CONVERSATIONS WITH ALEX
Alex gave me a call the first week or two of October. He was still hard at work on his and Susannah's new home, putting it to rights. He was relaxing after a hard day's work when he called and sounded tired but content.
The Roundup for Autism which took place in Mesquite, Texas the last weekend in September went very well. Alex put up for auction a pair of spurs that went for $650. He indicated that there was a LOT of money at that auction and a plenty of it was raised. The biggest thrill he got, he told me, was being able to meet some of the kids and taking a tour of the care facility there, that the kids were great!
We talked about a few other things relating to the website, which will be added as soon as things can be worked out. As always, thank you, Alex for keeping everyone updated.
Well, it's been awhile since I've reported any conversations Alex and I have had. I'm sorry about that -- I've posted most of what he's told me elsewhere on the webiste, but I thought it would be good to post the last conversation I had with him.
Actually, I had the pleasure of conversing with Susannah the first time I called. They have just moved to a ranch in Valley View, Texas, near Gainesville. They absolutely love it there -- it's a real horse-lover's paradise! I found out (and I'm not telling how!) that Susannah is a poet. She also has written a children's book titled "Fenella: The Fable of The Fairy Afraid to Fly". At the moment it is being illustrated. Susannah, I hope I got the name of the fairy right! We chatted for maybe 20 minutes, and then I started getting chewed by mosquitoes outside, so I said goodbye and went inside. (Reception on my cell isn't very good inside most of the time.)
A week later, I talked briefly with Alex. He said that they were really loving it out there, but had about two more months of hard work before the ranch was in ship-shape condition. He also told me about the Roundup For Autisim that he and Susannah would be attending in late September. At the time I was really excited because I thought I could go. It would be the first time I would get to actually meet Alex and Susannah. Oh, well, you know what they say about the best-laid plans. Apparently, my van and I didn't see eye-to-eye, because every cent I'd saved for my vacation this year went into it when she had a tantrum. Ah, well -- there's always the Ben Johnson Rodeo next November . . .
Speaking of which, that's November 2004, not this year. Apparently it's an event every other year, but from what I hear, it may get big enough to have every year. Here's hoping!
Alex told me he was going to be attending his niece's wedding -- I think it was New York -- this latter part of August. So safe journey, Alex and Susannah!
I was in the middle of supper when the phone rang. I was tired after a long day at work, a forty-minute commute home and I was half-way expecting it to be a wrong number (I get a lot of those), so it was such a pleasant surprise when I discovered it was Alex. He sounded great compared to the last time I'd very briefly talked to him. Back in January, Alex had the "flu bug" that traveled down into his chest. He told me he was two weeks in bed with it, that it had really knocked him down for awhile. But he sounded great when I talked to him and his spirits were high.
What Alex has really been working hard on was perfecting the editions on his book, YES. This surprised me a little because I thought he was finished with the editions, but no, he was still hard at it and, from what I deduced, when not working with horses or recovering from flu bugs, hard at work at his word processor whipping it into shape. I mentioned to him in the course of conversation that the excerpts from his novel which he so generously allowed to be posted on the website had brought 150 hits OVERNIGHT. No kidding, fans, I had those excerpts up on the Website by 3:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning and when I checked back at 1:00 p.m. that afternoon, there were 150+ hits recorded. That amazed me and Alex expressed his surprise also. Given that this is a fairly new website on the Internet, to me that was impressive. We also talked about promoting his book on the website -- and hopefully that will be a distinct possibility, as soon as I look over the rules from Geocities.
We fell to talking about his book some more and I asked him if he, himself, really could train horses the way Jesse Burrell did in the posted excerpt, 'Hooking Up With Soot.' He said yes, he'd done it and cited me a specific example of getting a saddle on a horse in 45 minutes for a friend of his, almost exactly as was written about in that excerpt! I was thinking, Wow! Does this guy have a way with horses or what?? I don't know about anyone else, but I would LOVE to watch Alex do something like that in the round pen.
I also brought up a project that I hope all of us Alex Cord fans (or Airwolf fans, as the case may be) can help make a reality. Alex has given us his blessing (and I think was rather flattered). I think that anyone who has as much talent as Alex does as an actor, writer, horseman and organizer of charity events should have a star on the walk of fame. Feedback on this will be appreciated, and as soon as I have all the particulars, I will post all to a separate page on the Website.
I think that about covered our conversation -- the high points, anyway. I hope I will be posting many more entries of this nature in the future!
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