Page 5 - The Peorian, Vol 3 Issue 2
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I
come from a little town in
southwestern Indiana called
Vincennes. It is an historic town,
once the capitol of the Northwest
Territory, home to the first printing
press some kid named Abe Lincoln
ever saw, once home to William
Henry Harrison who had the shortest
tenure of any U.S. President in history
(32 days) and was the first to die in
office.
Vincennes was also the hometown
of a comedian who was pretty famous
in his day, so well loved he had his
own television show. He also became
very famous for his recitation on that
show of the Pledge of Allegiance and
his explanation of each line of the
pledge. That gets replayed now on
Facebook pretty frequently.
His name was Red Skelton. You
may have heard of him; anybody
over the age of 55 certainly has. He
is celebrated in Vincennes with a
monument marking the ramshackle
house in which he was born and with
a bridge that crosses the Wabash
River.
More recently, the new theatre and
arts center at Vincennes University
is named for Red Skelton and within
that center is a museum celebrating
the man and his heritage.
Inside this issue of
The Peorian
you
will find a story about Richard Pryor.
He was some stand-up comedian
from a few decades back. You may
have heard from him.
Many comedians working today,
as well as entertainment critics,
consider Pryor the greatest comedian
of all time. They cite his stand-up
routines as well as the myriad of
movies in which he appeared.
Getting officials in the city of Peoria
to do much of anything to honor
Pryor has been difficult. He has part
of a street on the city’s south side
named after him.
Preston Jackson, arguably this
city’s greatest sculptor, wants to
complete a statue he made of Pryor, a
classic pose of the comedian holding
a microphone. But Jackson can’t
raise enough money to get the statue
bronzed.
Why is there such a difference
in the way one community treats a
well-known native son and the way
the other seems ready to ignore their
own? The only possible answer, as
The Peorian’s
Kevin Kizer writes,
is that Pryor made some people
uncomfortable with his brand of
humor. His language left some
cringing; his lifestyle was not pristine.
Perhaps those things remind
Peorians too much that the city once
was a crime-ridden town filled with
prostitution, drugs, gambling, etc.
After all, it was into that environment
Richard Pryor was born and which
he joked about on stage and in his
semi-autobiographical movie “Jo
Jo Dancer,” part of which he filmed
here.
I’m not trying to be preachy here or
influence the thoughts of our readers.
I’m just pointing out the differences
that have always puzzled me,
especially in today’s society, when
anything Pryor said or did seems
tame.
Read Kizer’s story and decide for
yourself. If you believe Pryor and his
accomplishments should be ignored,
do nothing. If you think he is more
deserving of recognition, get involved
somehow.
President ӕ Publisher
Julie Russell
Editor
Paul Gordon
Design
Stuart Clubb
Mike Cameron
Megan Valentine
Contributing Writers
Kevin Kizer
Dr. Peter J. Couri
Bob Miller
Bill Knight
Kate O’Hara
Terry Bibo
Tim Rosenberger
Advertising Sales Contact
Production Manager
Mark Kiel
Production
AdCo Advertising Agency, Inc.
1302 W. Pioneer Parkway
Peoria, IL 61615
Phone: (309) 692-7880
Editor
From the
5
thePeorian.com
