The Hollywood Show April 21-22, 2012
Burbank Airport Marriott
I didn’t really have a lot of time to prepare for this show, as my booking for David was accepted about six weeks out. With three other Bond actors already at the show, it was a good fit for David, so I went for it.
John quickly made a table sign and David graciously allowed me to mail the sign and the other items that would not fit into my rolling suitcase to him. So after a couple of trips to the photo lab and the post office I thought we were all set.
I get an email from David two days out. His photo lab – because we had printed up a picture of Barbara Bouchet – had given his already paid for stack of photos to Barbara Bouchet when she picked up hers. Since I was staying at the con hotel and she was staying at the con hotel and David was not … would I go retrieve David’s photos? Sure, David.
I really thought I’d have much more waiting around and baggage problems with my flights, but I didn’t. It was my first time on United; they never had any flights out of Palm Beach until they acquired Continental and thus became my frequent flier program. So now I’m Mileage Plus. David has always liked flying on them, so why not?
My first United flight was already boarding by the time I cleared security, and even though I had a high boarding group number on my second leg, there was still room in the overhead when I got to my seat. They kept stuffing people onto that very large plane (757) for quite a while after I sat down, so maybe I wasn't that high a number.
I mostly slept on the first leg into Houston as it was still dark when we took off from Florida. I had chosen window seats, figuring I could sleep against the side of the plane (almost worked) and could see out – but there wasn’t anything to see, until we came in over the Sierras into the San Fernando Valley. The window seat was very cramped, however, I couldn't get out, with everyone sleeping, so I probably won't do that again.
The in flight movie to CA was We Bought a Zoo. It passed the time and the “classic” snack box I bought from United on the first leg lasted into the second, to the hotel and through the show… it was the purchase that kept on giving…
We touched down at LAX around 11 AM Pacific time. I found my shuttle van stop and did not have to wait long to be picked up. They had told me up front I was going to ride around “for an hour” before being dropped off, so I settled in and looked out the windows for landmarks as to where I was in LA. I have been there before. I knew which way I was supposed to be driven to Burbank.
We exited LAX and got on the 405, heading north. We then got off on the 101 to go into Van Nuys. My cell phone goes off. It’s John. I told him where I was, that the plane had not crashed and that I’d be at the hotel soon. I was the third drop-off (of four). The hotel let me check right in and gave me a nice room on the 5th floor.
I got my mini-computer working and emailed David that I had arrived and was going to go have lunch (more like dinner- as I started out on the east coast) and then I would go find Ms. Bouchet and his photos and scope out his table location and get his badge … all the usual pre-con walkabout stuff I do for him. David likes to know where he is in the hall as soon as possible.
There were 10 fast food joints across Hollywood Way in front of and to the side of the Bob Hope Airport entrance. You had 18 seconds to make it across at the corner, if you hustled. I (teasingly) told David in the email that I would not starve with that many (bad) choices available.
I bought a chicken sandwich and some milk at the McDonalds, plus their small bottle of water for David for Saturday morning. The con did provide, but it can take a while to get around to us. I did not want him to be without. Plus, David likes it cold and we have been given bottles right out of the brick pack.
I had an email reply from David when I got back. He told me what time he would call my cell in the AM and when to expect him to arrive.
I could not get into the dealer’s room until 6 PM. I identified myself to registration and they told me to go right in. I was shown where to pick up David’s badge in the AM and that I was to bring him in the side (artists) door, so he would not have to run the gauntlet of fans waiting in come in the main entrance. I wasn’t worried. David had done a show at this same hotel in 2007, so he knew where it was and how the parking worked.
I told them I was David Hedison’s plus 1. I probably should have told them my name, as I kept getting identified as his plus 1(by the staff) the rest of the weekend. As in: You can let her in. She’s Hedison’s plus 1!
The dealer’s part of the room wasn’t very large and it was mostly lobby card and poster dealers. I looked through a few bins, since I was there. There were 63 celebrity tables. I walked up and down the rows, seeing who was paired with whom, mostly looking for the Bond group. I did not find that pairing, although I did locate the Laverne and Shirley group and the Brady Bunch group, but not the Sound of Music group.
