Monday, June 12, 2017

R.I.P Adam West

Saturday June 10, 2017...I woke up to the news that Adam West had passed away.  Sad news that quickly spread as I got notifications on FB and texts passing along the news.  I had just watched the documentary "Starring Adam West" on Thursday so it was a bit surreal to awaken to the news Saturday morning.

My mom placed Batman curtains in my bedroom when I was about 3 years old.  That is my earliest Batman memory and started a love for the character that continues to this day.  I would get up early Saturday mornings and watch the Super Friends cartoons and The New Adventures of Batman and Robin.  My mom would buy me these little books with a collection of Batman stories reprinted in them from the grocery store.

I remember around 1979 Legends of Super Heroes, a special that had a group of live-action Super Heroes...including Batman, came on TV.  That was my first introduction to Adam West.  I loved it, I loved seeing my heroes coming to life.  It wasn't until 1983 that I saw the Batman Movie for the first time on a CBS Saturday afternoon SPECIAL.  I had recorded it on VHS and played it over and over again.

In 1987 I won an KHNL essay contest to "ride in the Batmobile".  I remember my dad dropping me off at the TV station and meeting the promotions director and an older gentleman.  The older gentleman introduced himself to me but all I remember thinking at that time was "who was this guy and where was Adam West?!".  Years later I regret not appreciating my meeting with George Barris more.

In 2009, a group of my friends and I got to go to the San Diego Comic Con.   The highlight of the con for my was the fact that Adam West would be there.  To get to "meet" Adam you had to stand in a line and pull a ticket from a bucket.  If you got a blue dolphin you got another ticket to see Adam, if you got a green turtle, you couldn't meet him.  They did allow you to stand in line again and pull another ticket.

The autograph session with Adam West was later in the afternoon so my pal Jackson and I had to find something for Jackson to get signed.  I had brought up the cover to my Batman the Movie DVD.  The SDCC program listed an Adam West booth in the vendors area so that is where we headed.  As we got closer to the booth, there was one other guy and we noticed that Adam West was sitting at the booth!  Jax and I ran over to the booth and there was Adam West, two other gentlemen (one who I would later learn was Ralph Garman!) and a woman he would introduce to us as his wife.

After the previous guy had left Jax and I excitedly expressed what an honor it was to meet him.   I bought a couple of photos, got him to autograph my DVD cover and got a copy of "Adam West Naked!".  While he was talking with us, Jackson kept nudging me saying "camera, camera"  I kept saying yeah yeah...not realizing he was asking me for the video camera to capture the moment.  I took a picture with Adam West and before we left, we gave him some macadamia nuts that we brought with us from Hawaii to give to some of the guests.  He graciously took the macadamia nuts and turned to his agent and said "why don't we go to Hawaii, we should go to Hawaii."  "I used to do a show in Hawaii you know..."

We ended up giving our autograph session tickets away because our meeting with Adam West in the vendors area was better than the autograph session we had tickets for.  We weren't being rushed and we got to talk with Adam for a few minutes and get a photo with him.

Jackson and I got to meet Adam West one more time in 2012.  At the New York Comic Con he had an autograph signing with Burt Ward.  Unfortunately this time, we had to stand in line to get an autograph and you couldn't take photos or really talk to either Adam or Burt.  We were able to give the macadamia nuts again and once again, Adam turned to his agent and asked "why don't we go to Hawaii?"

I'm a fan of all of the actors who have played Batman so far but Adam West was my first Batman.  It was a sad day, I watched a few episodes of the '66 show and later that evening a bunch of us watched "Starring Adam West" again.  I have nothing but good memories of Mr. West...Thank you for all you've done for me and all your fans.  Best wishes to your family...Rest in Peace Adam West...our Batman.