People thought MacLuhan was revolutionary, but the handwriting was on the wall for about a century by then.
Look at Kit Carson, Hugh Glass, Wild Bill Hickok and any number of 19th century celebrities who became overnight sensations in their own lifetimes due to dime novels.
Even Wyatt Earp, who was a notoriously seedy and shady character in the 1870s and 1880s figured out how to become famous in his own lifetime by exploiting the media of his day. Earp spent years hanging around Hollywood telling people like director John Ford about the Gunfight at the OK Corrall. Of course Earp left out the part about how the only member of the Clanton Gang who was armed got shot out of the saddle at the beginning of the fight and how he and his brothers had to flee town to avoid being arrested.
History books are full of odd characters who became famous in their own lifetimes. From characters like Paracelcus the medieval doctor and wizard to Billy the Kid, an unassuming young cattle puncher who was quick on the trigger and in on the ground floor of what became known as "The Lincoln County War."
You don't necessarily have to be a great man or great woman capable of astounding deeds or historical movements to become a celebrity. In this day and age anybody can become famous, if at least for 15 minutes.
Nothing proves this to be true more than the cases of some local celebrities like Diamond Dave the Boone County Ninja and The Dancin' Outlaw himself, Jessco White.
I first became aware of Diamond Dave when I saw him on a video clip from Jerry Springer's show. Let's just say it boggled the mind and leave it at that.
Years ago, I had seen Jessco's original documentary on PBS and I can honestly say I had never seen anything like it. Even I was amazed when Jessco became a quasi-legitimate cultural icon due to appearances in rock videos, country music hits and of course documentaries. Recently Jessco was in the news again when he got arrested on drug and conspiracy charges in Boone County for allegedly trying to buy cocaine. Bond was initially set at $50,000. However there was some confusion over the transaction and the drug charges were later dropped. His bond was reset at $10,000. Producers of "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia put up his bond. Just the other day, it was announced that the charges were dropped. Me being me, I was sort of suspicious of the whole thing all along.
By nature I am the paranoid-conspiracy theorist type. I had figured maybe Jessco had possibly been put up to doing something skeevy in the hopes of getting arrested to be in the news again. Given the odd nature of the arrest and the dropping of the charges, it looks to me like Jessco went out and hung around somebody he knew would get him flagged by cops so that attention would be drawn to his latest documentary which had conveniently been released about the same time.
Many people in the area have not seen the newest documentary about the Dancin' Outlaw, but one of my best buddies who was present during the filming has and he spoke with me about the experience. He asked that I not use his name for personal reasons. He spoke at length with me about the film and about meeting the Dancin' Outlaw.
"I was there for one interview and hung out with the filming crew a couple of times during their downtime," he said explaining that he and members of his band were shot, but he wasn't sure if that footage would be utilized.
"There was over 200 hours of footage they had to edit down to about an hour and a half. It was shot primarily in Boone county and they just followed Jesco around and there were shots filmed at various correctional facilities in the region," my friend told me.
When asked why the jails had been filmed, the musician said, "A lot of the Whites have been in them."
The new documentary was shot in Boone County and other local areas over the course of several months in 2008 by Julian Mitzberg who had a previous connection to Jesco White from his days making films at Appalshop in Whitesburg Kentucky.
Appalshop is an Appalachian cultural and heritage organization. I went there as a teenager once and it was awesome. They produced arts and crafts as well as producing music and documentaries and video and oral histories.
"Julian Mitzberg was the director, and he did the film, "The Wild and Wonderful World of Hasil Adkins" that had some early footage of Jesco in it. He did that documentary when he worked at Appalshop and then he moved to New York, but he did his early shooting there in Whitesburg," my friend said.
Hasil "the Haze" Adkins was country, rock and roll, and blues musician who performed as a one-man band and was also a Boone County native. Jesco was neighbors with the late Adkins and the two were friends.
The musician said it was an interesting experience meeting Jesco White.
"I hung out with the film crew and I was in the next room when suddenly I heard him (Jesco) laugh," he said. "We went to Bobs and Bees which was a place that was really out there. We had to go get his tap shoes and I saw him tap to "Baby Got Back" and his sister was there rubbing up on the baseplayer. ... it was sort of surreal."
Jessco certainly has his critics and detractors, but I gotta give the man credit. He has proven Marshall MacLuhan's concept to be true. You don't have to go to Hollywood to be famous. You can become a celebrity in this day and age right in your own back yard.
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