Humor & Popular Culture
If You Can’t Be Yourself
Sometimes it’s best if you lose your dinosaur
In a recent essay I wrote about Clayton Moore, the actor who famously played the Lone Ranger. Moore’s autobiography is titled I Was That Masked Man, a play on “Who was that masked man?” a recurrent question in the Lone Ranger series. As I wrote that essay, I thought a lot about becoming someone new. I also remembered a few times when I had to act like someone I wasn’t — and didn’t want to be.
Last week, I went to an Arkansas Travelers baseball game, also something about which I’ve written. Travs baseball is a homey, intimate outing where familiar faces and friendly staff make for a pleasant evening. While at a Travs game, you’re likely to spot the team’s two mascots.
Technically, the team mascot is Ace, a 7’2” tall horse in a black kerchief and red military tunic. He’s a nod to the rider’s horse in the famed Arkansas Traveler painting, song, and folktale.
Ace also has a more diminutive “sidekick,” Otey, the Swamp Possum. The gregarious and welcoming marsupial is named in honor of former Traveler infielder and…
