Writing about John is an education

I am not sure I realised how much I would have to learn when I started this book about John. Sure I needed to hone my research techniques, my grammar (always working on that one), to learn so much about John and his world, but I didn't realise how much I would learn about so many others. Whilst researching a person, you have to research the people around them, their career and how on earth you can possibly get in touch with them.

Did you know Jay Underwood who played Bug in Uncle Buck is now a Pastor? That Lonette McKee, Angela Drake in Brewster's Millions, is big on animal rights and is writing a book on her love for birds? One fact, one piece of research and one person always leads to another and it is fascinating.

I have been asked a lot of questions about John since the start of this process, one of the most common ones is about John being rumored to play Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle in a film about Roscoe's life story. Well it was true it was offered to John, however he declined. Personally from my research I believed John passed because he was worried about misrepresenting Arbuckle, John was always very respectful of people.

A few months ago I spoke to Rob Salem who is an old friend of John's, as well as being a renowned writer and journalist. Rob told me "I wanted him to do the Fatty Arbuckle story. I think he was afraid of it. I think he was afraid of where it would take him, out of all the Second City people he got the furthest and the fastest and the most so he didn’t really have the comfort zone that they have of his precedence before them. So that whole fame trap, he was aware of that and very wary of that, and that is what killed Fatty Arbuckle. He told me he was afraid to go there."

Although I knew about Arbuckle, I didn't know his story in full. To understand what John was afraid of I am now reading and researching Arbuckle and I am finding it heartbreaking. A naive and sweet man, made and ruined by Hollywood. The problem is people love scandal, whether it is true or not is irrelevant to most and although it is seen as tomorrow's chip paper, it ruins lives and breaks hearts. So I get it John, but I am with Rob and I think you would have done Arbuckle justice with a phenomenal performance.

I have also learnt you have to earn people's trust and that the kindness of strangers picks me up daily. I am more confident than I thought  but possibly not as confident as I need to be (again working on this one). That if you don't ask you don't get (sometimes you can ask and not get but at least it stops you from wondering what if) and that I couldn't have picked a better role model and moral man to write about.

The book is coming along nicely and the support I am receiving helps no end, so thank you.

Much love to you all
Tracey x

"Whoever said nothing is impossible obviously hasn't tried nailing Jell-O to a tree."

So Del Griffith was wrong. OK you might not be able to nail Jell-O to a tree but you can stick it up there another way. Glue? Sticky tape? Special Jell-O holder?

I have crowd-funded the money I need to self publish the book! Would you believe it? It was rough going for a while, first campaign didn't make it. However, if at first you don't succeed, reduce the print run, change the paper, lower your budget and try again. Campaign number two has finished today and I am 109% funded!

I need to thank everyone who pledged, shared and supported a million times over, it is like a dream come true and all feels a little surreal.

This has been a work in progress over the last four years but I feel the hard work starts right now, I no longer have to just worry about doing a good job for John,  but now for all of those people who believed in me too. When I interviewed Malik Yoba (Cool Runnings) for the book he said that it should be about more than John Candy, it is about reaching out to people and them helping, being knocked down and getting back up.

John was all about dreams and making them a reality, he did it for himself, he did it for others and now I feel like he is doing if for me.

