Realities: Jean Shepherd and Randy's Only Defense
“The reality of what we really are is often times found in the small snips, way down at the bottom of things.” - Jean Shepherd I watched Bob Clark's Christmas Story (1983) for the first time on TBS, years before TNT started broadcasting the film twenty-four hours a day in 1997. I soon became an obsessive fan of the film, watching it over and over again every Christmas. Now I probably watch it once a year, but its lessons and humor have affected my life significantly, and I quote the film more than I should. I started reading Jean Shepherd's short stories and listening to his old WOR radio show. Many of these have been archived on the internet spanning a period from the early 50s to the late 70s. According to lore, Shep usually told his stories without a script, ad-libbing about certain characters and scenarios, and commentating on culture and society. I particularly identify with his stories of the Midwest because I grew up there fifty years later, b...