# My Grandpa took John Wayne hunting: What's Your Crazy Family Story?



## Hannah Holborn (Feb 27, 2011)

It may or may not be true my maternal grandpa, a Short from Timmons Ontario, took John Wayne moose hunting on the back of his motorcycle.

There are divided camps on the authenticity of this story, as there usually are when family or history is involved. My level-headed sister, the nay camp, insists our grandpa never owned a motorcycle. Besides, she would have heard such a story long ago if it were true. The yay camp, my father (though not my sister's), is an ex-Shakespearean actor with a strong stage presence and a tickly beard. (I posted a picture of John Wayne on a motorcycle on my blog--no room on the back for my Grandpa or a moose).

What crazy family story do your family members hotly debate?

Hannah

_--- edited... no self-promotion in posts outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread._


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

This is a true family story, not a crazy one.  

When my father was serving in Korea as a Military Policeman, he was one of the men who guarded Marilyn Monroe during her visit.  I know this is true, because the photos still exist.

A couple of years ago, I took my daughter to the Hollywood Museum in (obviously) Hollywood.  They had the dress she wore during that tour.  It was a floor-length sequined black dress with spaghetti straps.  When she saw that her costumer had chosen a floor-length dress, she said that the men deserved better than that and had someone pin the hem of the dress up to just below knee-length.  There was a picture of her wearing it and I looked hard to see if my father was in it, but I didn't see him.


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

This is DH's family story, not mine.  This is one of the 1st things my ILs told me when I met them for the 1st time.  MIL's parents were carnies (people who would scam people while following the carnival around).  They did things like dipping photos into "liquid sunshine" to make them last longer (a bucket of water) etc.  They always traveled w/ 2 things:  a petrified dog and a mummified "black" man (due to the mummification, the skinned darkened, so they assumed he was not caucasion).  They would show them off as a sort of "freak" show.  Once they travelled to a town that made them bury the dog b/c they had laws against that sort of thing so the night before they left, they dug the dog back up.  Once they stopped travelling, they buried the mummy (I don't know what happened to the dog)

The part that has always been debated was whether or not the mummy was John Wilkes Booth.  MIL and FIL both swear up and down that it is; they even called the tv show "Unsolved Mystories" about it, but were not believed.  They do have the information on where he's buried and I think they have a pic of the mummy somewhere.

BTW, family stories are always better when you start it off w/, "well, my grandpa was a carnie. . ."


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

My adopted father worked in Hollywood for many years prior to meeting my adopted mother. He actually used to live behind the Hollywood sign, just below Donald O'Connor. He claimed he could hear Donald soft-shoeing above him before he made it big in the movie 'Singing in the Rain'.

Also - my adopted mother always laughs and says this is bologna, but my adopted father claimed he was engaged to Jeanne Crain from the movie, State Fair. I don't recall why they broke up, and every biography I've read about her never mentioned him, so I always wonder if he was just telling me stories.


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## Joel Arnold (May 3, 2010)

I'm loving these stories! Keep 'em coming. (Although I can't think of anything too exciting in my family history...)


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## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

Quite a few in my family. Some cool. Some not.

My grandfather was a farmer in the Salinas Valley, back during Steinbeck's days. It was a very small community then. Anyway, my grandmother was fond of Steinbeck and would invite him over for dinner without telling my grandfather. He would come home and find Steinbeck there. It made him furious, as he despised the guy. Steinbeck was regarded as a rabble-rousing socialist back then, and the local business community couldn't stand him. On such occasions, my grandfather would simply ignore Steinbeck and pretend he wasn't at the dinner table.


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

My sister waited on Simon and Garfunkel back in the 70's.

A few years ago my son waited on Michael Buble in a hockey rink.

Me? I lived in L.A. for 9 years and ran into a grand total of two celebrities: Tom Poston and Richard Anderson (he played Oscar Goldman in the Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman).

*9 years!!!*

(And if you know who either of those guys are, you're OLD!)


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

4kate I am NOT old LOL

all I can say is Grandmas one on each side crossed borders Canada and Mexico. 
Sylvia


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Not really disputed or crazy, but my mother's parents had a great life story that I'm very proud of....Both of my mother's parents were born to poor "white trash" families in Southeast Missouri  (think of the Old South, despite being in Missouri--The movie "The Flim Flam Man" captured things perfectly except that everyone grew cotton in my grandparent's lives, rather than the tobacco of The Flim Flam Man).  My grandfather's father was an alcoholic, and was eventually murdered by one of his drinking buddies.  Despite this, both my grandmother and grandfather managed to graduate from high school, which was quite an accomplishment for the place and time, about as good as having a college Degree would be nowadays.  My grandfather, who was not an athlete, talked his way into an athletic scholarship to get two years of college at a small local university, and used that to get a job as a teacher.  During their newlywed years, their home was two retired railroad boxcars set facing each other, with the doors open on the inside and a wooden platform between the doors.  Bedroom/living room in one car, and kitchen/closet in the other.