David’s table was up front, by the front door, which he likes. They had paired him with the "other" Fly, Brett Halsey, a late addition. Julian Glover had canceled, so the two remaining Bond girls were paired across the room. No help there. At least they were together. Bill Mumy was on the other side of Brett, which sort of made sense. We were the sixties ‘cube’ with the Get Smart guys in Bill’s row and the Brady bunch group of four in the row behind David. It worked.
I was a little concerned that the Laverne and Shirley reunion in front of us would overwhelm our front corner table, but their lines mostly, stayed within the teller lines set up for them, beyond us. If Henry Winkler had come, it would have been different, but he got a job at the last minute. The Sound of Music cast was set up on west side of the lobby so we never saw any of them on the main floor - or their line, which I heard was two hours long.
There was a group of women setting up one of the celebrity tables along the northwest back wall. I came up to them and the dark haired woman grasped my hand and said I’m Luna. I said, hi, you were our neighbor at Chiller in April of 2004. I then told them I worked for David Hedison and that I was looking for Barbara Bouchet. A tall blonde – who looked remarkably like Tippy in The Left Handed Man, came out from behind the table and said she was Barbara.
I explained there had been a mix-up and did she possibly have a stack of 8 by 10's that were supposed to go to David Hedison? She reached over the table and handed them to me, explaining that she didn’t know why they had given them to her. I was more than happy to take them off her hands.
I asked (Barbara) Luna, if she was a late addition. She said no, she had to do something else Saturday, so she came in tonight to do Barbara’s picture display for her, as it was Bouchet’s first Hollywood show. I told them both that she had picked the right person to help; Luna’s display at Chiller was probably the best one in the entire room. I have always liked Luna. We chatted for awhile, they were very nice and then I left to take David’s pictures up to my hotel room for safe-keeping.
I emailed David to tell him that he had a good table location and that I had retrieved his pictures. I then put them into clear sleeves so they would be table ready. I told him where they wanted him to park and which entrance to come in.
He emailed back almost immediately, saying he was all set to go, would bring the items I had mailed him and he would call me when he wanted me to come out and get my boxes out of his car.
I got up early, mostly because I wanted to eat breakfast and get down to the hall with my pictures and other table items before I got called outside. I had told David the con wanted him there by 9:30 AM, he decided to come at 9:15, which meant he’d show up at 9:00. David is always early.
I hustled myself across Hollywood Way for a quick McDonald’s egg breakfast and brought it back to the room. The con was going to provide, but that’s usually orange juice and sweet muffins that neither David nor I want. And I wasn’t going to pay room service $12.95 plus for juice and muffins. So I schlepped.
I got down to the Hall in good time, walked all the way around the side to the artist’s (guarded) door and was let in. They gave me a gold VIP wristband (as the plus 1) and David’s plastic badge, which I put around my neck, so I would remember to give it to him.
I began setting up. I found David’s throat drops and Purell and set out his water.
I had table signs John had made for Brett Halsey and Barbara Bouchet, so I put those out on the respective tables. I was about to organize the pictures I had brought with me, when my cell phone goes off. I glanced at the number. It’s David. It is not quite 9:00 AM.
I answer the phone. He tells me he’s five minutes away, and he wants me to come outside. I tell him I will be out on the curb, waiting for him.
I come out the front door and scan the lot for a light grey Prius. I see a darker grey one in the line of cars to come in. Sure enough, as soon as the car clears the gate – it honks at me. So I start walked down to meet David.
I quickly hop in the passenger side. Let’s go park. I’ll help you find a good spot. They want you to park behind the building. The lot is nearly full, but I figure over by the artist’s entrance, there will still be spots for the artists.
David finds an empty spot he likes in the 2nd row and pulls in. We make sure he has everything he wants to take in with him and get out. He opens the trunk for me and he takes out his rolling suitcase and I get the sign and the box of DVDS and Fly bobble heads. It’s our first show where we actually have the Fly to sell, even though they have been bringing them to us since last March. It worked out, the bobble heads were wanted and they sold.
The first thing David said to me, was your hair is really short. John had cut it all off before he dyed it. I hadn't wanted him to cut it all off, but it certainly lays down better when it is shorter. I reminded David that I had a spaghetti wave and that with any sort of length my hair curls up and it was giving me "bozo wings" over my ears and John hated that.
Then he wanted to see my braces. I had written him and told him that I couldn't smile right at this juncture in my treatment, because the springs that were shoving my back molars into the pulled wisdom spots had made my overbite even worse and I could not close my mouth (properly) to smile. Let me see.
