Fairbanks Daily News-Miner from Fairbanks, Alaska • Page 14

Alajka, Daily News-Miner, Saturday, May 31, 1969 McKuen Sings Own Songs on Special Rod recording artist, composer, concert performer and best-selling poet-sings nearly a dozen of his own songs when in his first one-man show, to be colorcast on 'he NBC Television Network Wednesday, p.m. on KFAR-TV, Channel 2. "Rod McKuen: The Loner" finds Rod reciting just one of his famous poems, all of which reflect childhood memories and contemporary observations and dwell on such themes as lost love, loneliness and empty rooms. "A Cat Named Sloopy" ends with the lines: "Perhaps she's only human ever gave back love to me." The balance and bulk of the colorcast is McKuen and his music; McKuen singing his songs and sounding, in his own words, "like a man who's been gargling with steel wool." The best-selling "If You Go Away" (for which McKuen wrote the English lyrics to French chansonnier (Jacques Brel's music), "Kaleidoscope" and "The Complete Madame Butterfly" (in 30 secods) are among the songs, many of them McKuen Poems set to music, which Rod Wraps in his familiar wzrm whisper. Sioux Massacre' On ABC Movie WednesdayNight "The Great Sioux Massacre," a color picture starring Joseph Cotten, Darren McGavin and Philip Carey, will be seen on "The ABC Wednesday Night Movie" at 2.

In this stirring tale of the events leading up to Ouster's Last Stand, Col. Custer (Philip Carey) is promised the presidential nomination by powerful lobbyists in Washington in return for forcing the Sioux Indians off their valuable, treaty-protected land. Despite everything they do, Custer's actions push the Indians toward history's famous confrontation. The cast: Major Reno, Joseph Cotten; Capt. Benton, Darren McGavin; Custer, Philip Carey; Libbie Custer, Nancy Kovack; Caroline Reno, Julie Sommars; Sitting Bull, Michael Pete.

Crazy Horse, Iron Eyes Cody; Dakota, John Mathews; Sen. Elaine, Don Haggerty; General Terry, Frank Ferguson; Tom Custer, John Napier. "The Great Sioux Massacre" (1965) was produced by Leon Fromkess and Directed by Sidney Salkow from a screenplay by Fred C. Dobbs. "The Loner," 'Tve Been to Town," "Trashy," "Merci Beaucoup" and a medley embracing the title songs of three of his books-turned-records, Street," "Lonesome Cities" and "Listen to the Warm." The numbers were selected from nearly 1,000 songs which Rod has written and which have been etched on more than 40 million records by almost every leading artist.

McKuen himself has recorded more than 30 albums of his own material, and in early April he received his first gold album, representing more than $1 million in sales, for "The Sea," which he wrote in collaboration with Anita Kerr. As a poet, McKuen last year had three books listed among the 10 best-selling nonflction works in the nation, with "Listen to the Warm," "Lonesome Cities" and "Stanyan Street and" Other Sorrows" selling a combined total of nearly one million volumes. "Rod McKuen: The Loner" is a Lee Mendelson Production in association with McKuen's Montcalm Productions and the NBC Television Network. It was produced by Mendelson, directed by Marty Pasetta and written by McKuen and Mendelson. The Coca-Cola Company (through McCann-Erickson Inc.) is full sponsor of the special.

The show will mark the third major television appearance for McKuen, who previously guested on NBC-TVs "Kraft Music Hall" and NBC-TVs "The Spring Thing." THE LONER-Rod McKuen, the popular inn M.OQ Mcrvuen, the popular poet-sinper-composer, will star in his first TV one-man show-on the NBC Television Network Wednesday, on Channel 2. The program is titled "Rod McKuen: The Loner." He will present many songs from his vast repertoire. Keller Letters Preserved Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) A letter from Carl Sandburg to Helen Keller: "I saw and heard you last night at the Palace and enjoyed it a thousand ways. It was interesting to watch that audience minute by minute come along till they loved you big and far. For myself, the surprise was to find you something of a dancer, shifting in easy postures like a good blooded race horse.

I thrilled along with the audience to your saying you hear applause with your feet registering to vibration of the stage boards This 1322 letter, along with 60,000 others, will now be available to scholars as the result of the bequest of Hellen Keller's lifelong correspondence to the University of Southern California. The bequest was announced at a recent dinner given by the university's friends of the libraries and attended by Hollywood personalities. A few of the letters were read to the gathering by Helen Hayes, Irene Dunne, Rosalind Russell, Joseph Cotten and Ida Lupino. They reflected the wide acquaintance of Miss Keller and her remarkable command of the language despite the fact that she was blind and deaf from the age of 2. She died last year at 88.

