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You Know You're Old When...

by Rose-Mary Rumbley
ou know you're old when you remember Kookie Edd
Byrnes, star of 77 SUNSET STRIP. I was sorry to read
Yhis obituary, January 12, 2002. He was 87 years old. -I was to play Kookie Edd Byrnes'
mother! We were the same age, but
Edd was best known as Kookie on the private-detective series, 77 I was used to playing the "character"
SUNSET STRIP, which ran from 1958 to 1964. He played a hip roles. I cannot remember the name of the play, but I do remember
parking attendant at a Hollywood nightclub who helped out with that Kookie drew large audiences for all the four week run of the
cases. He was known for his hipster lingo, including the catch play.
phrase "Baby, you're the ginchiest!" When he wasn't making
wisecracks, he was lovingly combing his well-greased hairdo. I was teaching Speech and Theatre at Dallas Baptist University,
and one afternoon, I took Kookie to class! The kids were thrilled
"Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb" was a novelty record to meet him. He was a delightful guest.
he recorded with Connie Stevens. It sold more than one million
copies and rose to Number 4 on the Billboard Chart. My daughter Jill, 12 years old at the time, asked if she could
go to the play one evening. Plays in those days were suitable
He became a teen idol who received 15,000 fan letters a week. for children, so I got Jill a ticket. It just so happened at that
This was at the height of his popularity. performance at intermission a man in the audience died. He was
But Edd began to complain about his contract. He felt he should hauled off, and the audience insisted the show must go on!
have a bigger part, so he walked off the show. After the show, I came from backstage to get Jill. She was

Still longing for bigger parts, he signed with Warner Brothers and standing at the table where the man had dropped dead. Loudly,
worked steadily, but never achieved the fame of his Kookie years. Jill exclaimed, "Look Mother. Look at this table. Alcohol and
He appeared in dozens of movies and episodes of several TV cigarettes! You smoke! You drink! You die!"
shows. The last big moment came when he appeared in the movie I always scared my children to gain control. After all, THE FEAR
GREASE with John Travolta. OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM! Here was
All this time he was struggling with alcohol and drug addiction. living proof.
In the late 60's, the dinner theatres were all the rage, and Kookie Yes, as I read Kookie's obit, I had memories of the TV show and
came to Dallas to appear at Granny's Dinner Theatre on Coit Road. of the Dinner Theatre production. And I couldn't forget that he and
I are the same age! Praise the Lord! I'm still alive!
My agent called me and told me I had a part in a play at Grannys-

Why Is February Only 28 Days?

by Juliana LaBianca Readers Digest
ebruary is a terrible month. By the time it arrives,
we’re sick of the cold, sick of our winter clothes, and in were considered unlucky at the time, and a 354-day year was
Fmany cases, just plain old sick. Fortunately, it’s a short unacceptable.
month—just 28 days. But why?
The calendar still had its flaws. Following the lunar cycle
Turns out, it’s not because everyone in the history of the worked well for a few years, but soon the seasons became out
human race has hated February. The month’s quirky timing of sync with their typical months. To fix it, the Romans added
dates back to the 10-month Roman calendar, which began a leap month called Mercedonius. Rome’s high priests would
in March and ended in December. That’s right. For a while, decide when the month would arrive, and no one else in the
January and February didn’t even exist. To the Romans, city could keep track of what day it was. As you might have
who made their lot by planting and harvesting, winter was a guessed, this was a nightmare.
nameless, dateless slog. For part of the year, there was literally When Julius Caesar took power, he reconfigured the entire
no system for keeping track of the days.
thing again and aligned the length of the year with the sun, so
By the time the second king of Rome took the throne around that each year would add up to 365 days. For some reason, he
750 BC, the Romans decided to add two more months to their left February at 28 days.
year in order to sync their calendar more accurately with the And you know what? We totally agree with that arbitrary
12 lunar cycles. Those two months—January and February— decision. February should always be as short as possible; no
had 28 days each, until the king decided to add an extra day one likes it that much anyway.
to January to make the year 355 days long. Even numbers

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