The MidSouth Nostalgia Festival was held on June 8-10 in Olive Branch, Mississippi. That's just south of Memphis, Tennessee for anyone like me who had never heard of the place. The festival brought together a bunch of classic actors (and one or two contemporary), who mainly appeared in Westerns but from some other genres as well.

The first morning we were there, we got right in line to schedule a time to see Robert, or Bob as his fans call him. Most guests had tables that you could walk right up to, but such is his popularity that his fan club orchestrates time slots to make sure everyone who attends has time to speak with him and get autographs and photos. It was a pretty good system, I believe we waited less than 2 hours. We were able to get into his first group of the day. When Bob showed up, he walked right by the line and greeted everyone very enthusiastically and gave out hugs to some of the more eager fans. I could only smile as he went by because I was honestly starstruck by this point.

Once our turn came up, we probably got a good five minutes talking to him. I got the impression he would've allowed us to stay even longer, but we tried to be sensitive to the others waiting to see him. We discussed some of his stunts, such as jumping onto Hoot (his horse) in Duel at Alta Mesa. He confirmed that yes, that was actually him and not a stunt actor. He also told us about breaking his leg on Wagon Train. There was a stunt involving a breakaway chair and he wanted to re-shoot it, but he neglected to check the chair beforehand. It had been replaced with an actual chair! We also talked about his quick draw abilities, and he informed us he had been clocked at 28/100ths of a second. Talk about fast! Before we left his table, we got his autograph on a photo from his Emergency! days. If I ever get to meet Randy Mantooth, I plan to point out that Bob's signature went over his forehead, so he can give him Hell about it.

Something that really amused me watching Bob interact with his fans is how much attention he gives everyone. He was more than happy to hand out hugs and kissed many of the women in attendance. He even autographed a woman's chest (upper sternum, lol) so she could get it tattooed. Keep in mind most of the fans were middle-aged or elderly women, who had fallen in love with him during their youth. The guy's still got it!

We also attended a few panels. The photo below is from one of them; from left to right we have Tony Cameron (son of Rod Cameron, one of my favorite Laramie guest actors), Patrick Wayne (2nd son of John Wayne), the panel interviewer, and Bob. All of the guys were really enjoyable to listen to. Tony is dedicated to keeping his dad's legacy alive and is just a lovely person in his own right. Patrick was very funny and used his some of his time on the panel to advocate for the John Wayne Cancer Foundation.

There was also a panel with Bob and his wife Jennifer Savidge that I unfortunately did not take pictures of. Those two are great together, they had everyone laughing and you could really tell how much they love one another. Jennifer is also incredibly gracious about the attention Bob gets from his fans. She's a wonderful actress in her own right, having been on her own medical series St. Elsewhere, JAG, and much more.

The MSNF also had vendor tables where you could purchase comic books, memorabilia, or even original art. One woman rented a vendor table so she could share her miniature Sherman Ranch! She removed the roofs so we could see inside the ranch house and barn. She also told us she has swappable backgrounds for different times of year. We were really impressed with the detail and talent that went into her creation.

On the last day of the festival, we had a photo taken with Bob and Jennifer. We dressed up as Slim and Jess. The first thing Bob said to us was "Wow!", so I think he liked the outfits. ;) On the way out, a few other fans in line stopped us to tell us how much they liked our costumes, which felt really great.

And that was pretty much it! It was honestly one of the more laid-back conventions I've been to. I wasn't used to having a bunch of downtime between the things I wanted to do. It was also a little weird being one of the younger fans there, but everyone was pretty nice and we were all there for the same reason: to meet Bob!

Bonus pic: while in Memphis we visited the largest Bass Pro Shop I've ever seen, known as The Pyramid. The inside looks like outdoors (as is normal with every Bass Pro), but it was lit like nighttime with string lights and stuff. Along with the usual fish tanks, there was a pond with ducks. I unfortunately did not pay to ride the elevator to the observation deck.

I guess I should preface this a little bit. I know westerns really play up the back shooting bit and that they treat it like a cardinal sin, but there are times when it’s your only option. So I don’t necessarily hold true to that line of thinking and I honestly don’t know how controversial that is but I mean if you’re in a life or death situation and your potential killer turning their back on you is your only opportunity to get out of said situation, you take it I hope this makes some kind of sense I obviously don't mean that you should just go around shooting people in the back for fun though, there are times where it is a dirty move, but anywho onto the matter at hand

I do not care for Stuart, at all. And it’s not just because Coop is one of my favorite characters and he’s the one that shot him in the back I know I’m quite biased but I promise that ain’t it this time lol Yes range wars were a messy business and so was being a hired gun in one but Coop explained that when he saw the marshal coming that he was turning to tell his men to put their guns down Now while Stuart didn’t necessarily know that, it didn’t give him the right to shoot Coop in the back. It’s the same principle with law enforcement today (AND THIS IS NOT AN INVITATION TO DISCUSS THAT, THIS IS A POLITICS FREE POST, PLEASE DO NO START THAT HERE) but if you’re too scared to do your job, law enforcement isn’t for you. If you’re too afraid that someone’s gonna shoot you and you’re trigger happy at the slightest movement, then you shouldn’t be here Stuart had no right to assume what Coop was gonna do and he could’ve killed him

I also hate that since Coop had to unfortunately shoot his friend in the back he’s supposed to magically understand Stuart now. That’s not how this works. These were two completely different situations. Coop saw that his friend (I can’t remember if it was Felix or Thomas) was about to shoot Stuart who was defenseless at the moment because his gun had jammed. though I will argue that Stuart wasn’t worth saving and I would’ve just let him have it but I digress Stuart on the other hand had no idea what Coop was up to during that range war. Yes he could’ve been telling his men to fire, yes he could’ve been reloading his rifle, but he also could’ve been putting his gun down, or he could’ve been telling his men to do the same (which we learned was the case). With that many different possible circumstances you can’t just follow the philosophy of “shoot first, ask questions later”

Chris made me so mad in this episode too. Coop made the decision to be an adult and make him aware of the situation and Chris flat out tells him that he’ll side with the lawman until he can be convinced otherwise. And he said that right to his face And then two seconds later Chris is like “if it’s a life or death situation, Coop is the man I want in my corner” you can’t have it both ways pally. And the little lecture he gave him at the end about how no man is perfect, well yeah, obviously, that doesn’t excuse Stuart’s actions though!! Coop still has a right to be mad at the man who shot him in the back!! I really wish everyone would just stop trying to convince Coop otherwise and maybe take a minute to listen to his side of the story. Coop told Chris, “He (Stuart) hasn’t done anything to change my mind, Chris.” and he’s right, nothing has changed between them, Coop was just doing his job as the scout for the wagon train. He doesn't owe Stuart anything, whether that be respect, or forgiveness, or whatever