William Fleming, wrote for Jackie Vernon

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on June 17th, 2007

The Minneapolis Star-Turbine has an obit for William Fleming, who died June 6, at the age of 79, from pneumonia. The first few grafs pay attention to his work as an attorney and his involvement with MPLS-area theater and his work as a playwright.

Then, there’s this, in paragraph six:

…His dry, droll comedy hit the national scene when routines he had penned such as “Hi There, Fun Seekers” and “Look Back in Dullness” were performed by Jackie Vernon on the Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin and Ed Sullivan shows.

The Male Half often cites Vernon as a very early influence. He recalls seeing Vernon actually doing the Fun Seekers bit on Sullivan, but remembers little else, other than it was hysterical, even to his single-digit-aged sensibilities.