I grimaced at him and David agreed when he saw the angle and size of the protruding overbite, that it was best that I didn't smile this weekend. Ugh.
he said, put that away.
I had asked the dentist to reverse the springs and pull the overbite down, but he said no, I wasn't ready and he did that two days AFTER I returned from the con.
So if my mouth looks weird in the con photos, you now why. That and I couldn't find anyone who could work my camera. They kept turning it off. No, the OTHER button. So if I'm not trying to hide my over bite, I'm talking.
I'll try to take better pictures in June at the bookstore. My over bite has gone down at least an inch since he revered the springs. I hope to have the braces completely off by the time we do Mad Monster Party in Charlotte, NC in March of 2013.
I brought David in the side artist's entrance, showed the guard his badge, which was still around my neck and asked if I needed to put it on David. The guard laughed and said, no, he knew who David was and let us in. I had promised the registrar – when she gave me the badge that I would bring David in by her, so she could see he was there and log him in.
So as we passed her table, I told her “David Hedison (ala Elvis) is in the building!” They all laughed and David was very gracious and said hello. I took him into the hall and showed him his table.
As predicted, he liked where he was. Right by the front door. You couldn’t miss us, particularly after I got John’s two foot table sign up on the table. But before I could begin get the table organized, we had customers. It was early bird.
David started signing. I would find the pictures they wanted, someone wanted a Fly book and then took the first bobble head I put out, so I put another one and that one went. It was steady. They liked the new pictures David had printed up. Since he had been to this show at the same hotel five years ago, we decided to do that.
David’s chair was too low – it happens. They couldn’t find a pillow for him, but the nice lady at the green room brought David two table covers that we stuffed into
my collapsible water bag and that almost worked. When it would stay on David’s chair. I tried tying it, but then it would just fall out the back and hang. So I would put it back up on the chair. Several times. My chair was too low for me as well, so I stood most of the day. It was easier than trying to get back up out of the too low chair. David thanked the green room volunteer and she told him, for him, all he had to do was ask. The lunch ticket lady also liked David. A lot.
And we sold all day. The place was packed to the gills. Between the seven Sound of Music kids - at $150.00 a pop for both their book and another $150.00 for their photo op and the Laverne and Shirley reunion - long lines were the order of the day. The other celebrities had like five people in line in front the whole day.
Bernie Kopell showed up in a very nicely tailored Love Boat uniform, that I understood he had made himself. He looked very dashing. Dave Ketchum - Agent 13 - from Get Smart - the guy who was always in file cabinets and trees and such, were both around the corner from us. Two really, really nice guys. I asked Bernie for a Siegfried picture and he signed it Siegfried. John loved that.
David was popular with the actors. Bill Mumy came over two tables very early and wished us well. He was a great neighbor. Michael J. Pollard also came over and specifically greeted David. Sally Kellerman stopped by. Barbara Steele came over.
After she left. David apologized and said he should have introduced her to me. I told him, don’t worry about it, I knew who she was, not that I’d ever seen any film she was in.
After the sixth actress came around the sign - behind the table - to greet David and get their kiss - I teasingly told David: I see you are kissing all the girls!
David grinned - a very rakish grin, leaned back in his chair and told me: "Of course, I'm kissing all the girls." And he was…
David had a good position on the floor and he made the most of it. Everybody came by, dealers, book store owners, even a guy with an Armenian “arts” school.
Sue from Dark Delicacies Book Store (our next gig) came by to say hello, Laura from Monster 13 Productions (David’s last gig) came by. I ran into Eben from Mad Monster Party and he brought Joe over to meet David (our first gig in 2013).
And they got acquainted.
Ray and Sharon Courts were there and David made a point to speak with both of them. Even though they retired last year, David did a lot of shows with them over the years.
Barbara Bouchet (the other Bond and Voyage guest) got a big kiss hello and very kindly posed for a picture with David for me. What a nice lady. Keir Dullea came over twice. His wife Mia did a play with David in 1998 (Return Engagements). The second time Keir came over, he put David on his cell phone with Mia.
I had told David there was a ‘green room.’ He had to give the con some signed photos to cover the cost of our “lunches” both days. So he sent me over there (with his badge) to scout it out. I had picked up a glass of orange juice earlier, but he didn’t want any juice, nor the half of bran muffin I brought him back, so I ate it.
