The Iola Register from Iola, Kansas • 3

THE IOLA REGISTER. SATURDAY. SEPTEMBER 24. 1994 PAGE 3 Keaton (Continued from page 1) and the sign said Piqua she said. He was so excited, Eleanor Keaton poses for a picture with Bill visit to Piqua on Friday.

Founders and suppor- Linde, Yates Center, who made the tile sign ters of the museum greeted Buster Keatons outside the Buster Keaton Museum, during a widow and others upon their arrival. she was often his partner, performing in comedy routines he created. The couple enjoyed 26 years of marriage until Keatons death in 1966. Mrs. Keaton said she was eager for Saturdays celebration of her late husbands life, career and contributions to comedy and film.

Fridays trip to Piqua was a special treat. I love this, she said. Its wonderful. She said events honoring Keaton had occurred previously, though in Europe and not in the United States. Europeans are much more loyal fans, she said.

In this country, 10 years from now they might say Steve Martin who? Over there, they treasure their comics. There is a Keaton tribute being planned in Muskegon, where the Keaton summer home was located, and Los Angeles, where Mrs. Keaton lives, will celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth next year. But Idas event is unique, she said, and important in that it preserves the legacy of a great comedian and filmmaker. I think the films are important, and most of them are better than whats being done today, Mrs.

Keaton said. Karen, whose acting credits include such movies as China Syndrome, All the Presidents Men and Poltergeist and countless stage and television roles, was a close friend of Keatons and remains so with Mrs. Keaton. He accompanied her to lola and, like Mrs. Keaton, will take part in todays celebration.

Karen said those attending the Keaton event will see how genius lives, and that theres no death for art. A lesson to be learned from the celebration, he continued, is that we must aspire to do the best we can, which is what Buster did. Above all, they should enjoy. Nothing else is important. The important thing is that people enjoy themselves.

I WAS JUST lucky, Karen said when asked how he came to know the Keatons. As a child, I had worshipped and I was just lucky enough to have film in the camera. Mrs. Keaton took a photograph of Buster standing beside the depot sign, and the couple cruised quickly through the towns main section. Pressed for time, they had to resume their trip to Missouri.

In all, the Piqua stop lasted only minutes. That was very special to him, Mrs. Keaton said. He left there when he was two weeks old and didnt get back until he was in his 60s. BUSTER AND ELEANOR Keaton were married in 1940.

He had years of show business experience, having performed as a child with his parents traveling theater troupe, starred in numerous silent films and talkies and worked as director, writer and producer on many others. Mrs. Keaton worked as a dancer in film musicals of the 1930s and 40s. When her husband began making stage appearances around the world, Cost all of Buster Keatons work, he said. That admiration continued into young adulthood, as Karen pursued an acting career.

He went with other young thes-pians to New York Citys Museum of Modern Art, which after sound films became the norm in 1929 was among the few places silent movies could be viewed, and saw Keaton classics. When talkies came on, they just dropped them, Karen said. In 1957, while acting on Broadway, Karen had an opportunity to do summer stock work near New York with Keatons group. He grabbed at the chance and joined the company of Merton of the Movies, which later was made into a movie, as well. I fell in love with the Keatons, Karen said.

It was a most creative period, he added. In my career, Ive performed in probably 400 to 500 plays, Ive done about 50 movies and probably 500 television shows, but Ive never had a better summer than I did then. The friendship remained Keaton said. TODAYS KEATON event is an opportunity to admire Keatons gifts to his craft, notably his work behind the camera as the celebrations title, Keaton and The Machine of Dreams, implies. Life is short, but art lives on, Karen said.

Subtleties within Keatons films, or their depth, as Karen describes, are being appreciated by todays industry. Whereas his work originally was enjoyed because it was funny, moving and exciting, Keatons technical expertise now doesnt go unnoticed. Buster had a sense of being historically correct and appealing to the eye, Karen said. And he was technically magnificent. More than Keatons many professional achievements, Karen admired his friend for the kind of person he was.

Keatons friend hopes those attending todays celebration take that perception away with them. He was a charming man, Karen said. strong. In the late years of Keatons life, Karen enjoyed seeing his friend receive much-deserved accolades, as Keaton often wasnt treated well by others in the industry. A movie with which Keaton was associated, Film, was shown at the Venice Film Festival.

Mrs. Keaton recalled the reception her husband received. He got a standing ovation before hed done anything, she said. He just walked in on it. He just stood and bawled for five minutes.

Karen added, He said, Ive never been to a film festival before, but Im coming again.1 The families relationship influenced the manner in which Karen learned of Keatons death. I was doing a television show, Karen said. I called home and my son answered. He said, Are you done taping yet? I said no, and he said, Well call back later when youre done. I called back when we were finished, and my son said, Tragic news.

We lost our Buster today. And he was just 7, Mrs. not the deciding factor at all. I had made some powerful enemies, and for them, it was pile-on time. But I had plenty of money to make my case.

We ran a textbook campaign. There wasnt anything more to do. But, listen, where else but America could a young man of 28 get an opportunity to serve in Congress? And theres so much weve done in 16 years. I just cant feel anything but gratitude. Besides, I expect Ive got another career in me at age 44.

Surely, he does. But Pat Schroeder said, Mike was one of the tall trees. And it always hurts to see one fall. Cant you see Redford in the part? SOCIETY NEWS Share it in the Register Call 365-2111 ran ads and sent out mailings linking Synar to President Clinton, who, as one Oklahoma Democrat told me, is about as popular around here as the University of Nebraska football coach. Gun-owner groups and the Christian Coalition leaf-leted against him, and term-limits supporters targeted him for defeat.

With anti-incumbent sentiment fanned by a term-limits initiative that passed 2-1 Tuesday, Synar lost by 2 percentage points to a 71-year-old retired teacher who spent only $17,000 on his own campign. When I talked to Synar the next day, he had no criticism of the tactics used against him or the result. A party loyalist to the end, he insisted that it was a referendum on Mike Synar, pure and simple. Clinton was WANTED: 10 HOMES To Train Factory Siding Applicators FREE INSULATION PACKAGE (Continued from page 1) what you could accomplish as a legislator. He had a close personal friendship with House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt On issues like health care, he was assigned to bring the leadership candid appraisals of what rank-and-file Democrats across the ideological spectrum were saying and thinking.

But despite his partisanship and his favored status with Gephardt, Synar always maintained his independence. Among the thankless issues for which he fought was campaign finance reform. Last yehr, he became convinced that the bill Gephardt was pushing was a cop-out, so he reached over to reform-minded Republicans and put together a bipartisan substitute which the Demo-; cratic leadership barely man-; aged to quash. His Judiciary Committee col-; league, Rep. Pat Schroeder said, Mike was never one to wet his finger and see which way the wind was blowing.

He thought his job was to try to figure out what was best for the 'country and for his people, and he was willing to go home and try to convince them that posi-- tion was right. He saw his role as being an educator. But there comes a time when I'even the most articulate educator-legislator acquires too many enemies. In recent campaign years, Synars opponents have been well-funded by the groups he has battled on Capitol Hill. This year, even as Synar was forced into a runoff primary for the second consecutive election cycle, the Republican nominee Under.the Big fop (Under Supervision Fully Guaranteed) TO APPLY VINYL SIDING 10 Homes Will Be Done Regardless of Cost.

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