Jim Nolt Needs To Stay Busy In Retirement

Above, Jim Nolt.

Jim Nolt Needs To Stay Busy In Retirement

by Armand Vaquer

Jim Nolt, the editor emeritus of The Adventures Continue fanzine and website, recently retired.

In case you don't know who Jim Nolt is, he was the second editor and publisher of The Adventures Continue fanzine devoted to the cast, crew and history of the Adventures of Superman television show of the 1950s that starred George Reeves.

Jim edited and published the fanzine for several years after taking over from the founder, Dr. Don Rhoden. Due to life's demands, Jim had to hang up publishing the fanzine in 2001. The final issue was no. 16.

Jim didn't completely hang up The Adventures Continue, he switched gears and ran a website of the same name until 2005, when he handed over the baton to Lou Koza (who runs it to this day).

As mentioned previously, Jim was instrumental in securing the celebrity guests for the "Superman Week" celebration in July 2001 in Los Angeles.

Now, Jim has retired and he may be a bit bored with nothing to do. Jim recently sent out the following message:

Well, boys and girls, here I am... officially retired for one full week already. It wasn't that hard getting used to. It's rather like being a little boy again with time to play all day long. And that remark put me in Prof Twiddles time machine and took me back many decades to when I really was a little boy. I was born in 1946, so my first memories are from the early 1950s. Harry Truman was still President and we were entertained by the likes of radio's Amos & Andy and The Lone Ranger. Surprisingly, I had never heard of Superman. To be honest, however, I didn't listen to radio often. Radio listening was an activity my mother reserved for evenings, after the "chores is all done." But then, one wonderful day in 1953, a new piece of furniture, even more fascinating than Twiddle's time machine might have been, moved into our living room. This was, of course, a television. I had seen television before. In fact, for the past year or two my brother and I had gone to the neighboring farm to watch "The Lone Ranger" on Thursday nights, but now we had one of those miraculous machines in our very own living room. And miraculous it was... miraculous that we got a picture even with the huge antenna my dad erected outside the living room window. I remember opening that window and turning that antenna whenever we changed to another of the three (sometimes four) channels available to us. If the wind blew a little two hard, we'd have to open the window again to adjust the antenna. Ghosting was commonplace, and sometimes a signal just wouldn't come in at all. But I loved it. Occasionally I begged my mom to let me come home from school at lunchtime to watch Pete Boyle's* puppet and cartoon show on Philadelphia's Channel 6. And what could be more thrilling than "Kukla, Fran, and Ollie," Howdy Doody," and "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" later in the day? What could? I'll tell you what could be more exciting than those shows -- "The Adventures of Superman." "Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hand. And who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a
never-ending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.

The first episode I ever saw was "The Haunted Lighthouse." What a thrill that was! At the time I had no knowledge of Superman; I had never seen a Superman comic book nor had I ever heard the radio program... so when he flew and when the knife bent on his chest I was enthralled. And when I saw the preview to "The Case of the Talkative
Dummy," I knew I had found something very special... so special that I continue watch more than 56 years later.

If I had to identify five things that make this series special enough to watch over and over again for more than five decades, I'd say:

1) The combination of sound effect, music, and urgency that George puts into his takeoffs and landings. That's one of the things I think is missing from all later versions.

2) George Reeves' amazing personality. No matter what he was in, he dominated... even if he was simply in the background.

3) The sense of family defined by the cast. And no matter how gruff Perry White was at times, I never once felt threatened by him or felt that he didn't genuinely love his small staff.

4) The background music, especially during the b&w years. It was repetitiive and good. And that music was SUPERMAN music no matter where else I might have heard it.

5) The Superman theme. I have watched this show on television, on tape, on DVDs, and online... but no matter when or where I hear that theme, the hair on the back of my neck still stands up.

6) The values represented: Truth, fair play, understanding and tolerance, and putting others first.

For me there has never been a series or cast that comes close to matching the "Adventures of Superman."

* Pete Boyle, I found out years later, was the father of Peter Boyle ("Everyone Loves Raymond"). For many years he held court with Snooper the Squirrel and other puppets and hosted cartoons cartoons daily.

In my retirement I doubt I'll pin a towel to my Superman shirt and "fly" around the neighborhood. But then again, it is tempting.

Jim

Since Jim is now retired with plenty of idle time, I can make a few suggestions on what he should do now:

1.) Revive The Adventures Continue fanzine. Reading a magazine is far better to read than something online. But that's just my opinion.

2.) Write a book on his experiences in Superman fandom. He can include facts that he's learned over the years and stories on meeting the stars and crew of the show.

3.) He can re-take the editorship of The Adventures Continue website and give Lou Koza "the golden boot." (Just kidding, Lou!)

4.) He can start a new fanzine devoted to scream queen Brinke Stevens and call it "The Adventures of Brinke." This would be a great opportunity for Jim to re-connect with Brinke.

Above, a youthful Jim Nolt with Brinke Stevens.

5.) He can get his daily exercise by putting on a red towel and "fly" around his neighborhood. (An appropriate retirement gift for Jim would be to send him sets of red towels or gift cards from Macy's or any other department store so he can get his own).

6.) Jim can also build a "secret closet" in his home and hang up his red towels in it, just like George Reeves did with his spare costumes in the TV show. Perhaps Jim can start a blog about his new adventures with his red towels called, "Out of The Closet"?

In any case, Jim now has time on his hands, so it is up to us to help him keep busy and not rot away in a rocking chair. Any ideas?

Congratulations on your retirement, Jim!