My grandfather took correspondence courses from a state university while he was teaching.  He did much of the coursework, but my grandmother did quite a bit of the work for him and submitted it in his name!  Both of them worked to run a cotton gin at night after school was out.  My grandfather used these correspondence courses to get a bachelor's degree in education, which made him an extremely educated man for the time and place, and became principal of the local school.  He spent most of his career switching between being principal of the elementary school for six years, then becoming principal of the high school for six years.  This let him follow one class all the way through school (high school graduating classes were only a couple of dozen students, so he had a chance to get to know all or nearly all of the students over time).

After World War 2, grandfather used "connections" to get one of the first passenger cars produced after the war (they stopped producing private cars from 1942 to 1946, so this was one of the first new cars in four years!).  There were only a handful of cars available for sale in the whole county, so this was quite a coup.  A neighbor offered to trade him a sizable section of farmland in exchange for the car, and he accepted.  He then farmed the land part-time, supervising hired hands while continuing to be school principal.  He reinvested the profits from that in more land, and accumulated a sizable farm by the time he passed away.  He had always wanted to travel, but never had the time (not a surprise there!) but he did manage to make a trip to Hawaii which was one of the highlights of his life.  Eventually he had a heart attack and died while he was on the job at school.  

Fortunately, by that time I was around, and I do have a number of memories of him, despite being only in elementary school at the time.  I do wish I'd gotten to know him better as an adult, though!  On the positive side, he raised two daughters, both of whom got graduate degrees and have had successful lives.  Clearly, we are very proud of both him and my grandmother.


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

Okay, names dropping it is...

I had lunch with Mel Gibson once, and I chatted with George Lucas in the hallways of Skywalker Ranch.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

After WWII My uncle was coming home across country via train. He was exhausted and slept alot. when he would wake up he'd get up go to the restroom, and then come back and sleep more.  Well, about halfway across country his seat-mate tapped him on the shoulder to wake him up and said "Son, you better disappear, the conductor is coming through again." My uncle was confused, and then, "Oh no sir, I have my ticket..." 
He rode across the US with John Wayne as his seat-mate, and forgot to get an autograph.

When DH & I were dating 20+ years ago, we lived about 4 hours from Las Vegas, so would go there alot on weekends. (young, kid-free).. well, DH loves blackjack, and has played next to many famous entertainers.. and will never ask for an autograph. He says they are there to relax and be normal, not get attacked by some spaztic fan. We have gotten free show tickets a couple times because of this.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

The German portion of my family came to America because the patriarch -- a little unclear on what he was to me -- accidentally shot the kaiser's favorite deer and had to leave really fast. Or so I'm told.


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## SimonWood (Nov 13, 2009)

My great uncle Wally was British Secret Service during WWII.  He was too old for proper active duty so he was bodyguard to government ministers and celebs.  He was never Churchill's bodyguard, but he drove a body double and he was Vera Lynn's bodyguard for a time (who was the voice of the British War effort).


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## Hannah Holborn (Feb 27, 2011)

Christopher Bunn said:


> Quite a few in my family. Some cool. Some not.
> 
> My grandfather was a farmer in the Salinas Valley, back during Steinbeck's days. It was a very small community then. Anyway, my grandmother was fond of Steinbeck and would invite him over for dinner without telling my grandfather. He would come home and find Steinbeck there. It made him furious, as he despised the guy. Steinbeck was regarded as a rabble-rousing socialist back then, and the local business community couldn't stand him. On such occasions, my grandfather would simply ignore Steinbeck and pretend he wasn't at the dinner table.


I love The Grapes of Wrath and can just imagine those awkward dinners!!


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## Hannah Holborn (Feb 27, 2011)

These stories are terrific--Steinbeck, starlet and carnies!


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

These are not my stories, but from some friends of mine:

Lisa met Jim Morrison when she was in the principal's office in high school and he came in to ask if he could put up a poster announcing a concert for his new band, The Doors.

Lisa - the same Lisa! - spent a day on the beach in Hawaii with John Lennon and George Harrison when they were vacationing in 1964. She just happened to be there.

Janet, Lisa's best friend, spent a half hour chatting with Rob Thomas in New York a few years ago. (We're all huge Rob Thomas/matchbox twenty fans.) Rob and his wife were seated at a table next to her at an outside cafe. Rob's wife had to leave, and Janet leaned over to say hello and tell him she was a fan. They ended up having a nice chat. (Which he started with, "Hi, I'm Rob Thomas.")

I really gotta hang out with those girls more!


