I was saddened when I heard about the passing of David Cassidy. Like most anyone of my generation, the Partridge Family was ‘must see TV’ on Friday nights in the early 1970’s.
There was a girl named Sissy, a die hard fan of the show who would visit her father that lived just down the street me. She had all the Partridge Family albums, knew all the words to the songs, and was in love with the Keith Partridge. I do not know what ever happen to Sissy. I did try a Facebook search once for Sissy, but nothing ever came up. I have not seen her since 1973.
It was not until the early 1990’s that David Cassidy would again pop into my life. Cassidy was in a musical that was playing in my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan at Devos Hall. I was drinking at Mulligan’s pub where i engaged in conversation with the owner of ‘One Man’s Junk’ on Leonard Street. We were talking about the musical and Cassidy being in town. It was big news for our city back then. I told him I knew of a secret tunnel that ran between Devos Hall and The Amway Grand Plaza. It was the hotel where the cast would be staying. He had a David Cassidy trading card in his store and was hoping I could get it signed.
The next day I went and picked up the card at the store. Saturday night I headed to the hotel, waiting patiently in the nearly empty lobby. Just after 10pm, the “janitor door” where Cassidy walked out wearing blue overalls and sun glasses.
I approached him asking if he would mind signing this card for me. He seemed shocked that he had been ‘made’ so soon. He looked me in the eye and told me ‘no’, and walked away. The TV idol from my youth had shunned me.
Media Works of John Rothwell 