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Ghosts, Wandering Here & There: Inspiration 9/24/2025 9:14:57 AM
Starting today, I'm doing a Weds. (hump day) blog about each of my novels and how I was inspired to write them. Today is the first book published...Ghosts, Wandering Here & There (originally entitled Ghost of a Chance)
Ghosts, Wandering Here and There: Inspiration…and a Real Live Ghost Story
One of the finest actors I’ve ever known wasn’t a Broadway star, but a man who was an invaluable asset to the Waco Civic Theater for decades…Mr. Bob Schmidt. Apart from being incredibly talented, able to switch effortlessly between drama and comedy, and command attention with his energy during shows, Bob was kind, brilliant, funny and extremely supportive of his fellow actors both on and off stage. We became good friends when I was living in Waco and teaching dance at the community college.
I was privileged to be able to not only watch Bob in a variety of productions but play opposite him when he took on his most beloved character…the villain in WCT’s summer melodramas.
Bob was phenomenal. Costumed in an ill-fitting black tuxedo morning coat, black baggy pants, black top hat and white sneakers (!) Bob was the quintessential villain you loved to hate. Audience participation was encouraged and Bob more than did his part in eliciting boos and groans and heckling…tossing off ad -libbed comebacks that were always funnier and sharper than the actual script. He loved popcorn - both eating the stuff (WCT would bring in a special machine each summer) and tossing back whatever pieces the audience threw onstage at him when he was being particularly “villainous”.
The year I was cast as (cough, cough) “loose” saloon girl known as Sexy Sadie, the director decided it would be fun to include a song and dance number in the show, which could have upstaged Bob, and doubtless upset someone with less talent and a big ego. But Bob loved it. He ended up supporting the addition of music and dance, not only for melodramas, but for musicals at a theater that had previously produced only “straight” plays.
Bob passed away in the early 1990s. Everyone who knew him…everyone who’d seen him perform…was devastated.
Small fast forward to the late-90s. By this time I was living in New York but coming back to Waco when I could to teach and do choreography for the Waco Children’s Theater summer camp, which was directed by my close friend, Linda Haskett and at that time held at the Civic Theater.
About three days into the camp I was onstage teaching a routine to a group of six and seven year olds when several of them began pointing to the balcony. “Miss Flo…who is that man?” one of them asked.
“What man?” I whirled around, prepared to do battle to protect my charges from some creep who’d snuck inside the theater.
Kids: “Him! Right up there in the balcony! He’s dressed funny.”
I looked up. Didn’t see anyone. “I don’t see anyone. What’s he look like?”
One of the six-year-olds described a man wearing the exact costume Bob Schmidt made his own as the villain. Right down to a twirly Snidely Whiplash handlebar mustache and the black top hat. Kicker? He was holding a bag of popcorn. None of these children had never seen Bob on stage. That particular summer the management was redoing the lobby and had taken down all the photos from previous shows, including all the melodramas. There were no photos of Bob Schmidt (or anyone else) in sight.
During the lunch break, I told Linda what the kids had seen. She just grinned. “This is so cool. I’d heard Bob was haunting the theater. I’m not surprised he’s watching your classes. He always loved your dancing.”
I headed up to the balcony at the end of the day. Bob didn’t make an appearance…at least not to me.
But there WAS a faint whiff of popcorn lingering in the air.
And I had the inspiration for a book. My original title was An Assist from the Villain but my editor thought Ghost of a Chance would work better. I wasn’t thrilled because there were dozens of “Ghosts of a Chances” out there (including a Star Trek Voyager episode) but I wasn’t going to argue…especially since this was the first book I published!
I changed it to Ghosts, Wandering Here & There when I got the rights back and independently published it.
Honestly? I still prefer An Assist from the Villain because it instantly conjures up visions and memories of Bob Schmidt…the best villain I ever knew.