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

A story goes, it could be true, years ago one of my cousins who was a flight attendent met Tom Selleck on a beach in Hawaii when he was there filming Magnum, P.I.  He asked her out.  She said no.  No??


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

Here's a creepy one that happened to my cousin (who is much, much older than I am).

As a single woman in college, she met a very nice, clean cut young man who asked her out on a date.  She said yes, they arranged what day/time, etc and that he would pick her up @ her apartment.  Cousin was running a little behind getting ready so her roommate answered the door.  She took one look @ him and something told her to make my cousin's excuses.  He asks for cousin and she lies and told him she wasn't there.  The young man leaves, cousin comes out of the bathroom only to find out Roommate has sent him away and gets mad (cute young man, of course she's gonna get mad).  All roommate can say is, "something told me not to let you go out w/ him".

A few months later while watching the news, Cousin and Roommate realized the nice, clean cut young man Cousin had a date w/, but Roommate had a feeling she shouldn't go out w/ was Ted Bundy.  My cousin was probably 18-19 yrs old @ the time and she's now in her mid 40s, but she swears that if it weren't for her Roommate getting the feeling she should send him away, she (cousin) would have been one of Ted Bundy's victims


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2011)

Less than a year ago my uncle was playing Farmville with Hayden Penetierre (the blonde from Heroes). She friended him and they did some talking but he had no idea who she was (even though I gave him the first season of Heroes for Christmas!). Then one day he was looking at her page and saw she posted a video of herself on Letterman. He was like, "Is that you?!" And she replied, "Yeah, but it's no big deal. I'm just a regular person." She deleted her account shortly later, probably because she was being mobbed by fans.


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

Margaret Mitchell (wrote Gone With the Wind) was married to my uncle "Red" (wonder if that's where Rhett came from?) for a brief time before she eventually married Mitchell.  Uncle Red was a bit unstable, to say the least, and it is purported that Margaret slept with a pistol under her pillow after she and Red divorced.  Red met an untimely death jumping (or falling) out of a window in a hotel.

And since we're on the Civil War, my great grandfather marched with Sherman to Atlanta.


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## sjc (Oct 29, 2008)

My father (84) hung out with Dean Martin for a weekend at the Sands in Vegas back when they were young.  He said he was a great guy and not a drinker, as portrayed; it was usually apple juice. Dean was really an old fashioned guy and losing his son was when he lost his own will to live.


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## Philip Chen (Aug 8, 2010)

I danced with Annette Funnicello on the Milt Grant Sock Hop in the fifties.  It's been down hill since then.  I wonder if she misses me?


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## Hannah Holborn (Feb 27, 2011)

More great stories!

Here's another of mine:

When my sister and I were five and nine, our hippy parents gave us a lot of freedom. This included taking off for the day to explore small islands when we were sailing on the BC coast. On one of these explorations, we found the skeleton of an adult pinned beneath a fallen tree on Keats Island. We ran back to shore and swam back to the boat where our parents were hanging out with a policeman friend. No one believed us. As far as I know, the body is still there.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

4Katie said:


> Janet, Lisa's best friend, spent a half hour chatting with Rob Thomas in New York a few years ago. (We're all huge Rob Thomas/matchbox twenty fans.) Rob and his wife were seated at a table next to her at an outside cafe. Rob's wife had to leave, and Janet leaned over to say hello and tell him she was a fan. They ended up having a nice chat. (Which he started with, "Hi, I'm Rob Thomas.")


I used to be friends with one of the guys in Matchbox20.

Dawn


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## Christopher Beck (Jan 24, 2011)

Some awesome stories, people. I don't have anything to compete with them.
My brother pissed on my head once and the house we grew up in was haunted at one time, At Christmas time.


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

Dawn McCullough White said:


> I used to be friends with one of the guys in Matchbox20.
> 
> Dawn


Used to be? What do you mean used to be Can you share? From what I know, they're all really nice in person.


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## Bob Mayer (Feb 20, 2011)

My grandpa shoot at John Wayne while he was hunting.  How weird is that?


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Supposedly, Harry Houdini turned my Uncle Oswald's coat inside out while he was wearing it.

I never met Uncle Oswald, who died long before I was born.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

My dad and uncles played country music when I was younger.  They opened for George Jones.  
One time George and his band came to our home.  I was 5.  Because there were "strange" men in the 
house I decided to lock the door when I went to the bathroom.  Well, I couldn't get the lock undone,
and I was stuck in the only bathroom in the house.  My mother was mortified.  I remember her 
whispering through the door "when I get you out of there, I'm going to kill you."  Obviously she didn't.  
deb


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## Jenni (Feb 20, 2011)

The guy from Candid Camera had dinner at my house when I was like three. I kept waiting for him to actually tell me I was on candid camera.

