Paul Howard, Son of Moe
Paul Howard, son of Moe Howard, is an honorary member of The Restless Knights - 3 Stooges Fan Club. I am honored to be able to call Paul my friend, and we continue to keep in touch on a regular basis. In May, 2007 Paul was a guest in my home when I arranged for him to come to our town to do his "Son of Moe" multi-media presentation as a fundraising event for our local community arts center.
While being the son of a famous Stooge, Paul's own career followed a much different path than that of his famous father. Moe had wanted Paul to consider a career in show business, but Paul wasn't interested. What did capture his imagination was the artwork of his brother-in-law, the late Norman Maurer. Norman was a world-famous cartoonist, and even created the world's first 3-D comic book! Paul pursued a career as a professional artist, and was the art director at several major New York advertising firms. Paul experimented with caricature drawing at his daughter's school fair, and realized that there was greater satisfaction "selling smiles rather than selling soap".
Today, Paul has become very well known for being an extremely talented professional caricature artist. And, here's the good news....you won't have to jump on a plane and fly to New York to have Paul draw your caricature. He now will do caricatures from your photos! I would encourage you to visit Paul at http://www.caricaturesbypaul.com/ to see his work. There is also information on his website on how you can contact him.
Paul Howard visits Jeannette, Pennsylvania, May 4-5, 2007
It had been over 40 years since the last time a member of the Howard family visited our fair city of Jeannette, Pennsylvania. Moe Howard, who became lifelong friends with the manager of the Oakford Park theater from Moe's appearances back in his vaudeville days, visited Jeannette many times. An article appeared in the July 18, 1936 edition of the Jeannette News-Dispatch described Moe's visit to the town the day before. The Three Stooges were performing their live stage show at a Pittsburgh theater, and Moe spent his day off travelling to Jeannette to visit with old friends and spend the day in the town. He stopped by The Princess Theater (the building still survives, and now is home to the Jeannette American Legion), and was introduced to the audience from the stage. Moe continued to visit Jeannette whenever the Stooges came to the area, through the early 1960's. We graciously welcomed Moe's son Paul to the town on May 4, 2007. I had arranged for him to do his "Son of Moe" multi-media presentation as a fundraising event for our local community arts center. After a tour of the city, including a drive past the former Princess Theater to see where his father had appeared some 71 years earlier, and a stop by the famous Zippi's Barber Shop to see "Zip's" famous collection of Stooges memorabilia, it was off to the center where Paul gave his presentation to a packed house. People still approach me with comments about Paul's memorable presentation! Hopefully, we'll arrange for a "Paul Visits Jeannette II" return engagement someday soon! Paul, if you're reading this..hint, hint.....
Fun times in Jeannette, with Paul Howard, Son of Moe...
In the above photo, Paul poses with my daughters Michelle (on the l.), Melissa (on the r.) and that's me in the middle.
In the above photo, Paul spends some time in the Sanner family living room. Editorial note: My oldest daughter Michelle has lost over 100 pounds since this picture was taken!
Paul greets Stooges fans after his presentation at the Jeannette Community Arts Center - May 4, 2007.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. In the above photo, Paul shares brunch with my wife Nancy and I before we took him to the airport to return home on May 5, 2007. Nothing like a good old-fashioned poke in the eyes before breakfast!