Ken Gale and I went out to see Dave Cockrum at the hospital last night, Monday 1-26. His condition has SO improved from last Wednesday when I was there last! His hands are not swollen and his eyes are wide open. He even asked for pencils. Someone had already brought him paper which was in his drawer, ready for recovery. His physical therapist, he says, "Physical Terrorist," has him in the chair tooling around the halls to build up his arms.
We had a great chat about Movies and Comics and Porcupine Pete (Hi Kev-em!) and ideas for stories Dave is cooking up. His earthy humor and gorgeous art have always been a plus to comics. We strolled thru the 70’s when we first hung around with Dave, when he first got into "The Business." I used to dress up as a super-heroine and go to the big comic cons in NYC as Saturn Girl or Bat-Girl or Supergirl, and I always hung around Dave and just watched him draw. He has such a way with expression and his characters have such a sense of fun. Being able to go to a convention and watch Dave draw was so important to a budding artist. I could see first-hand the tools of my future trade and watch the master stroke those pencil lines deftly into a leaping, flying, grand super-hero illustration. Now I have kids who hang around my table at cons and watch me draw and I explain how to hold the brush for them. We also talked about sharks; Dave met some while he was in the navy.
We gave him the card from that weekend’s Big Apple con, signed and illustrated by 44 people! Ken spent most of the con running the card from guest to guest, he even got Rene Auberjonois signature, and as Dave is such a Trek fan….. "Wow! Who did this Storm nurse on the backcover!?!" He loved the Buzz illo! He was very pleased! Loved the artwork and read every word. He also got a big bouquet of flowers w/o a card? Could these be the flowers from Marvel? Mysterious. They were beautiful and Dave liked them very much, but no card? Would Marvel be anonymous?
Bring him fruit! Go talk to him! Visit Dave and clutter up his room with comics and toys……..
Mercy Van Vlack
The 44 people on Dave Cockrum’s Get Well Card (Please excooze spelling):
Dick Ayers, Rich Buckler, Gerard Robinson, Louis Small Jr., Jim Salicrup, Danny Fingeroff, Ethan Van Scriver, Mark Texiera, Buzz, Tim Kelly, Bernard Chang, John Paul Leon, Sean Chen, Walt Simonson, Scott Roberts, Jim C. Roberts, Rodney Ramos, Denny Fink, Tommy Castillo, Dave DeVries, Mike Carbonaro, Mike Lilly, Tim Smith, Charles Dixon, Marcus Boas, Bill Sienkiewicz, Peter Palmotti, Jimmy Palmotti, Allan Rosenberg, Joe Rubenstein, Mike Lark, Gary Bishop, Arthur Cloos, Rich Bernatovich, Mercy Van Vlack, Kasim Earl, Chris Duckett, Rene Auberjonois, Kevin Maguire, Jorge Medina, Samuel Vera, Mike Bair, Michael Renzine, Ken Gale and Raymond Connors.
I don't have much to add to what Mercy said. When I was taking the card around at the convention, the most common question was "How is he?" Better every day. The second most common question was "How much longer is he going to be there?" Can't answer that one. He seems to be pretty much over the double pneumonia and viral infection, but there is a third thing that they can't figure out so until they do, they'll probably keep him. Or he might become an outpatient someplace near by (Dave refers to it as a V.A. nursing home). The edema in his hands is pretty much gone, and he's getting stronger every day, but he still can't stand up by himself and they don't know why. He's still a great person to hang out with, even in a hospital.
The address to visit or send cards is:
Bronx Veteran Affairs Medical Center
Floor 7C, Room 9B,
130 W. Kingsbridge Road,
Bronx, NY 10468.
Visiting hours are 10 AM to 8 PM.
The hospital's phone number is 1-718-584-9000; Dave's is 1-718-741-4544.
The nearest subway is the #4 to Kingsbridge Rd. Walk past the Armory on your right and the hospital is on your left in about five minutes. The only entrance is past the parking lots.
He's kind of stuck in bed watching TV, so he really would like visitors, so please forward this to whatever lists and chat rooms and people you feel might be interested.
posted
I just want to say I ADORE Dave Cockrum and any time he wants me to write something for him, I'd be honored. ALWAYS been one of my favorite artists, and is a complete gentleman, to boot.
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From Paty Cockrum's post at Nightscrawlers -
quote:BIG NEWS UPDATE HERE:
I just arranged for air reservations for Wednesday, April 21 For dave to come home!!! He told me the docs were talking about springing him the week of the nineteenth, and I jumped right on it and got reservations! Cliff has volunteered to take him to La Guardia for the two hour flight to Greenville/Spartanburg!...so he will put Dave on the plane and I will take him off here and then it's only a half hour to home! Hopefully we can get his computer up and running so he will be able to get online as soon as he gets here...cuz I KNOW he is anxious to say "HI" and "Thanks!!!" to all of you! You all have been so wonderful in your response and efforts to cheer and help him recover!!! I told him that once I had booked the flight, he was coming home come hell or high water...and he agreed! If the docs don't want him to go...TOUGH!!! He says he will wal...or trundle out AMA...that's against medical advice. It's a big nono...but he has HAD it with being in the hospital. He figures that at least here he can eat the food!!! LOL So that's the latest, people! thanks to all for your support and love! Huggies Paty
From: San Diego, CA | Registered: Jul 2003
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Dark Bamf, at Nightscrawlers, posted on 22-4-2004 at 07:57 AM -
quote:Hi, everybody, yeah, I'm back. Hopefully to stay. They tell me I nearly bit the big one this time. It's not a nice experience.
I want to thank everbody for their love and support over this difficult time. I was deluged with mail, cards, stuffed toys (Paty sent me a garish, five foot long green plush alligator), and--believe it or not--two frozen Chicago deep-dish pizzas.
I'm resting up tody and trying to acclimate to the new digs, so I'm going to keep this short for now. I'll sign bak in later when I can relax and schmooze a bit.
Oh, and the puppy is miss Queen Tootsie Pinkletoes, the tiniest Pekinese I'v ever seen. She's a little champagne-colored fluffball with a black face just like my old best buddy, the late Ringo. Our friend Barb calls her 'attack peke' and our other friend Cat calls her 'Shorty'. Paty bristles at that, she doesn't want her answering to 'Shorty'. But Paty can't make her mind up whether to call her Queenie, Tootsie, or Pinkletoes, so the poor pup's getting a bit confused.
More later. Love to all.
The last part is about the new puppy Paty got for Dave while he was in the hospital.
From: San Diego, CA | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I not only agree with this from Steve, i am glad to hear fromyou as well. Haven't heard much out of you lately, but then, maybe i haven't been looking in the right places.
And Dave, it's good to have you out and home again.
-------------------- Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
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