May 2008

Dear friends,

It doesn’t seem possible that I am going to be 85 this month. Wasn’t it just a year or so ago when we celebrated my 80th birthday with you at the Autry Museum? I had such a great time that day. Janet and I were reminiscing just the other day about my time on the Gunsmoke set and what fun it was to do that show. It also gave us a great idea. Why not have a Birthday Quiz and that is just what we did. The link to the quiz will be at the end of this letter to you. Please join in and compete with other Gunsmoke fans. The first prize winner will receive an original Gunsmoke cup. These cups were personally made for me to give as Christmas gifts. I only gave them to the cast and crew. They are very special to me and I would love to give one to the lucky winner of this contest. The second place winner will receive a personalized small lithograph and the third place winner will receive a personalized autobiography and the fourth place winner will receive a personalized photo. (See prize photos below) (A hint: if some of these questions are a little hard you might find some of the answers in my autobiography.) By the way, just in case we have more than first place winner we have a tie-breaker question ready. Be sure to fill in your contact information on the quiz before you send it in.

I really hope that some of you heard my interview on the Sonny Star radio show. Due to the popular request of the fans he actually ran the show twice. I also did an interview for a TV show called “Americans at War”. It will air on PBS. As soon as we have the date we will post it on the home page of the website.

Janet says she’s got a surprise for my birthday but won’t give me any hints. I have wait. In my next letter I’ll let you know what she’s been up to.

SPECIAL NOTICE: My lovely wife, Janet, will be at the All Star Western Round-Up on May 17-18, 2008 at the CBS Studio Center where we had our Gunsmoke set. You can find all the information on their website www.showstopperstars.com. It is open to the public so I hope you will stop and see Janet.

I want to wish a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the wonderful caring women out there who have done so much for their families. We really do appreciate you.

‘Till next time,
James Arness