in your posts using the direct links.
Ken... |
07-11-2008
( Reply#: 2107 ) |
Alan Vandever |
OK, let's see if I can do this.
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o72/alanvandever/ModelwithRolls.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o72/alanvandever/RandywithRolls.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o72/alanvandever/ModelwithRandysRolls.jpg
This really is a pain in the ass. I'm not sure this is going to work.
Let me know if you can or can not see the pix.
Al.[http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o72/alanvandever/ModelwithRandysRolls.jpg][/img] |
07-11-2008
( Reply#: 2108 ) |
Alan Vandever |
OK, I see it does work once it's posted.
That's Randy sitting with the model. These were taken in Aug. of 1968. |
07-12-2008
( Reply#: 2110 ) |
m10bob |
Your pics came out great..Randy looks a lot like his brother..
Thank you for the pics..
In Hoc Agricula Conc
In Est Spittle Louk |
07-14-2008
( Reply#: 2113 ) |
diskojoe |
Thanks for the pictures, Al. It's interesting to know that Randy had the same taste for interesting cars as Shep. Another question I have about Randy is whether he discussed his baseball career or whether you guys went to games or were fans of a particular team (were you White Sox fans like Shep?) |
07-15-2008
( Reply#: 2116 ) |
Alan Vandever |
Randy was definitely a White Sox fan like his brother. As for discussing his own baseball career, no. Randy didn't talk much about the past. He was always looking ahead. He was also a car racing fan. One of my friends at that time, Don Carmichael, was a race car driver. He drove midgets and sprint cars. Randy and I went to a lot of his races at Illiana race way and several other tracks around the area.
I was a member of the press at that time and always got #9 press passes to the Indy 500. One year Randy said Jean wanted to go so I was able to get infield passes for Randy, Jean, and Tom Roop. We met James Garner in the infield and they hung out with him while I covered the race.
Jean was still in town the following week so we all went up to the Milwaukee race in the Rolls.
Yes, those were fun days. |
07-15-2008
( Reply#: 2117 ) |
Alan Vandever |
Just thought someone might like to see these.
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o72/alanvandever/anotheroneofmario.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o72/alanvandever/granatelliandrettiandpitbossatthein.jpg
|
07-16-2008
( Reply#: 2126 ) |
diskojoe |
Thanks for answering my question, Alan & also for the pictures. Were they taken at the 1969 Indy, the one that Mario won? I was a big auto racing fan in my youth & I remember watching the Indy 500 every year. It's too bad that the prestige of the Indy has gone downhill the past couple of decades. |
07-16-2008
( Reply#: 2127 ) |
Alan Vandever |
To tell you the truth, I don't know what year those were taken. I went every year to cover the race and had hundreds of pix of all the drivers, owners, etc. I was sure I had a pic of Jean, Randy, and Jim Garner but I have looked high and low and can not find one. I did find a couple of Garner, but again, I'm not sure what year it was taken. He was there every year. So was Paul Newman. |
07-16-2008
( Reply#: 2133 ) |
diskojoe |
Man, that would be great if you could find that pix of Shep, Randy & James Garner. I remember that James Garner had a bit of a racing career himself. I know that he entered the Baja 500 a few times in the late '60s. Also, were you at the '67 500 when Parinelli Jones was racing the STP turbine car & almost won it? |
07-16-2008
( Reply#: 2134 ) |
Alan Vandever |
I was not there in 67 but I was there in 68. I remember being on the first turn and listening to both turbine cars go silently buy while the others almost broke your ear drums. In that pic I posted with the 3 people that's Andy Granatelli on the left and, of course, Mario Andretti in the middle with their crew chief on the right.
Here is a shot of Garner but I do not know what year it's from.
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o72/alanvandever/JamesGarneratIndy500againcopy.jpg
He was there ever year. |
07-25-2008
( Reply#: 2160 ) |
Mark Miller |
Just to let you all know, Randy's Rolls was called a Silver Dawn. They were the first of the post war Rolls and what you might call "off the rack". Pre war you bought the chassis from Rolls and contracted with a coach builder to have a body built. Post war you could buy the whole car ready to run. This is a standard body Dawn.
The Rolls Shep drove in the TV shows was a Silver Cloud, right hand drive version. It was either a Cloud 1 or a Cloud 2. Can't tell from the outside as they both had single headlight per side. The Cloud 1 was a 6 cylinder and a Cloud 2 was a V8. The cloud 3 was a V8 with dual headlights per side but basically the same body.
There were not that many left hand drive Dawns around. They were usually automatics. There are a lot more right drive manual Dawns around.
