Looking at Kerry's past, in photos and a comic book
CAPTURED ON FILM Since they first met in 1964, photographer/filmmaker George Butler has taken more than 6,000 pictures of John Kerry, chronicling the candidate's evolution from soldier to statesman. "I took them on the assumption that one day John would be president," says Butler. Now, just in time for the Democratic National Convention, many of Butler's black-and-white portraits are on exhibit at Boston's gallery Kayafas. (Our favorite is a shot of Kerry and playwright Arthur Miller at the 1972 Democratic convention.) Butler may be best known for his 1977 film "Pumping Iron," a documentary about the culture of bodybuilding that focuses on Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Arnold and John are both loyal guys and tough as steel," said Butler, who's now working on a documentary film about Kerry. "They're very different kinds of men, actually, but they have one thing in common: will. They are similar in their ability to overcome obstacles and get to where they're going."
CARTOON CANDIDATE Of all places, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee also shows up in the new issue of "Sword of Dracula," a popular, if slightly macabre, comic book by Jason Henderson and Greg Scott. The July issue includes a flashback sequence in which a government agent drifts up the Mekong Delta in a boat captained by a John Kerry look-alike. Henderson says the physical similarities between the boat captain and a young Kerry are not coincidental. "Kerry's record as a military man is so impressive to me, it just made sense to have him in there," Henderson said. So will George W. Bush be making an appearance, too? "I'd love to include him, if his people would tell me where he was during the Vietnam War," he said. By the way, the comic's been optioned by "Die Hard" producer Chuck Gordon.
GONE FISHING The new issue of Sports Illustrated has a helpful "Where are they now?" feature, which includes a few folks with local ties. Here's a quick rundown: Brockton's "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler is acting in B-movies in Italy; the enigmatic Carl Yastrzemski is fishing alone for stripers on Plum Island Sound; former Sox first baseman George "Boomer" Scott, still looking enormous at 270 pounds, coaches his ballplaying son, Brian, in Greenville, Miss.; and former hard-partying Bruin Derek Sanderson, who figures he squandered $4.5 million during his playing days, is -- get this -- an investment adviser.
KEEPING IT REEL After the Godfather of the Blues, Junior Wells, died of cancer in 1998, James Montgomery recalls, his friend Bonnie Raitt commented that "poor Junior had some bad habits, but he also spent his whole life in smoky clubs." To raise money for musicians who may have health issues, but no insurance, Montgomery, the Boston-based bluesman, is putting together a band of big shots to play at the Reel Blues Fest on Cape Cod, which is part of the Woods Hole Film Festival. So far, the lineup for the Aug. 8 fund-raiser includes ex-Allman Brother Dickie Betts, blues singer Koko Taylor, and guitarist G. E. Smith. (Among those who may yet RSVP are Peter Wolf, Bruce Willis, and the boys in Aero-smith.) "I'm concerned about our people that don't have insurance," said Montgomery, on the phone from Chicago, where he's gigging with Johnny Winter. "We're putting together kind of like a thousand points of light for musicians."
SAY, AREN'T YOU . . . Want to catch a glimpse of a couple of ex-presidents during the DNC? Stake out the Boston Harbor Hotel. We hear Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter will be staying there. (The first hint? The Secret Service who have been scrubbing the place. The second hint? Friend of Bill Barbra Streisand's also staying there.)
OLD TIMERS After more than four decades, Larry Nowell has finally hung up his red blazer. An usher at Fenway Park for the past 57 years, Nowell, 91, retired over the weekend, and at a reception Saturday had this bit of advice for his co-workers: "Get to work!" . . . Longtime Dorchester resident John Kelly, 99, just marked his 80th year as a member of Local 103 IBEW. Asked about the contretemps between Mayor Tom Menino and the city's unions, Kelly, an electrician, said, "I'm not interested in politics." Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.