Much love and thanks go to the following for pledging; 
Ellen Green, Jason Freer, Louise Walford, Kris Abrams, Mike Mangone, Kathryn Rowe, Allen Ward, Kristian Haring, Sarah Hayes, Millie de Leeuw, Rene Riva, Mike Harper Lee, Andy Scott, Michael Beard, Helen Martland, Rebecca Hindle, Amy Tuitt, Sorrell Norfolk, Kerri Jackson, Matt James, Aaron Russell MacKenzie Nagy, Joe Kroger, William Worthern, Sophie Archard, Randy Willett, Laura Miller, Matt Clarke, Martin Gordon, Bob and Liz Morgan, Andrew Daley, Holly and Kris Keogh Jones, Andy Cresswell, Chris Davies, Anonymous, Erica Shaw, Karen Booth, Steve Oliver, Jeanette Lucas, Anonymous, Anonymous, Jon Evans, Harrison Scott, Isac Nordgren, Gareth Jones, Eve Morton,Toni Oliver, Simon Morris, Shaun Tomkiss, Simon Whittaker, Jeff Shelan, David Evans, Claire Thompson, Moneygunn, Philippa Kitchen, Lyons and Tigers, Carole Morgan and Richard Bailey, Mark Corbett, Michele Knight, Neil and Emma Byrne, Alex Hall, Anonymous, Mistermantis7, Lisa Williams, Catherine Williamson, Ben Davies, Max Ludwig, Lynette Howell Taylor, Sue Jones, Colin Creed, Kelly Shackleton, Jo Fisher, Anonymous, James Kelly, Mimusiku, Dave Taylor, Russ Beech, Aidy Spillet, Paul Rafferty, Nellie Saunders, Anonymous, Damian McGarrigle, Marc Jones, Chris L, Deb Bolger, Oran Woody, Jennifer Whitfield, Nicholas Holroyd, Sarah Carr, Ben Ohmart, Charlotte Davies, James Watt, Chris Williams, Rosie Greaves, Anita Cash, Robert Whiteley, Alice Sweeting, Helen Hollingdale, Anonymous, Stu Pickering, Jason Weiss, Jeanette Lucas, Robin Lomas, Darren Taylor, Miriam Sanchi, Jon Raffe, Chris Ball, Juul Haalmeyer, John Brown Jr, Janet Elvidge, Steve Jones, Jame Olines, Rebecca Davies, Allan O'Marra, Ella Steel, Glen Lovelock, Olga Rorke, Anonymous, Tim Aldred, Emma Steele, Rob Salem, Katie Jennings, Sarah Wellstead, Elle and Elliot Howells, Steve Oliver, Will, Becky, Edward and Carolyn Dorrell at Hoo Farm, Steven Andrew, Christopher Taylor, Davey Sloan, Vicky Garvey, Jon Anslow, Laura Gallen, Joe Shooman, Mandy Odandiee, Kenn Stewart, Karin Stryuk, James Fisher, Jo Bloodworth, Maddie Newbury, Ed Cook, Kevin Burgess, Julian Bennett, Donna Meyer, Mark Darbyshire, Richard Teixeira, Joan O'Mara, Sean O'Mara, Jonathan O'Mara, Sim Burton, Justin Evans, Craig McKay, Anonymous, Andrew Pritchard, Kate Hobbs, David Morgan, Christina Kennedy, Al Puente, Shawn Bonning, Sara Edwards, Kathryn Walsh, Steve Swain, Sarah Zacharek, Jodie Foster, Tapemeasureman, Rhys Perry, Mick Perry, Sarah Wilson, Kat Davies and Michelle Partington.

Better get my head down, there is still a lot to do!

Much love to you all 
Tracey xxx

PS Hoping to have some artwork to show you in the next week or two :) 

21 years on

John Candy 31.10.50-4.3.94 

If you added up every waking hour and everything he achieved, John Candy lived the life of an eighty year old.

One of the early interviews I did for the book was with Second City Alumni, Dave Thomas. Dave told me he had a conversation with Dan Aykroyd at John's funeral, where they discussed exactly that. John lived a lot; he worked a lot, went out a lot, stayed up a lot, ate a lot, laughed a lot, loved a lot. He lived his life, a lot.

On a day like today when we realise John left us 21 years ago, this thought always gives me a lot of comfort. Yes we would still love him to be here, we miss him and he had a lot more to give us. However, he lived life like we all should. John did not waste a second. As Peter Kaminsky said to me, "John consumed the world".

Go out and do something nice today. Go follow a dream or help  someone else achieve theirs. Go watch one of John's movies and marvel at his gift to us.

My love goes out to John's family and friends and all those that miss him. My thanks, as always, goes to John.

Raising my Orange Whip

Tracey x

They can kill you but they can't eat you

So recently, in terms of publishing I have decided I will self publish (unless of course a like minded publisher rears their head).

I have been told many times that John Candy is wonderful, my book will be wonderful, but unfortunately John's life is just not scandalous enough and he doesn't have a big enough following.

John Candy was one of the nicest people in Hollywood and so talented to boot! It makes me wonder when we live in a world where anyone can become a celebrity, regardless of talent, by being scandalous and outrageous, what type of message are we sending to our kids? What happened to working hard, having talent and being appreciated for that? I know some bona fide celebrities still
exist (thank God) but they seem to be getting out numbered by larger mouthed, clever, PR savvy reality stars. Please don't get me wrong, all power to them, some of them do a lot of good work and hell they are making more money than I ever will.

I am just disappointed the world would rather focus on scandal, than the life of someone who touched so many and produced such a body of work and legacy.

John took many chances in his career, he would help people out, mentor them, he was kind and gave his time to many. If you can, please help me get his biography out there.

If you would be interested in reading my work about John Candy please consider pre-ordering an advance copy so I can fund physical copies. If I don't raise the money I need by 1st March I will go back to the drawing board, I won't give up. The link is www.igg.me/at/johncandy If you can't afford to pledge you can still help by sharing the link, or consider contributing £1, every little helps.

Likewise if you see someone that has a dream you believe in, please support them. Kindness is magic and we need so much more of that in the world.

