Gardner McKay

barefootpirate · Post by **barefootpirate** » March 6, 2003 12:50 pm

I was listening to a concert replay recently on RM, and I thought I heard Jimmy mention something like, "and you all know who Gardner McKay is," or something like that. Can anyone tell me who Gardner McKay is? It's from "We are the people our parents warned us about", like I had to tell you that!

51 Days 'til VEGAS!!!

PHINS ^

fleshandbone · Post by **fleshandbone** » March 6, 2003 12:55 pm

He was an actor. As I recall the TV show was Adventures in Paradise.

barefootpirate · Post by **barefootpirate** » March 6, 2003 1:23 pm

Thank you fleshandbone. I guess I should have used a few of my remaining brain cells and did a search on this new thing called the internet before posting this thread. I found the following on a November 21, 2001 press release. It's no wonder Jimmy included him in a song.

Gardner McKay, a former actor and prolific author of stories, novels, plays and radio shows, died in his Hawai'i Kai home today. He was 69.

McKay had been battling prostate cancer for about two years. At the time of his death, he was putting the finishing touches on a series of biographical reflections, entitled "Journey Without a Map," taping a segment as recently at two weeks ago from his sick bed.

To early television fans, McKay was Capt. Adam Troy, skipper of a schooner named Tiki that frequented the South Pacific in search of cargo, passengers and challenges, which was televised on ABC from October 1959, till April 1962.

That TV role on "Adventures in Paradise" would mirror his later life somewhat, since McKay was a seasoned sailor and skipper who has never lived far from an ocean and also welcomed adventure and challenges to spice up his life.

PHINS ^

Gardner McKay, Jr. · Post by **Gardner McKay, Jr.** » March 6, 2003 2:00 pm

Excellent post Pirate. As Always, GM,Jr.

phjrsaunt · Post by **phjrsaunt** » March 6, 2003 3:07 pm

Hey that's cool! Thanks for putting up that information! Don't feel bad about posting the question. That's what this board is all about!

phjrsaunt · Post by **phjrsaunt** » March 6, 2003 3:08 pm

Okay, maybe the Hokey Pokey is really what it's all about, but that's another thread entirely.

capnrick · Post by **capnrick** » March 6, 2003 5:39 pm

Oh Man, Gardner McKay is gone?

i REMEMBER that show (well, the Tiki and huanines, anyway)

Capn Rick

fleshandbone · Post by **fleshandbone** » March 6, 2003 7:47 pm

That's great info. I was going to do the search too but hadn't had time yet.
I vaguely remembered the show and he had a great name. Ever since you posted that question I had been trying to remember when the show was on TV. And his boat was the Tiki! That show was probably the first time I ever heard that word. Let's remember Gardner during the Tiki Time Tour.

barefootpirate · Post by **barefootpirate** » March 6, 2003 8:00 pm

Right On fleshandbone!!

PHINS ^

Blade-of-the-Moon · Post by **Blade-of-the-Moon** » March 6, 2003 8:30 pm

Jimmy also gives info in Take Another Road from Tales from Margaritaville, when The Spaceman is wondering just where his fascination with the sea came from.

I would like to get the whole series on DVD one day, as it is I can't even find copies on vhs....

fleshandbone · Post by **fleshandbone** » March 6, 2003 10:11 pm

So that other thread about posting a picture led me to do this
Gardner McKay at the helm of the Tiki

Spicoli · Post by **Spicoli** » March 7, 2003 3:19 am

Gardner McKay died in November of 2001. He was originally from Manhattan and an excellent obit was published in the NYTimes shortly after his death. He was a writer for the Cornell University student paper and was an artist, primarily sculpture. At one of his exhibits photographer Richard Avedon invited him to Paris where he became a model and later an actor in the late 50's.

In 1959 the writer Dominick Dunne spotted him in, how cliche, a coffee shop, and thought he was perfect for the part of Adam Troy, the lead in "Adventures In Paradise." While not a great actor Mckay did become a huge T.V. star, but was not too happy with show business.

ADVENTURES IN PARADISE aired for 3 seasons, 1959-62, in a total of 92 one hour episodes on ABC. The show was created by James Michener with Dunne as exec. producer. Later in his career McKay was urged by Marilyn Monroe to appear with her in "Something's Got To Give," but by that time McKay was calling it quits and walked away from Hollywood for a life of travel and "real" adventure.

While I was living in Hawaii in the early 90's Buffett did a series of concerts and McKay came to one of the shows. He sat a few rows away from me and Buffett made a point of introducing him and making it known that he was a big McKay fan. At the time McKay was writing a novel, "TOYER," which came out in 1999. He was also an awarding winning playwright.

I'm old enough to remember AIP and was a Gardner McKay/Adam Troy fan before he became a song lyric, or a trivia question. How could you not be a fan of the guy who starred in the classic camp movie "I Sailed To Tahiti With An All Girl Crew"? That's also why I'm a Buffett fan. He writes about tropical escapism that most people can only dream of, but it's always anchored around some small truths that make all of us say "someday I will." Gardner McKay did more than say it...and he left us with one of the greatest quotes a man can ever live his life by. "I never knew what I was searching for, only what I was not searching for. My life is defined by the things I've quit". Think about it.

Sorry for the length, but I'm a fan.

daddymention · Post by **daddymention** » March 7, 2003 3:27 am

Spicoli wrote: "I never knew what I was searching for, only what I was not searching for. My life is defined by the things I've quit".

That's a great quote...and a great motto to live by.

I, too, would like to see the series on DVD sometime...

Thank you for sharing some good info.

Cajunph · Post by **Cajunph** » March 7, 2003 4:54 am

Great post Spicoli! And the quote is profound and makes me think. Kinda like Frank Bama once said "The best navigators don't know where they're going until they get there, and then they still don't know!"