I told him there was hummus and guacamole and chips, but he didn’t want that, either. They came around after that and handed us lunch tickets, which I put in my pocket for later.
Around 2:00 PM we decided I should go eat whatever lunch, before they took it away. I can eat chips and hummus and guacamole. I went it and there were now chafing dishes with hot (Mexican) lunch. I handed the lady my lunch ticket and grabbed a plate. I couldn't eat the rice (allergic) but I had a piece of chicken and the black beans and corn with chilies. I could only eat the chicken with lots of water, but since David was paying for it... I ate that.
Duane Chase and Nicholas Hammond (Sound of Music) were in the room when I sat down, but Nick was leaving, so I didn't get a chance to talk to talk to him. Duane decided to stay, so I invited him to come sit with me and tell me about his morning out in the lobby and he did. If you are in the "green room" everything thinks you are another celebrity and will talk to you. It didn't hurt I was wearing David's "celebrity" badge.
I did tell Duane, I worked for David Hedison and wrote books. I was working on a book on American Musicals for Huron Press and that Sound of Music was in my list of 12 that I was writing about. Duane was gracious and kind and we had a good talk, but I had to get back, so David could eat his lunch before it was gone. I left Duane with another movie fan, who had joined us.
I came back to the table and handed David the badge and told him to go eat, now there was chicken and rice and other stuff he would eat. He was gone about 90 seconds when I realized I hadn't given him his lunch ticket. I asked Victoria, Brett's wife to watch the table and I ran back to the green room, went in and handed the lady David's lunch ticket and apologized. Then I ran out again, but not before I noticed that David had talked "the lunch ladies" into giving him lunch anyway. At least now with his ticket in hand, they would get paid for him.
David said he felt better when he came back, that the lunch gave him his energy back. He did very well. David talked to everybody and graciously posed for whatever pictures they wanted to take. He was carrying a swag bag, which he promptly shared with me. A tin of gourmet popcorn and a spa certificate. He must have gotten that in the room with the ice cream. The ice cream was very popular with the celebrities. Their cups started popping up all over the hall in the later afternoon.
There were posters and lunchboxes and remote control 39 inch Seaviews placed on the table. Two really interesting items for were the yellow promotional Fox post card that someone had made into a large wall poster. I took a picture of David signing it in gold marker because it looked so good. Another fellow brought David a red stipple poster of his Five Fingers portrait and we both remarked how Andy Warhol the finished product looked.
We even got a very nice Seaview lunch box in excellent condition. The guy told me he had spent a long time trying to find one that was that good. He would not tell me what he paid for it.
Our new pictures were popular and sold, which was very gratifying, although I have to credit David for knowing which 6 (out of the 15) to print up.
The cheapest “photo-op” at the con was $35.00, so David charging $10.00 to pose was a bargain. Now he’s nearly 85, charging to take his picture cuts down on a lot of gratuitous flashbulbs going off in David’s face. It was a well-mannered show for the most part. The fans were respectful, and while there were a few taking I phone shots from across the aisle and behind David – most everyone asked first. And paid.
It was nice that everyone told David how much they liked him. How good he was in all his roles and that he was the best Felix Leiter ever. (Several times). David was given several bond posters to sign; apparently they carry this same red logo poster around to all the cons until they got everyone on it. David is often the 15th signature on them, when they roll the poster out in front of him, but he always signs them willing.
David told me one of the Brady Kids said "Captain Crane was his idol" when David went down the row behind us to talk to his celebrity neighbors. Robbie Rist was behind us and David thought it funny that he ended up at the head of the row of Brady kids, because he was asked to play Mike Brady... but turned it down.
We became friends with Robbie's Rist's wife - they were right behind us in the table cube. She said Robbie couldn't believe his luck and Tweeted 'OMG I'm sitting with Captain Crane' on Saturday. They were great neighbors.
A friend asked to stand in Garry Marshall's line and get him a book, so I watched and waited until there was a lull and his line was down. I got in line, only to realize I had to go out into the lobby and BUY the book from Barnes and Noble.
So I did that and got in line again, only to have Garry leave for his photo-op. I probably would have made it through, but two guys who were buying things to sign, cut in front of me.
