Davy Crockett is dead. Fess Parker, the actor who portrayed the famous frontierman, died Thursday at his home in Santa Ynez Valley. He was 85.
My husband had a coonskin cap. My brother had one as well. Most boys I knew growing up ran around with little fake frontier rifles and caps and played at cowboys and Indians. All of us eagerly watched his show on the Sunday night "Disneyland" as it was then called.. According to this sentimental op-ed in the NY Times, Fess Parker suffered a great deal playing the iconic Crockett.
He retired to the northern part of Santa Barbara County in the beautiful little town of Los Olivos. He opened a winery. My husband, friends and I visited the winery back in the '90s and tasted some of the best wine we'd ever had. His label fetches good prices. Try it and raise a glass to the man who made the coonskin cap a Boomer legacy forever.
