Ho ho, ha ha, goodbye
Jul 24, 2014, 1:58 PM | Updated: 5:29 pm
Shortly after noon Wednesday my brother died. And so did a friend of yours and your mom and dad and probably your grandparents, too, if they’ve been in Arizona for a while.
Everybody who has lived here between 1954 and 1990 knew my brother, Bill Thompson. I never called him that, of course. From the very beginning, 1960 for me, it was always Wallace.
He and Ladmo were the first people I ever saw on Phoenix television. Right from the start I was captivated with these two guys on independent TV Channel 5.
They weren’t local guys with cheap hand puppets. They were irreverently, brilliantly wonderful. And after a little while, I was invited to be one of them. They opened the comedy door wide for the rest of the family: Gerald, Captain Super, Aunt Maud, so many folks that I got to know over the 30 years — 10,000 shows.
Ladmo’s gone, Mike Condello, too, and now Wal boy. So I guess it’s up to me to say one more time, “Nice to see you, glad you tuned in.”
I’m Pat McMahon.
