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Gary Hart's Last Weekend On The Road

Posted: Mar 17th 2008 By: CMBurnham

R.I.P. GARY HART

I don't know even where to begin as I sit here in total shock. I just heard the news that "Playboy" Gary Hart had passed away on Sunday afternoon. This hits very close to home with Ken and I as we spent Friday and Saturday with him. Gary was in great mood and seemed to be feeling well on this trip as he spent time with old friends of his Bill Irwin and Skandar Akbar. I'm not going to go over Gary's career here because I'm sure everyone knows how much he did in this business. What I will do is tell you all about Gary's last weekend on the road and as he put it "the good old days traveling down the road with good friends".

The weekend started Friday afternoon as we picked of Gary, Bill and Skandar at Philadelphia Airport and headed for Allentown P.A. This was like a true lovefest between these three old friend as they couldn't stop talking about the good times they spent together. They talked about storylines, talent, friends, foes and whatever you can think of. It was a great time for us as we just sat back and listened to all the old stories which was so much fun. When we got to Allentown, Gary was to be meeting Kayfabe Commentaries to do a guest booker piece but I had to call Sean and tell him that it would have to wait because these three buddies wanted to have dinner together first. The fun continued for us all as we headed for a steakhouse and enjoyed some more old days talk. Gary talked about how proud of his two sons he was and enjoyed the time he spends with them. I wouldn't ev! en know where to start to tell you about all the stories they told as there were so many. After a long fun filled dinner we dropped Gary off to do his guest booker piece and told him we would talk later. Later Friday night Gary called us and said all went well with the piece and he would see us in the morning.

Saturday morning started as we went to pick Gary up at his hotel and sat down for a quick breakfast with him. The first thing he asked me was did I drink and handed me a bottle of Crown Royal which he told me to enjoy. He said it was given to him by Sean last night at the guest booker piece but he had a couple of drinks but couldn't bring it on the plane and didn't want to waste such a generous gift. That is just the kind of guy that Gary was always thinking about everyone. Gary and I had a convesation about how he couldn't understand why the fans would want to hear about booking. I told him it's a side that most people have no idea about and it was a huge interest to the fans. I also told Gary it had alot to do with the way he just mesmerized people when he spoke. We then headed to Carson's Pro Wrestling World for a Meet & Greet and World Class Ringside Reunion Q&A Session.&nb! sp; The meet and greet went great as Gary, Bill , Skandor and the fans had a wonderful time. It was now time for the World Class Ringside Reunion Q&A which went over well beyond anything we could have imagined. The session rolled along great and all questions were answered and old storied were told to the fans. Gary again showed the person he was as he broke down when a question about Gino Hernandez was asked. I spoke to Gary about that and he told me talking about Gino is very tough do to with Gino being like a son to him. The Q&A taping ended with a standing ovation from all in attendance. We headed back to Philadelphia Airport but not before a trip through the drive up at MacDonalds for a quarter pounder with cheese meal for the "Playboy". The ride was once again great as old stories were covered the whole way back. At the airport the three old friends hugged goodbye and Gary told us that he would be it touch soon t! o work with us again another project. As Ken and I headed home a ll we could do is talk about what a great guy and true genius that Gary was. We also talked about how much Gary did to promote this show for us as he truly wanted us to do well.

As I sit here typing this I get a call from Ken and he tells me he just spoke with Jim (Skandar) about Gary's passing. Jim was in total shock as Gary appeared to be in fine health to him also. Jim told Ken that they had a great time on the plane ride home and continued talking about old times. Jim also said that Gary's two boys were at the airport to pick him up which makes me so very happy. Jim said that he and Gary both thanked us for putting this reunion together as it was very special to them both. I think I have covered it all and I hope that everyone can get a small picture of Gary's last days traveling down the road with old friends.

To the Williams (Hart) family: you will all be in our pray's and heart's at this sad time.

R.I.P. "Playboy" Gary Hart

Steve
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