Excerpts from some of the letters: Helen Keller to Alexander Graham Bell, was perfectly delighted to receive your letter (in braille) and to be able to read it myself. It seemed almost as if you clasped my hand in yours and spoke to me in the old, dear way. A letter always seems more truly my own when I can run my fingers over it and quickly enter into the thoughts and feelings of my friends without an interpreter Mark Twain to Helen Keller, I must steal half a moment from my' work to say how glad I am to have your book and how highly I value it, both for its own sake and as a remembrance of an affectionate friendship which has subsisted between us nine years without a break and without a single act of violence that I can call to mind. I suppose there is nothing like it in heaven; and not likely to be until we get there and show off Helen Keller to Mark Twain, birthday shall always be Thanksgiving Day to me, indeed, I have thanked you a thousand times for the bright laugh that is like a drop of honey in things bitter that we must all taste before we learn to know good from evil and arc you really 70 years old? or is the report exaggerated like that of your death? Will Rogers to Helen Keller, what a fine heel I turned out to be. Here I read your book plumb through (and by the way it's the first one I ever remember doing that.) When I got through reading what these cuckoo Republicans have done the day before, why my day is about over.

Now I read yours and enjoyed every minute of it You know I think you and I will be better friends if we don't meet, they tell me you can feel one's face and tell how they look. Helen Keller (a Nehru; "Proudly I shall cherish in memory the quiet evening spent with you and your daughter Indira, just as if we were members of your family. I cannot thank you for such a beautiful compliment in words, I can only remember its sincerity and your kindly permitting me to touch your face Miss Thomson and I will be in Delhi again, and we hope to see you again. I wonder if there will be any chance of our visiting the Taj Mahal?" 'Great White Hope' Draws Top Honors at Tony Awards ROAST PRIME I RIBS OF BEEF Au Jus I COCKTAILS 5 25! on the i i i For Reservations, Call 488-6611 Dinner! include Shrimp or Crab Cocktoil, Solod with Choice of Dressings. Baled Potato and Garlic Bread NEW YORK (AP) "The Great White Hope," a drama about the first Negro heavyweight boxing champion, drew top honors for its author, producer and star recently at the presentation of the 23rd annual Tony AWards for the Broadway theater; A comedy about the American Revolution and the framing of the Declaration of Independence, "1776," was named best musical of the 1968-69 season, and its director was cited as best director of a musical.

"The Great White Hope," which chronicles the pre-World War I career and private life of fighter Jack Johnson, was named the best dramatic play of the season and its star, James Earl Jones, was named the best actor in a drama. Jane Alexander, who plays Jones' white mistress, was honored as the best supporting actress in a drama. Other recipients of top awards were: Harris, best actress in a drama, for "Forty Carats." Lansbury, best actress in a musical, for "Dear World." Orbach, best actor in a musical, for "Promises, Promises." After receiving his award, Jones, 37, said the timing of the play had a lot to do with its success. "People are curious about the black man in our society," he said. The best musical award for "1T76" was shared by Sherman Edwards, who wrote the lyrics and music; Peter Stone, author; and Stuart Ostrow, producer.

The comedy also brought an award to Ronald Holgate, best supporting actor in a musical. The best supporting actress in a musical was Marian Mercer of "Promises, Promises." Other awards went to: Pacino of "Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie" as best supporting actor in a drama, Peter Dews of "Hadrian VII" as best director of a darma, Boris Aronson of "Zorba" for best scenic design, Louden Sainthill of "Canterbury Tales" for best costumes and Joe Layton of "George as best choreographer. The award ceremonies were televised live, over NBC, from the Mark Hellinger Theater. The Tony Awards were founded in 1947 in memory of Antoinette Perry, the actress and director, who died in 1946. Saturday Review Honors Four ABC Network Shows HERTZ NOW HAS VOLKSWAGENS Ph.

Saturday Review magazine, in its 17th annual competition for "distinguished achievement in the public interest," has honored four ABC television programs. Citations were awarded to the network's "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau" series and its extensive coverage of the 1968 Olympic Games. Lnkr as "other programs of disti nction" were "The Confrontation" and the "Man and His Universe" series. The awards panel cited "The Undersea of Jacques Cousteau" as "an unusual adventure-entertainment series that successfully combined the derring-do of divers amid dangers underwater with some meaningful marine experimental laboratory work." The announcement said that coverage of the Olympics garnered the most votes. The SR committee termed it "certainly the utstanding TV sports coverage of 1968 or any other year.".