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Gene Wilder died today.  He was 83.  I will always have find memories of him and his career because of two basic things: Willy Wonka (above) and his uncanny ability to make me crack up laughing.

I distinctly remember watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with my cousins, then listening to the soundtrack on 8-track in the car cracking up during the ‘Fizzy Lifting Drink’ scene, which had tons of burping. I also must confess, I laughed a lot the first time I saw Gene’s movie Silver Streak, especially the train station disguise scene. If you know the movie, you know what I mean.

Our trivia question was a two-parter about Gene today: what was his REAL first and last name?…and from what Big Ten school did he graduate? The answers? His real name was Jerome Silberman and he was a graduate of the University of Iowa.  He chose Gene because it was his mom’s name (Jeanne) and he loved the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder.

Our Word of the Day is rarefied (RAIR-uh-fied), which means very high or relating to a select group.

Thanks for listening!

-Joe