Gossip Friday: The Man He Surely Is

From January 1938, letter to fan magazine:

Being in the business world of Hollywood and meeting the stars every day, I can give this impression of Clark Gable, not as fiction, but as a true fact from everyday life.

He called at our place of business one morning dressed in sport clothes. Very businesslike, this Gable. He wandered about the store missing nothing, with our employees giving him little attention. (He prefers that). A little girl seated in a toy  automobile glanced about, and suddenly seeing Mr. Gable, called her father’s attention to him. She wanted his autograph.

The father spoke to Mr. Gable, and, smiling graciously, Clark walked over to the car and gave the requested signature. In the course of the conversation I heard him call the little girl “sweetheart” and other endearing names. the little girl was so happy she could hardly keep still.

If you and I were at the peak of our popularity as is Mr. Gable, would we be so unaffected? Would we take time out to give one little girl a big thrill, even though we thought no one was observing? I wonder? When you see Mr. Gable again on the screen, remember this little life drama, and know him better for the man he surely is.

–Miss E. Joy Fisher, Beverly Hills, Calif.