I tried again during another lull, but then David got busy and I had to go back to our table to find the photo David needed, just when I would have been next. Finally, as I noticed Garry's line was almost over, I picked up the book, ran over and was probably the last book Garry signed that day, before he left. I was next in line, when Garry stopped and asked me if I minded waiting until he finished his ice cream. Why not? At least he promised he would sign my book when he was done. So after Garry finished off his ice cream cup, he signed my friend's book. I told Mr. Marshall that John and I loved all his movies and he needed to make us another one. He blew me a kiss.
Turns out Eddie Mekka is half Armenian. He and David had a good chat late in the day. Lana Wood sent a male friend to the show to say hello. David walked down the row to say hi to Kathryn Leigh Scott. She came up later to return the visit. Nice lady. She has a new book out and has been out and about to several shows recently with that.
David left about half an hour before closing and promised to bring his own cushions (from home) for the horrible two low chairs and to look for a picture,
that he was supposed to bring, and hadn’t.
I had brought mine, but they were already signed and we wanted to find the unsigned ones. So he paid me and left. I told him to show up at 11:00 AM the next day. I think one person came looking for him after he was gone. I told them to come back tomorrow.
David left everything for me to take back to my room, so I went and got the bellman and a cart. Loaded it all up and was back in the room by 5:05 PM.
I worked on getting the pictures reorganized. I put them back in number order and filled and consolidated and separated David’s extra pictures put into his suitcase and my pictures to put into mine.
I took a break about half through the process and walked over to the Subway for a Turkey avocado salad dinner. Then I came back and packed my suitcase for departure the next day. I was checking out before going to the show the next day.
It took a while to get everything the way I wanted it, but finally everything was packed and ready to go. My back and feet hurt from working the table all day, so I went to bed. I'm not used to standing up all day.
I decided to have the con breakfast Sunday, since David was paying for it. I arrived at 10 AM to a mostly empty hall and only Bill Mumy setting up. So I went over and had juice and muffins for breakfast. I then set up the table the way David liked it. I put out the pictures that had sold the day before and grouped them into Fly, Bond and Voyage.
Albert, our best customer from Saturday - he bought 24 autographs from David - kept me company until David came in, promptly at 11:00 AM, carrying two very nice white seat cushions for our chairs. He told me don't let me forget to take these home, or Bridget will kill me. I promised I would not let him go home without them. He told me he had looked for the picture, but did not have any more, so I would have to send him a blank one, so he could add to the file. I had kept his masters out from the photo shop package and had them in separate sleeve that I had packed in David's suitcase, so they were sure to go home with him.
I set out pens and water that I gotten out of the iced tub in the green room and we were all set to go. David wanted to know where all the people were. I told him it was picking up - that it had only been me and Bill at 10 AM. The lunch lady came by again and handed me the lunch tickets. One of which, I promptly handed to David, so when he did decide to eat lunch, he'd be ready.
The Rist's young daughter brought two of her friends with her on Sunday and they sat quietly at the table - one of the Brady Kids had left - so Robbie moved down. David asked about their tablet computer - they showed him what they were playing on it.
They announced lunch at noon - Italian. David told me to go first, he knows I love Italian food. He and Brett were discussing TVs. David had brought Brett the Sunday paper ads. I turned in my lunch ticket and had a scoop each of each of the pastas and some salads.
When I turned back to find a seat, Brett and David were in line behind me. Apparently it was that slow, that they decided to bring their TV conversation into the green room. I went and got a drink, and waited to see where they would sit.
I slid into the seat on David's other side, mostly to prevent someone he didn't know from sitting next to him. I was going to eat quietly and let them talk to each other, which was what they wanted.
But it was not to be, a blonde woman plopped down next to Brett and started talking to him. Who is that? I asked David, when she went to get food. Who
is that? David asked Brett. Melinda Naud.
So David ended up talking to me, as he couldn't get a word edgewise into Brett's conversation with Melinda and is too polite to ignore a woman who sitting next to him. I thanked David for buying me lunch, that it was very good and I was loving it. He asked me how I was doing during the evenings at the hotel Did I have a good room, was I eating good? David has a paternal streak that is very endearing. He always makes sure you are okay and are being treated well.
I told him it was an OK hotel room, had two beds, with decent mattresses and enough pillows and I was sleeping fine. I was using the 2nd bed as a work table.
