Post by MemphisFFAdmin on Oct 29, 2009 16:53:41 GMT -6
Recently, we lost a good friend of the Memphis Film Festival - George Coan - who passed away at the age of 66.
George was a movie theatre owner-operator who began screening B-Westerns at The Hub Theatre in Gaffney, SC. in 1992. It started as a small gathering of folks who loved watching old westerns and grew into a force for preserving their memory and passing them down to future generations.
As off-shoots of this, George got involved with the Silver Screen Saddle Pals. They're a group of B western lovers who dress up like their favorite movie cowboy heroes and sidekicks from days gone by and take their positive message to parades, children's hospitals and other public events. He also became publisher of "The Old Cowboy Picture Show" (TOCPS) a newsletter that features biographical stories of B western stars and others involved in their production.
George attended a lot of western film conventions and supported them all. He supplied many 16mm films for screening at the Memphis Film Festival over the years, and he loaned them for various screenings at a film club I convene in Conway, Arkansas each month.
George was also good about promoting Memphis with ads and
George's big heart finally gave out on him, but his contributions to western film lovers will live on. George's son, Jack, says there will be one last issue of TOCPS. "It may take me a while to get through it," he said. "I will have to close that door for dad."
That door may close, but it will not shut out our memories of all that George meant to us.
---Ray Nielsen
Chairman, Memphis Film Festival
George was a movie theatre owner-operator who began screening B-Westerns at The Hub Theatre in Gaffney, SC. in 1992. It started as a small gathering of folks who loved watching old westerns and grew into a force for preserving their memory and passing them down to future generations.
As off-shoots of this, George got involved with the Silver Screen Saddle Pals. They're a group of B western lovers who dress up like their favorite movie cowboy heroes and sidekicks from days gone by and take their positive message to parades, children's hospitals and other public events. He also became publisher of "The Old Cowboy Picture Show" (TOCPS) a newsletter that features biographical stories of B western stars and others involved in their production.
George attended a lot of western film conventions and supported them all. He supplied many 16mm films for screening at the Memphis Film Festival over the years, and he loaned them for various screenings at a film club I convene in Conway, Arkansas each month.
George was also good about promoting Memphis with ads and
George's big heart finally gave out on him, but his contributions to western film lovers will live on. George's son, Jack, says there will be one last issue of TOCPS. "It may take me a while to get through it," he said. "I will have to close that door for dad."
That door may close, but it will not shut out our memories of all that George meant to us.
---Ray Nielsen
Chairman, Memphis Film Festival