2. My bio?
Born on April 17, 1969 in Miami, Florida; grew up in Montreal, Quebec; went to school in
Sherbrooke, Quebec (B.A. in Professional Writing) and Waterloo, Ontario (M.A. in Professional
Writing); now resides in Nepean, Ontario.
3. How do I know so much about AW?
The AW Goddess whispers things to me in my sleep... Actually, I have an excellent memory (I
know most of the character guide by heart, for example), a video library of key scenes, and have
taken out inter-library loans for dozens of soap books. But my knowledge isn't at all limited to the
videos or the files. This love of compiling a database is just in my nature. I did the same thing for
"Little House on the Prairie" in my teens.
4. When did I start watching AW?
In 1984, I got hooked on the Catlin and Sally, and Cass/Kathleen/Cecile in Majorca storyline. I
don't know what got me started. From then, I watched on holidays and during the summer. I
remember once trying to convince my folks I was sick so I could stay home and watch. Otherwise,
my grandmother would keep me informed. I first started with AW's spin-off, "Texas," in 1982,
where I liked David Forsyth so much that I used his character name, T.J., for one of my comic
book characters.
5. Do I watch other soaps?
I keep track of and tune in briefly to AMC, ATWT, B & B, DOOL, OLTL, Y & R, and GH. If I
had to choose a new soap to watch I might not choose any as I am not really enamored of any others.
6. What AW stars have I met?
Stephen Schnetzer (4 times), Tom Eplin (3 times), Kale Browne (2 times), Alice Barrett (2 times),
Charles Keating, Julian McMahon, Grayson McCouch, and Joe Barbara. When I was 17 I sent a
mash note to Julie Osburn (Kathleen), and in January 1995 I sent a copy of the May-August 1986
tape to Alice Barrett and a copy of my AW files on diskette to Robyn Griggs. I heard from Alice,
who said she enjoyed the tape. From 1995-1996 I sent various print-outs from this site to Victoria
Wyndham, as well as a copy of the Best of Rachel tape, which I had made originally just for her.
7. Does anyone at AW know about my web site?
In 1995 I was able to ask two Internet-knowledgeable stars about that. Kale Browne had never
even looked on the Web for anything to do with the show. Tom Eplin said he'd seen my site, but
he may have been mistaken. Till the present day, I'm not sure who knows about the site and whether
such knowledge is direct or second-hand. I know that surfing the Net for stuff you spend all day
working on is considered a busman's holiday by many, and they simply aren't interested.
In 1996 I wrote to the show's music director, Sue-Beth Markowitz, asking her to contribute to the AWHP. She phoned me to say she would be glad to do so, but she never got back to me. Several months later I wrote to six other departments on the show asking for their input and participation. The only respondent was AW editor Karen Thomas.
8. Anyone interesting ever contact me about my page?
Various people in the entertainment industry: producers, reporters. An ex-AW scripter who
provided me with backstage details. A relative of Constance
Ford's. A relative of one of the kids on the show. MANY people who knew/know various AW
stars (mostly former stars). Soap Opera Digest. Soap Opera Magazine. Soaps In Depth. Day players.
9. What's The David Letterman show story?
A Letterman producer first contacted me in 1997 to ask if I had old footage of
Ray Liotta, an upcoming guest. He had seen my web site, and noted the link to
my AWVL, but I had to tell him I had nothing before 1986.
In 1997, he called me again to ask for a good Anne Heche scene to use when the actress appeared to promote "Volcano." I made up a tape of the ten best AH scenes in my collection and sent it to him. He chose a lackluster Vicky/Marley scene (they really wanted something featuring Anne in both roles) and acquired a fresh copy from P&G. They ended up not showing an AW clip at all during Anne's appearance, probably due to time constraints. But during Anne's appearances on the Tonight Show and Rosie O'Donnell, they all ended up showing the exact same clip of Vicky/Marley! What must have happened is that when Leno and Rosie asked P&G to send them something of Anne Heche, P&G just sent them a copy of the same episode they made for Letterman.