20 Years of NFFC
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Anyone impressed with a multi-way tie for second place?
But my all-time favorite convention memories involve the people I have met...and each year you never quite know who that’s going to be. For example, once during room hopping I was walking down an otherwise deserted hallway when I noticed two older gentlemen approaching. As I passed them, I overheard one say to the other, “It must be down here, Wathel.�?
It took about five steps before (as the British say) the penny dropped. Wheeling around, I quickly hurried back to introduce myself to Disney legends Blaine Gibson and Wathel Rogers. We ended up comparing notes on recent finds and sought-after treasures, and I will never forget their graciousness. They seemed as enthusiastic as I was!
Of all the memorable people I’ve met at NFFC conventions, Wathel Rogers made one of the biggest impressions. I’m still not sure why. Perhaps because he resembled my father, who was still living at the time?
I believe I saw Wathel at three different conventions. The last was the most unforgettable. I was carrying a copy of Bill Justice’s autobiography Justice for Disney. I’d had the good fortune to help Bill with the text as one of my first projects with Tomart Publications, and I’d gotten in the habit of bringing my personal copy to conventions. My goal was to have all of Bill’s coworkers mentioned in the book sign it (one of my better collecting ideas), and Wathel was certainly in that category.
I happened to see him sitting in the hotel lobby after the day’s seminars; he was waiting for a group of friends to meet him for dinner. I reintroduced myself, then sat beside him on the sofa and pulled out Bill’s book. I quickly found a photo of him programming audio-animatronic figures, produced a pen, and requested an autograph beneath the photo.
It was clear Wathel was not in the best of health; I was later told he was still suffering the effects of a stroke. So I laid the book flat on the cocktail table in front of us and held it in place for him. Without a word of complaint, he grasped the pen between the thumbs and index fingers of both hands, hunched over the book, and laboriously wrote his name in shaky block letters. It must have taken him at least two minutes.
I was a bit surprised to realize he had never seen Bill’s book before. So we sat together for awhile as I went page by page, explaining the contents and showing him the signatures I had collected.
When it came time for me to leave, I thanked him and handed him one of my business cards. As I was waiting for the elevator, I glanced back one more time. Wathel was still sitting by himself, holding my card in from of him with both hands as if studying it.
That was my last memory of Wathel Rogers.
Now I’m looking forward to my sixteenth straight convention and seeing old friends, meeting new ones, hunting for more treasures, and spending as much time as possible in the parks. Of course, I’ll also be too tired to remember what planet I’m on, but that’s a small price to pay, don’t you think?
Discuss It!
-- Posted March 1, 2004
-- Story by Bob Welbaum
Bob has been associated with Tomart Publications for the past thirteen years,
and is currently Managing Editor of Tomart’s DISNEYANA Update magazine.