1965. My eldest child, Ann Marie, is eight years old. She will be in third grade this fall. I am away from home for a couple of months in a bid to improve my skills in the classroom. The child and I have become fans of the tv program "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." So much so that when the child writes to her Daddy, she fills him in on the latest episode of the show.
2013. My memory of the show nearly half-century later is much like my memories of most tv series I have seen over the years. I do recall Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, Jr. playing featured roles. I have not asked her, but I daresay Ann's memory of the program would be no more vivid than is mine. There is some reason to believe that this show may have been instrumental in propelling Mr. McCallum's career in a most positive direction.
Today the actor plays a role, a favorite role of mine, in my favorite of the current crime-related tv series, NCIS. McCallum is Dr. "Ducky" Mallard. If I have idle tv time on my hands and no interesting new material to view, you might find me watching NCIS reruns. Watching reruns? Not a problem; reference my earlier statement about my recollections of shows I have seen.
Happy eightieth birthday to David McCallum, Jr.
Some years later as a seventh-grader, Ann and her Daddy watched "Dark Shadows" together; but that is a whole nother story.