I had been going over to Subway and getting salads for dinner. I told him what I had put on them and he commended me for eating well. I was only teasing him about the fast food... we both know it's no good.
David got up to get his 2nd course - a salad and he came back with his cucumbers all neatly arranged in a ring. Gad, the man even eats NEAT.
We finished together and he asked me to go scout for dessert. I found the tray of cookies and shagged the last three oatmeal raisin, which I presented to David in a napkin and told him to take half. So we split the cookies and went back to the table. So I had a very pleasant (unintended) lunch in the green room with David on Sunday.
There were a few people who wanted signed pictures, but it was a very light Sunday crowd, so the actors started socializing with each other - after Lunch.
David went down the row across from us to talk to Gary Lockwood, who was next to Keir Dullea, and then Barbara Bouchet came down and Brett Halsey went over there and then they called David back over - for a yak fest.
Next thing I know, David is yelling for me - to bring the camera over there – to take a group for my web site. For an old man, his voice still carries.
He wanted me to get one of all five actors. I took about four shots before everyone else realized “photo OP” and the whole thing turned into paparazzi moment with at least 15 cell phones and I phones going off. It’s posted on the con Face book page, if you want to see the group.
Luna came back on Sunday. I flashed my braces at her and like David , she told me to "put that away." I was teasing Gary Lockwood about my braces and told him I had chains (true) and whips and could get a whole bondage thing going with the metal I had. He cracked up.
That was about the only exciting thing that happened on Sunday. David signed for everyone who wanted a picture and then he left. He was having an issue with his hearing aid all weekend, but he never let it stop him. I helped him as much as I could.
I walked him out to his car, carrying the very nice white (patio) cushions, so Bridget would not kill him. He took the sign so we could use it again at the Dark Delicacies Bookstore show in Burbank June 23. I gave him a big hug and a kiss
and told him I'd be back in two months. And I had a great weekend and enjoyed being with him.
I went back in after watching him exit the lot - we had both made sure he has his comp parking ticket in his shirt pocket before he left. I had to repack everything in my suitcase to fit what was left behind for me to take home as I was checked out of the hotel. It took a while, as I talked to the late-comers and sold one signed pictures.
There was swag in the lobby as I went buy. Bill Mumy was posing with the people the people in the booth and holding up his quilted leather swag bag, it looked like a good time was being had by all. I went back and gave Brett's wife David's badge and told her to go get some swag. On David. And they all did. I got a small paper bag with a few things I felt were useful, like a shoe horn and a sun visor. I packed what I wanted and gave the rest to Mrs. Rist. Her daughter got the jelly beans out my United snack pack.
I was to be picked by a shuttle van at 7:30 PM to catch my red-eye flight home to Florida. I was in the hotel Business center, chatting with the Sub pen ladies when my cell went off. It was the shuttle company, informing me that they wanted to pick me up early.
So I packed up and went to the lobby earlier than I was supposed to, and there was a shuttle parked outside. So I rolled out and waited for the driver to come back out. He said he was there, for me. An hour early. So I hopped in up front and let him ride me all over L.A. His name was Tony, and he was Armenian and we had a great chat. I got dropped off last at United and there was no one in line (for Security) at 8:30 PM on a Sunday.
I handed the security guy David's popcorn tin and we sailed right through. By the way, I priced that tin on the internet when I got home. Gourmet price, too. I was sure I thanked David for it. It was delicious.
Three flights later I was home. I never did sleep much on the planes. The San Francisco flight was too short, the Houston light was too cramped with the person in front of me cramming down into my lap the whole time. The movie was Mission Impossible; Ghost Protocol, which I probably would have watched, had it not been shown at 1:30 AM.
The lady is the aisle seat was glad I was awake, she couldn't get her bag of chips open, but I did. I also gave her most of my can of apple juice. You don't usually get the can, but now that's I only wanted the cup, I got the can. The person between us slept. I envied her that.
I finally slept on the Houston Palm Beach leg. I think I was too tired to care it was a forty-seat Embraer with the ceiling three inches over my head. We bounced all the way in and they sent us 30 miles out to sea because we were early. Ahmed, my town car guy, was right on time, which is why I use him.
I was glad I went. David did very well. It was really nice that he was out being recognized for the iconic actor that he is. Enjoy the pictures.
Diane Kachmar May 6, 2012