Friday, August 23, 2019

The Fans' Love Story: Encore -- Part 2

Continuing from Part 1

The cover of Sue Tabashnik's book
The Fans' Love Story: Encore

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In her book's Chapter 4, author Sue Tabashnik tells about her visit to Madame Tussauds wax museum in Hollywood to see the wax statue of Patrick Swayze. The statue is seen in this video.


Tabashnik interviewed the museum's marketing director and asked the following questions:
Who decided to make a statue of Patrick? Is there a committee who nominates and then votes for various stars?

Why was this particular scene from Dirty Dancing chosen for the statue?

How long did it take to make the statue, and how many people were involved in making it?

Was it an emotional experience for the people on the team making the statue, and had any of the team met Patrick or Lisa (Patrick's wife)?

What was the hardest part of making the statue?

How much of a role did Lisa have in the creation of the statue?

What kind of feedback have the fans given about Patrick's statue?
Tabashnik's essay about her visit includes the following passages:
... and then all of a sudden I saw straight ahead of me: Patrick's statue! It was positioned right next to Sylvester Stallone from Rocky and kitty-corner to the Star Trek figures. I just stopped in my tracks and stared. I knew right away that this was a huge and so well-deserved tribute to Patrick. ....

The statue of Patrick as the character Johnny in Dirty Dancing was so true to life. I felt overcome with emotion: if only Patrick were really still here. I could only speculate that somehow Patrick knew about this statue and enjoyed it. ....

I took this opportunity to enjoy this tribute to Patrick and also to say what I wanted to say to Patrick. I thanked him for all that he was still doing for me by his portrayal of the character Johnny and, most important, by the way he lived his life with boundless passion., spirit, courage, and dignity, which serves as great inspiration to me.
The book includes a photograph of Tabashnik posing with the statue.

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The book's chapter 5 is a one-page essay written by Joshua Sinclair, who directed Swayze in the 2008 movie Jump. The essay includes this passage:
In all my career, I have never met such a dedicated and passionate human being -- on and off the set. ... Patrick Swayze was the sort of miracle that comes along only once or twice in any given generation.
Swayze won the award for Best International Actor for his leading role in the film.

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The book can be ordered from various booksellers, including directly from its publisher, Passion Spirit Dreams Press.

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I will continue my review of the book in Part 3.

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