Three Weeks since last post....


Much has happened and continues...I have been getting losts of offers of aid from people from as far away as Australia, Dallas and the UK. A student of Doug Dwyer's contacted me. His name is Jim Quattrocki. He is a video producer. Great guy, and not because he offered me assistance right away. He is helping me put together the 10 minute trailer I need.

We interviewed Doug Dwyer again in a controlled situation, no more McDonald's with background music rights Issues. One thing about these Dante friends and Students is they are pretty decent folks. How far John walked outside...Doug suggested it was his realtionship to his father that was the problem, that John could never measure up to this start athelete and maternity doctor.

Doug gave me the other side of the New York Madison Square Garden fight in 1962 where Gary Alexander says he beat John Keehan. Doug says John was disqualified, as he said he was. In Doug's opinion, JOhn won that fight. He says there was one other Chicago witness to the match, a guy from Indiana named DeMerse.

Now Gary Alexander emailed me and said he beat Keehan in 5 seconds and there was nothing to talk about. Hmmmmmmmm...

Doug had this great picture of John breaking a brick with his fist,a powerful straight puch that knocks the dust out in a spray on the photograph. Graham Noble in England tells me this photo was published in Black Belt Magazine about 1964. He has a copy of it. Graham is sending me some info from North Tynside. People are really great and forthcoming when they like a project. And one musty alwasy be conscious of those contributions and show appreciation. I have seen too many people blow off people who helped them when they did not have a pot to piss in. Build bridges, don't burn them.

The other thing that is kind of interesting os all of the reference to Count Dante in vehicles of poular cuture. There is Count Macho in Howard the Duck, Mr. Satan in Dragonball Z, and Count Dante as one many eccentric characters referred to in Robert Rankin's Brentford stories. Dante is referred to as wearing a mask and in hiding to avoid being murdered by the martial masters whose secrets he has made public.

Doug also told us baout their bouncer days at South Side bars where John would show up wearing an ascot, beret and silk shirt attracting the worst kind of attention in order to have an excuse to show his skills.

I am wondering how much he was influenced by another Chicagoan who was born 10 years before him in 1929, Bruce Tegner. Tegner is overlooked for being commercial also. Both his parents were martial artists back then, another interesting story. My first self defense book taken from the mobile library on 24th and State St. was a Bruce Tegner book.

New discoveries about this man surface every week. Where to start where to start. It is to much, it is overwhelming. GREAT!!!

In the middle of all this my mom is moving to Texas, my dad got ill this past weekend, and I started a new company and am still hanging on to my part time job at the Jazz Institute of Chicago. Gotta do what cha gotta do. LOL.

That which does not kill you, makes you stronger so they say....

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Floyd,

I'm in the midst of editing my piece about you and the documentary. I'm going to approach the Reader, the Chicago Journal and a few other folks. I'll keep you posted. Great to read this update. Good stuff.

Incidentally... Another comic book Dante parody was Count Coldcock, in Mike Baron's comic Badger. It was a one-panel gag. It even mocked Yubiwaza. I'll scan it for you. I e-mailed Steve Gerber about Count Macho for my comics ad piece, and he confirmed he was pretty appalled by Dante's ads and 70s martial arts machismo in general (obviously).

Are you no longer running e22 Digital? What's your new company?

Yrs:
Dan Kelly
Anonymous said…
Dante was an overblown clown. Nuttier than squirrel shit, and his fighting record was mostly a figment of his overactive imagination. Why don't you make a movie about a real person, instead of this living comic book character?
floyd webb said…
Why? Because I can. You want to be in the documentary so you can explain how you know so much about Dante's fighting record and his active imagination? You are welcome to be interviewed if you can give your own credentials and explain who you are and you know so much about him in verifiable anecdotes. Are you in Chicago???

Popular Posts