Vic and Sade Fans Recall it's Heyday
BY LARRY WOLTERS
It WAS FRED ALLEN who said that radio is as ephemeral as a butterfly's cough. There is an element of truth in that observation. If it were not for that, Paul Rhymer's name might be widely known today. Paul Rhymer, for all those who missed the radio heyday, was the author of Vic and Sade,most beloved of all the serial stones that were nurtured and flowered here. He died at 59 on Monday.
While he left no library of books as did Mark Twain, who was his greatest inspiration, he will be long remembered and his - tions of the Gook family of Bloom- ington, where he grew up, cherished for many years in the memories of listeners.
No other characters of the great Chicago radio years evoked as much appreciation and affection as Vic and Sade, their son, Rush, and later Uncle Fletcher. They were Dortraved. of Paul Rhymer
course, by Art Van Harvey, who is dead; Bernadine Flynn, now the wife of Dr. C. C. Doherty of Clay City, 1ll.; Billy Idelson, now active in TV writing, acting and production in Hollywood; and Clarence Hartzell, still active hereabouts.
VIC AND SADE flourished in the midst of the soap opera V era on NBC. But it was utterly unlike them. Instead of action-packed shows, filled with trials and tribulations and washboard, Vic and Sade's episodes, presented for years twice a day on WMAQ and once on WBBM, were filled with gentle wit, almost believable people, and a strain of wholesome living.
Vic was a somewhat pompous husband and father, vain as we recall him, always joining organizations and showing off. Sade was the understanding housewife, who provided a balance wheel. If there was caricature or exaggeration, it was of the kind reflected in the writings of Dickens, who was Rhymer's favorite. There were these who saw in Rhymer's shows some of the flavor of Thurber In his Co- lumbus, O., days, Edgar Lee Masters in "Spoon River Anthology," and Thornton Wilder in "Our Town."
We prefer to think of him as a unique Illinois literary genius with qualities all his own. Vic and Sade clubs flourished and there are people who can still quote literally from his scripts. We hope that Mary Frances, his widow, may find a way to bring his countless scripts to new life - perhaps even to television, tho that was once tried without as great a success as in radio. Perhaps in a picture, or even a book form.
BY LARRY WOLTERS
Oct. 29, 1964
It WAS FRED ALLEN who said that radio is as ephemeral as a butterfly's cough. There is an element of truth in that observation. If it were not for that, Paul Rhymer's name might be widely known today. Paul Rhymer, for all those who missed the radio heyday, was the author of Vic and Sade,most beloved of all the serial stones that were nurtured and flowered here. He died at 59 on Monday.
While he left no library of books as did Mark Twain, who was his greatest inspiration, he will be long remembered and his - tions of the Gook family of Bloom- ington, where he grew up, cherished for many years in the memories of listeners.
No other characters of the great Chicago radio years evoked as much appreciation and affection as Vic and Sade, their son, Rush, and later Uncle Fletcher. They were Dortraved. of Paul Rhymer
course, by Art Van Harvey, who is dead; Bernadine Flynn, now the wife of Dr. C. C. Doherty of Clay City, 1ll.; Billy Idelson, now active in TV writing, acting and production in Hollywood; and Clarence Hartzell, still active hereabouts.
VIC AND SADE flourished in the midst of the soap opera V era on NBC. But it was utterly unlike them. Instead of action-packed shows, filled with trials and tribulations and washboard, Vic and Sade's episodes, presented for years twice a day on WMAQ and once on WBBM, were filled with gentle wit, almost believable people, and a strain of wholesome living.
Vic was a somewhat pompous husband and father, vain as we recall him, always joining organizations and showing off. Sade was the understanding housewife, who provided a balance wheel. If there was caricature or exaggeration, it was of the kind reflected in the writings of Dickens, who was Rhymer's favorite. There were these who saw in Rhymer's shows some of the flavor of Thurber In his Co- lumbus, O., days, Edgar Lee Masters in "Spoon River Anthology," and Thornton Wilder in "Our Town."
We prefer to think of him as a unique Illinois literary genius with qualities all his own. Vic and Sade clubs flourished and there are people who can still quote literally from his scripts. We hope that Mary Frances, his widow, may find a way to bring his countless scripts to new life - perhaps even to television, tho that was once tried without as great a success as in radio. Perhaps in a picture, or even a book form.
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