first Gyro, last some info on a new book

[Per Starb{ck]

* The species of Gyro *
WR = Wilmer Rivers, HF = Harry Fluks

WR>>> In the copy for this ad, they [at Gladstone] describe Gyro as an
WR>>> "inventing chicken".  This got me to wondering: in what story, or
WR>>> stories, is Gyro ever referred to as a chicken?

HF>> I always thought Gyro was a crane [Dutch "kraanvogel"; I got the
HF>> English word from a dictionary].
HF>> The Dutch publisher once answered that to a letter of a reader.

WR> I too had always thought of Gyro as a crane, [...]

I don't know if he ever was referred to as a chicken in a story, but
I've seen Barks himself refer to him as a chicken *outside* the
stories, at least in the following quote:

	"But I only figured on using him once in a very great while.
	 If I had known that I was going to have to do a book of Gyro
	 stories, I would have made him about the same size as Donald
	 or Uncle Scrooge, so that he could have been handled more
	 easily.  He was a big, tall, gawky chicken, and it was
	 difficult to work him into the same panels as the ducks."

Interview with Barks by Donald Ault and Thomas Andrae, August 4, 1975,
quoted in Geoffrey Blum's article "Friends and Relations" in The Carl
Barks Library, set VI.

* Welcoming message *
HF> So you will keep the lists up-to-date?

Maybe I'd better just write: "...and that can be acquired from
j-random-duck at duckburg.calisota.us"?  But anyway, I'd like to keep the
the most up-to-date versions of any such texts for my own use.

HF> (I recommended this list to Andrew Davies, Australia. I he a member?)

Nope.  Still only subscribers from the US, the Netherlands, Sweden,
Canada and Germany (28 in all).

> Don't forget to correct my 'typing error' in the Scandinavian column of the
> story 'Return to Plain Awful'...

Noted.  Also I've been able to add to the Scandinavian column from a
Don Rosa index in Danish Carl Barks & Co. #19 that I recently got.

* New book *

I quote a very interesting letter I got a few minutes ago in extenso:

! Florence, August 1992
! Dear Disney comics enthusiast:
! 
! You have waited long enough!  Alberto Becattini's Disney Comic Book
! Index Vol. 1 is finally out!
! 
! This 13-page (full coulour cover) book includes chronologies and
! cross-references for Dell comic books 1940-62 (letter "A" to "O"),
! peripheral comic books, premiums and giveaways (1933-64), plus
! bui-bibliographical entries for all identified artists, with plenty
! of illustrations! Printrun is limited to 1,000 numbered copies, so
! hurry up!
! 
! Buying a copy of vol. 1, you will automatically reserve your copy of
! vol. 2, which will hopefully be out in 1993, and you will also join
! the "Al Fumetto Club" (The Comics Club), which will keep you posted
! on other books concerning Disney or funny animal comics!
! 
! European orders: Sen lit. (Italian lire) 40,000 (forty thousand
! lire) for a copy, including surface postage.  If you want your
! book(s) sent via air mail, please send lit. 50,000 (fifty thousand
! lire).
! 
! Overseas orders (United States, Australia, etc.): Send lit. (Italian
! lire) 45,0000 (forty-five thousand lire) for a copy, including
! surface mail. Plase inquire for airmail rates.
! 
! Method of payment: Send an international money order (no cash,
! please!) to:
!
!			Disney Index
!			c/o Al Fumetto Shop
!			Via G.Della Casa 12 R
!			50142 Firenze
!			Italia
!
! We look forward to hearing from you soon!
!
! Yours faithfully,
! 
! Al Fmuetto Club,
! Sole distributors of
! Disney Index

I guess they had my address because I've bought Alberto Becattini's
and Luca Boschi's "Disney Index: La produzione sindacata" from them
before, which is an excellent book with indices over the syndicated
newspaper strips.  This book sounds like a must-have item to me, so
I'm rushing out to buy it immediately.  CU later!
--       "
Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden.  email: starback at student.docs.uu.se
 "Life is but a gamble!  Let flipism chart your ramble!"