The Rod Serling, Class of '66 connection(s)

Rod Serling on Cayuga Lake - 1960
Originally uploaded by Brite Lights photos.

CAYUGA LAKE, New York - Not to dwell too long on Rod Serling, but...

After posting yesterday about Rod, I received two very interesting emails, one from Ward Romer, the other from Shelley Kales, both about Rod Serling.

Here's Ward's:

Your piece on Rod Serling was timely - the local Ithaca
Journal (aka Ithaca Urinal) recently printed an article about him as a 'regular Ithacan' (June 28 - you can buy it for $3 from their website -
right). Serling was born in Syracuse, grew up in Binghamton, and after
celebrity life in NYC and LA settled in Interlaken, just north and
between lakes Cayuga and Seneca. He taught communications courses and
gave lectures at Ithaca College from 1967 to 1975, and the school
maintains a Rod Serling archive including scripts and films of the
Twilight Zone episodes. His cabin cruiser (as the popular story went)
was berthed across the inlet from the Ithaca College Boathouse, named
'GHOTI'. I saw it every day when working with the crews, but never saw
Serling take it out. The name of the boat was pronounced 'fish' - the gh
as in enough, the o as in women, and the ti as in nation. Not bad for us
anglophiles, who can pronounce something like Featheringstonhaugh
'fanshaw'..... - Ward

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When I return to New York in about a week, I'm going to head over the check out the Serling archives. The guy was a genius.

The second email, from Shelley Kales, is here:

================
This is so wild. I was born in Binghamton, and my grandfather owned a diner
there. Rod Serling would come into the diner and eat, and my mother knew
him well. If I remember correctly, Mom dated him while in high school as he
was only 4 years older. - Shelley

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What was that movie some years ago? Six Degrees of Separation? Whenever I travel it's rare that I don't bump into someone in the airport - or on the plane - who I know either from some journalism connection or through the university. And, of course, if I start talking to almost any person sitting next to me on the plane, after a few minutes, we usually have a person in common.

So weird, so Twilight Zone. I can hear the theme from the show playing in my head already.

But to get rid of it, here's a song from 1963 that you have been trying to forget ever since it was popular. And yes, it was a big hit. I'm not kidding.

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On Top Of Spaghetti
Tom Glazer & The Childrens Chorus


Hi kids
(Hi Tom)
Let's sing a little bit

On top of spagetti (on top of spagetti)
All covered with cheese (all covered with cheese)
I lost my poor meatball (I lost my poor meatball)
When somebody sneezed (when somebody sneezed)

It rolled off the table (it rolled off the table)
And onto the floor (and onto the floor)
And then my poor meatball (and then my poor meatball)
Rolled out of the door (rolled out of the door)

It rolled in the garden (it rolled in the garden)
And under a bush (and under a bush)
And then my poor meatball (and then my poor meatball)
Was nothing but mush (was nothing but mush)

Alright now
I'll tell you the words
And you sing it back to me

On top of spagetti (on top of spagetti)
All covered with cheese (all covered with cheese)
I lost my poor meatball (I lost my poor meatball)
When somebody sneezed (when somebody sneezed)

It rolled off the table (it rolled off the table)
And onto the floor (and onto the floor)
And then my poor meatball (and then my poor meatball)
Rolled out of the door (rolled out of the door)

It rolled in the garden (it rolled in the garden)
And under a bush (and under a bush)
And then my poor meatball (and then my poor meatball)
Was nothing but mush (was nothing but mush)