Originally published June 27, 1997, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1232
I remember the first and only time I saw him in person.
It was at the earliest point in my career… indeed, it was before I even had a career. At the time I was still considering the notion of trying to break into news writing. Obviously, it was long before I wound up with a career in fiction (although some reporters produce work which clearly falls into the category of fiction.) And I’d had a job interview at CBS News. The job basically involved sitting and transcribing news broadcast into hard copy. Someone’s got to do it, after all; you didn’t think that those transcriptions they’re always telling you that you can send away for wrote themselves, did you?
It was described to me as “entry level,” but as I asked around it seemed to me that a more appropriate description was “dead end.” It simply wasn’t something I could see going anywhere. I’d pretty much made up my mind that I wasn’t interested in it…which worked out fine, because as it happened, they didn’t offer it to me.
But I remember standing in the lobby, looking at some picture on the wall. My back was to the receptionist. And I heard her say, “Good night, Mr. Keeshan.”
And a voice as familiar to me as that of my own parents said, “Good night.”
I turned and there he was: the Captain. The Captain.
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