Rolls Royce and Bentley also shared models of cars but with different grills around this time. The Bentley version of the Dawn was a Mk VI early on and the R-Type later and the Bentley version of the Cloud were the S1, S2 and S3. Many Bentleys were "converted" to Rolls by putting on a Rolls grill. The Bentleys were more affordable so it was a popular thing to do. In my eye the Bentley's were better looking though.
I spent to many years as a Rolls mechanic in New JErsey. Funny I never ran into Shep in my travels. It is a small community. I also spent time as a mechanic in a Datsun, MG, Jaguar, Range Rover, Morgan dealer on Rt 22 in North Plainfield. Bristol Motors. Seems like Sheps kind of car. I know he had a Morgan about that time. Bristol motors is still there selling Nissan now.
Mark MIller |
07-31-2008
( Reply#: 2169 ) |
Alan Vandever |
Randy had a funny story about buying that car. If I remember correctly, he bought it in Milwaukee. He said the salesman asked him where he lived. Randy said Highland, Indiana. The salesman said he didn't feel the Calumet Region was a proper place for a Rolls. Randy thought the guy was kidding but realized he was serious. Randy said when he told the guy he was paying cash and the salesman changed his mind.
Randy had a lot of respect for the car and it did tick him off when others talked or acted indifferent towards the car. He almost decked a guy one time. We were coming out of the Big Wheel restaurant and saw two guys talking in front of the Rolls. One guy had his foot on the bumper. Randy told him to get his foot off the car. He just looked at Randy. Randy said, I'm not kidding, get your damn foot off the car......NOW! Randy was approaching the guy and, had the guy hesitated one more second and I know Randy would have clocked him.
The stories I have regarding that car. I wish I had the time to write them all down. |
01-07-2009
( Reply#: 2615 ) |
Alan Vandever |
I just wonder if anyone remembers John Jage. He was another photographer in the Hammond area in the late 60's. |
01-18-2009
( Reply#: 2685 ) |
tv guy |
You ask about John Jage.He's alive and kicking. He's my boss. He owns Vidicom cctv. If you go into Dunkin Donuts you will see his security sticker on the doors. That's also includes Popeyes,Subway and Mc Donalds. The main office is in Nevada,but there is a small service office in Hammond. He was the one that developed Digital Video Recording which wiped out the use of VCR's. His lastest venture is a new compression called H264. As he dreamed up remote viewing he got the idea to this compression. It will replace mpeg and jpeg if you are a computer geek. It uses just 35% of the bandwidth of DSL to have live video from busines locations to owners homes "etc". The Tivo was a take off from his recording technique,
I can tell you he isn't hurting. Our web site is www.vidicomcctv.com
If you click the different items or customers you will get redirected to their web sites or for the equipment, it brings up their details. He talks about Randy all the time. He hasn't much to say about Gene. |
01-21-2009
( Reply#: 2690 ) |
Alan Vandever |
UNBELIEVABLE! Leave it to John. He always was a innovator. You say he always talks about Randy, does he ever mention Tom Roop or Alan Vandever? How about George Anderson. When you speak to him again tell him Alan Vandever was asking about him. If he needs a reminder I was the photographer from The Times. Ask him about the time he was laying in the grass with bullets flying over his head from the 7 Seas lounge. He was first on the spot and I was right behind him.
Thanks for posting this, it's nice to know someone is still around from those days.
Al. |
01-23-2009
( Reply#: 2694 ) |
Alan Vandever |
Does John have an e-mail address where I can reach him? |
01-24-2009
( Reply#: 2695 ) |
tv guy |
quote:
Originally posted by diskojoe
Man, that would be great if you could find that pix of Shep, Randy & James Garner. I remember that James Garner had a bit of a racing career himself. I know that he entered the Baja 500 a few times in the late '60s. Also, were you at the '67 500 when Parinelli Jones was racing the STP turbine car & almost won it?
|
01-24-2009
( Reply#: 2696 ) |
tv guy |
Al, you can reach John at, john@vidicomcctv.com He remembers you and all the individuals you mentioned. Contact him, he's looking forward to hearing from you. |
01-24-2009
( Reply#: 2697 ) |
Alan Vandever |
Thanks TV Guy, I'm writing him right now. |
01-24-2009
( Reply#: 2698 ) |
Alan Vandever |
Somewhere I have a shot of John and Frank Borman together. It's a tear sheet from an old news paper so I don't know how it will look but I'll find it and post it. |
07-30-2009
( Reply#: 3444 ) |
Alan Vandever |
Hey TVGuy,
Thanks for putting me in touch with your boss. We had lunch together today and talked for hours about the good ol' days.
Thanks again. |
