Wednesday, January 7, 2004
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Wednesday, January 7, 2004 |
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Performer-author addresses writer’s group Carol Buckler and Ken Babcock Abb Dickson is a nationally known performer who resides in Jonesboro. Having entertained in all 50 states and 29 countries, he recently spoke to the Fayette Writers. His many talents are corporate speaker, lecturer, author of four books, and a character actor. An interest in magic as a child led to his versatile career. In the 1970s, Jimmy Carter called him to perform at Amy’s birthday party in Plains, Ga. After Carter became President, Dickson performed at her party in the White House. Since magic is an illusion, he became interested in special effects. This was a door opener to the movie industry. One day, he got a call from someone saying, “This is Orson Welles.” Dickson, thinking it was someone playing a joke, responded by saying “and I’m the King of England.” It turned out that it really was Orson Welles and he wanted to use some of Dickson’s props. The two became good friends. Dickson went on to do special effects for “Star Wars” and a Superman movie. He also performed on prime time sitcoms with “bit parts” as well as on variety shows such as “Saturday Night Live” with Steve Martin and John Belushi, and The Tonight Show. He also worked on Disney movies and Klondike Bar commercials. Dickson has works in “Architectural Digest,” “Smithsonian,” and “Forbes” magazines. His books include “Jonesboro: A Historical Sketch,” “The Battle of Jonesboro,” “The Secrets and Mysteries of Egypt” and “The Greenhouse - A Visitors Guidebook.” One piece of advice he gave to the group was, “Talk to old people, that’s where you find unique and wonderful stories.” “You want to know who they are and how they came to live in this area,” he continued. “Try to learn as much about their parents and grandparents as they can remember. Pull stories out of them to make your book interesting.” Dickson stated that he would be glad to come back and talk to the group again. The Fayette Writers meet Saturdays at the Fayette County Public Library at 10 a.m.
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