March 25, 2011
Today is John A. Keel‘s birthday. He was born Alva John Kiehle in upstate New York on March 25, 1930.
In celebration, here’s a gallery of John in his white suit, at the dedication of the Mothman Statue on Gunn Street. It probably was one of his grandest visual jokes.
The dedication took place on September 14, 2003, during the Second Annual Mothman Festival to be held in Point Pleasant. The host of the day, John Keel was flown in for the special unveiling of the 12-foot-tall, stainless steel sculpture of the butterfly-like Mothman statue, created by Bob Roach of New Haven. This was the last time that John Keel would visit Point Pleasant.
Hayrides and tours of the TNT area were given during the early evening, after a day of local speakers and a visit from Bill Geist of “CBS Sunday Morning.” The Geist report was originally broadcast on September 28, 2003, and then repeated on August 29, 2004.
Of course, as previously mentioned, today, the Mothman Museum is the location of his white suit, as well as several other Keelian iconic artifacts.
Actually, most of the time, Keel liked black suits.
In 1994, John A. Keel made a rare appearance at a birthday celebration held in his honor among a few of his closest friends. Pictured are J. Antonio Huneeus, Keel, and Loren Coleman. Photo by Patrick Huyghe.
Keel’s appearances would be few and far between. But his sense of humor never left him, including wearing that all white suit to the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, for the unveiling of the new Mothman replica, which, after all, was inspired by his book’s recent cover.
Frank Frazetta (who died May 10, 2010) created the Mothman cover art that would influence the sculpture built in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.
Some online sites report that Gunn Park was renamed Mothman Park in 2003. Maybe it was for the day, but I did not find that to be the ongoing case upon my 2011 visit.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Filed under Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Men in Cryptozoology, Mothman, Pop Culture, Winged Weirdies