The french dancer/actress who did all the dancing in Flash Dance (It was not Jennifer Beals) judged a dance contest I was in, but found my dancing less than stellar....

And yes, I am related to Hal Holbrook, but have never met him. My grandfather did though.


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## Madeline (Jun 5, 2010)

Sandpiper said:


> A story goes, it could be true, years ago one of my cousins who was a flight attendent met Tom Selleck on a beach in Hawaii when he was there filming Magnum, P.I. He asked her out. She said no. No??


NO!!! To Tom Selleck?!?! Aahhhhhhhhhhhh!! That is like total and complete insanity!! lol


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

Sandpiper said:


> A story goes, it could be true, years ago one of my cousins who was a flight attendent met Tom Selleck on a beach in Hawaii when he was there filming Magnum, P.I. He asked her out. She said no. No??


I am straight and married and I'd still say "Yes" if Tom Selleck asked me out.

This one isn't so fun, but my paternal grandfather designed the mechanism that allowed bombers to drop their bombs non-sequentially, in WWII. He was also a radio operator; he always said it was the worst position because unlike everyone else aboard the plane, you had time to be scared.


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

I would pay to watch Tom Selleck stand on stage and read the phone book.


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## Hannah Holborn (Feb 27, 2011)

Bob Mayer said:


> My grandpa shoot at John Wayne while he was hunting. How weird is that?


On purpose? John Wayne sure got around, pilgrim.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

4Katie said:


> Used to be? What do you mean used to be Can you share? From what I know, they're all really nice in person.


We had a falling out.

Dawn


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## Guest (Mar 11, 2011)

On April 28, 1881, Robert Ameredith Olinger and Deputy Sheriff J.W. Bell were killed by William Bonney... aka "Billy the Kid."

Bob Olinger-- aka "Pecos Bob" was my great-uncle.

My dad looks so much like John Wayne that many people mistook him for the Duke when Wayne was still alive... and the family always hoped Wayne would play Olinger in a movie.

Emilio Esteves (the good brother) was kind enough to send me a signed page from his script on the day they shot the seen in HIS movie version... and apologized for mispronouncing the name in it.


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## Hannah Holborn (Feb 27, 2011)

oliewankanobe said:


> On April 28, 1881, Robert Ameredith Olinger and Deputy Sheriff J.W. Bell were killed by William Bonney... aka "Billy the Kid."
> 
> Bob Olinger-- aka "Pecos Bob" was my great-uncle.
> 
> ...


So cool!


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## Guest (Mar 11, 2011)

Yah my family is gigantic, too.  We got all up in Governor Richardson's grille when he was talking about pardoning Billy.

Um.  No.

I collect Pecos Bob stuff and have a bunch of old, cool "wild west" magazines with stories on him.  My nieces and nephews have had a field day at show and tell over the years.  LOL


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## kindlequeen (Sep 3, 2010)

Mine doesn't involve anyone famous but a certifiably crazy great-grandfather....

My great grandfather liked to drink and have fun so one day, without telling anyone, he took off for Reno (we live in San Francisco, it's a good 6 hours away).  My great grandmother was going crazy because she didn't know what happened to him, all their kids were adults at this time and they spent days looking for him.  A few days later, he shows up in the middle of the night, walks into the house and asks my great grandmother to go pay the cab driver (who drove him ALL the way back from Reno)!

He was in his 70's when I was born and used to ask to carry me around the grocery store so he could pick up women.  He was a great character and my grandmother (his oldest daughter) loves telling us stories about him.  The above is my favorite.


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## Hannah Holborn (Feb 27, 2011)

kindlequeen said:


> Mine doesn't involve anyone famous but a certifiably crazy great-grandfather....
> 
> My great grandfather liked to drink and have fun so one day, without telling anyone, he took off for Reno (we live in San Francisco, it's a good 6 hours away). My great grandmother was going crazy because she didn't know what happened to him, all their kids were adults at this time and they spent days looking for him. A few days later, he shows up in the middle of the night, walks into the house and asks my great grandmother to go pay the cab driver (who drove him ALL the way back from Reno)!
> 
> He was in his 70's when I was born and used to ask to carry me around the grocery store so he could pick up women. He was a great character and my grandmother (his oldest daughter) loves telling us stories about him. The above is my favorite.


That must have been some cab fare!


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## Hannah Holborn (Feb 27, 2011)

This thread has been so much fun, I've decided to start a blog with the same theme. The Family Skeleton is a blog about families—their well-loved stories, heroic moments, turning points, shameful secrets, myths, truths and lies. It’s about family members lost and found, favourite eccentrics, missed opportunities, encounters with fame, great gains and losses, family curses and much more.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Hannah


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