For all those having a similar struggle to myself just keep going and if nothing else tenacity will get us to where we want to go. Remember 'they can kill you but they can't eat you'... which incidentally is the title of the late Dawn Steel's book which taught me one of the most important lessons. If you can't get through the front door, go through the back door. Can't get through there then go through the window or down the chimney. Just keep going and you will find away. Dawn actually worked with John  when she produced 'Cool Runnings'. It was via her book that Ken Tipton found John Candy and asked him to be his mentor. Of course John, being John, obliged... but more about that later.

Much love to you all and thanks so much for your support
Tracey x

2015

Well Happy New Year! I hope 2014 was as good to you as it was to me. I am still a million bucks shy of being a millionaire but last year I was blessed enough to interview some fantastic people about John. I never thought he could go further up in my estimations but hearing stories I had never heard before just reaffirmed everything I knew about him and then some.

The kindness of strangers has overwhelmed me this year. There have been so many people who have gone out of their way to help and encourage me, they are paramount to this project and a testament of how much everyone who came into contact with John loved him.

Hopefully 2015 holds the book release for me (aiming for October) so I better get my head down. I have over 100,000 words in interviews alone. I have been asked a few times who have I interviewed for the book so I thought I would give you a list so far (there are more interviews in the pipeline too). These people were friends, colleagues, cast and crew, some had chance encounters with Mr Candy and every single one add colour and life to the book. I thank them all for their love and time;

Jonathan O'Mara
Ken  Tipton
Scott Edgecombe
Marty Weil
Lisa Soland
Valri Bromfield
Dave Thomas
Sheldon Patinkin (RIP)
Colleen Callaghan
Martyn Burke
Lorne Frohman
Catherine McCartney
Bruce Appleby
Trish Tervitt
Jim Henshaw
Monica Parker
Jane Tattersall
Allan O'Marra
Bruce McNall
Lonette McKee
Alexandra Bastedo (RIP)
Malik Yoba
Rawle D Lewis
Karen Austin
Jay Underwood
Gary Le Drew
Donna Meyer
Carl Reiner
Eddie Koroso
Tommy Swerdlow
Kevin Pollack
Mel Brooks
Peter Kaminsky
Charles Northcote
Leon Robinson
Rick Lazzarini
Conrad Dunn
Mariel Hemmingway
Mark Jennings
Louisa Jean Kelly
Greg Agalsoff
Tony Rosato
Martin Ferrero
Steve Railsback
Jon Turteltaub
Jill Jacobson
Larry Hankin
Brian Cooper
Ken Levine
Howard Deutch
Walter Olkewicz
Marie Ferraro Ribaldo 
Patty Ferraro
Joe Kroger
Nina Keogh
Leo Crotty
John Stocker
Juul Haalmeyer
 
So I wish you all a very Happy New Year and a blessed 2015! Keep your fingers crossed we see the book later this year.

Thanks for all your support
Much love

Tracey x

Happy Birthday Mr Candy x

Happy Birthday Mr Candy! So another year has passed and today you would have been 64. 

It is so very hard not to write a similar blog post to last year as every word still stands, if not more so. (If you didn't read last years, here it is http://www.searchingforcandy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/dear-john.html )

John, you live on, not just in your body of work but in your family, friends, colleagues and fans.

So to all of your fans I ask this, do something to honour Mr Candy today; watch one of his films, love a little more, laugh a little harder, help someone who needs it and also someone who doesn't, tip a little larger, raise a glass and be kind, always. John can be kept alive in so many ways, not just by remembering him as the comedy luminary and great actor that he was, but by also taking inspiration from his work and life ethic.

Hopefully John by your next birthday the book will be out and I will have done you proud.

Know you are loved and missed by so many,

With love and gratitude always

Tracey x

There is only one Uncle Buck

So this week brings the entertainment news (I specify entertainment as I know there are some very serious issues going on in the world at the moment) that ABC and Universal have partnered up to bring Uncle Buck to the small screen as a sitcom. Rewind to 1990 and this was trialled and unsuccessful, with Kevin Meaney playing Buck and unfortunately for him he didn't even come close to Candy.


Cue the titles;

Uncle Buck TV Show 1990 - watch it through your fingers

I have no clue how they are going to pull it off. John Hughes wrote that part specifically for Candy as he was his muse. John Candy is Uncle Buck!

Even though I find myself wincing I get it. Uncle Buck is a classic, why wouldn't you want to replicate it? At the same time why would you? Some things just need to be left alone. They might do a great job and I may have to eat my hat (it angers a lot of people) and I hope they do. Or at least I hope those who are too young to have seen this brilliant piece of cinema have their attention drawn to it.

It's not just Buck, the casting overall for the film was genius, Hughes always seemed to get the mix right  as well as the writing and Candy being the generous actor he was, would always make the cast feel so at home they just gelled.

ABC and Universal I hope you prove me wrong, but for me there will only ever be one Uncle Buck, no one else could ever come close.

Buck Melanoma