Some of the best moments at the Comic-Con International this year came with the appearance of broadcasting legend Gary Owens on a couple of panels, including a spotlight conducted by Earl Kress and me. And Gary was quite a trouper to do all those things on Saturday because, as some of you may have heard, his not-inexpensive car was stolen that morning from the hotel where he was staying. I am happy to report that the car has been found, scratched and with some of its contents missing, but reasonably intact. The hotel will be paying for the necessary repairs and replacements…so while I wouldn't say it was a happy ending, it's not as bad as it might have been.
This is a leap but I am reminded of an anecdote I might as well post here. My father's car was stolen in the Summer of 1970. In fact — and there's no connection to the event but one reminds me of the other — it occurred on the Saturday of the first San Diego Comic Convention. I came home from the con to hear the news.
Amazingly, police caught the guy who'd done it and he plea-bargained on an understanding that committed him to only two or three months in jail. After he pled guilty on those terms, thinking he'd made a helluva deal, a U.S. attorney stepped in and charged him with stealing government property. My father worked for the Internal Revenue Service and his briefcase, which was full of paperwork, was in the trunk. Though he never even opened the trunk, the thief wound up serving six or seven years more for stealing something he didn't even know he'd stolen. I have a feeling he wasn't too thrilled with the lawyer who'd advised him to take that first plea-bargain.