The Pumas and the Cravasses

As I have remembered on this blog before, I once not exactly met, but encountered, Tommy Smothers.

I was working in a bookstore on Concourse B of what was then Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta, and in walks Tommy Smothers. He was the only customer and I was the only customee (or employee) in the place, and I noticed and recognized him immediately. He set to work in browsing the fiction section and soon enough turned up at the cashwrap with a Cormac McCarthy trade paperback in his hand. (I don't remember anymore if it was All the Pretty Horses or Blood Meridian or what. I just remember appreciating that he didn't read crap.)

Well, it became obvious from his manner that he didn't want to be recognized. He just wanted to buy his book and get on his plane, so I just rang him up and took his money and made the proper change. And that was fine. I was glad to have encountered him. My only regret is that I didn't get to say the one, tiny thing I wanted to say to him: "Thanks for the pumas in the cravasses."

This YouTube video explains it all. Enjoy.