Greetings over your interweb devices
“Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear,
And he shows them pearly white
Just a jack-knife has Macheath, dear
And he keeps it out of sight.”
If you ever wanted to meet a real-life MacGyver – here’s your man, Shan Kelly. He most always had his “jack-knife” with him, though not with hostile intentions (although I would not advise crossing him under any circumstances). No, he carried the tool at the ready to fix things, jury-rig things, and in a pinch, even to cut his food. Not a text book boy scout by any means, but knowledgeable and prepared for pretty much anything, anywhere. In fact, he was always among the first to be co-opted when Charlie got the whim for one of his infamous weekend getaways — he might choose to go to Alaska, or Scotland, he even wanted to go to mainland China one time (they talked him out of that idea — not really a spur of the moment decision to enter that airspace essentially unannounced) — the world was Charlie’s oyster, and Shan was along to help shuck those shells.
The last time I ran into Shan, it was around ten on a Friday night on the WB lot. My show had just wrapped and I was bone tired and ready to make the trek over the hill back home. From the shadows near a soundstage I heard my name called out. Were I on a city street, I might have been alarmed, but I stopped and looked about, then, emerging from the umbra was the Shan-man — looking just a little worse for the wear. He was in the middle of a “Fraturday” work call (the one that starts in the middle of a Friday and goes well into the following morning – blurring any demarcation between the days). The particular show on which he was working was using and abusing my friend, and he took it in stride — but I know, deep in his heart, he envied me at that moment, all he wanted was to go home to family and have his head hit the pillow — at least until the next Monday beckoned.
It is not so much that I would always want to have Shan on my team (I would) — but I would consider myself most fortunate to be picked for Team Shan!
To one and all, Be Safe-Stay Healthy