I thought I'd make an appearance before the upcoming "Countdown to Halloween" begins (if it still begins this year). I assure you, despite my absence, the garage saling force is still strong in this one. I'm still out there every weekend, rain, shine or snow, attending garage and estate sales, though the volume of product I'm buying has decreased significantly. I quit selling on eBay over a year ago, so I don't have a good outlet to offload excess product or a reason to buy something simply to flip it. But I still pick up things that interest me, including this Scholastic Magazine from September of 1977, Sprint. I found it among the rubble of a basement at an estate sale home which I can only describe as an explosion of the 1970's.
I wasn't familiar with Sprint and appears it was aimed at children with reading challenges, below-level readers and "slow learners". Thanks to my mom, I was an avid reader and did well there, so it's not surprising I never saw these.
On the cover is the cast of "What's Happening", one of the lesser-known African American family shows of the 1970's. It was notable as the first non-Norman Lear show focusing on challenges in the black community. I enjoyed the show and Fred Berry will always have a place in my heart because he made a surprise appearance at my wedding (long story).
And finally, a couple of random drawings.
The magazine features a brief screenplay of an episode from "What's Happening". It looks like parts were allocated to different classmates to play a role, their names penciled in next to the character. "Saturday's Hero" was episode 5 of the first season.
I recognized the art style above from other Scholastic magazines such as Dynamite. It's done by Elwood Herbert Smith. I couldn't find a lot of information about him, but presumably, he's still alive (born in 1941) and has his own website and a blog which has a copyright year of 2026.
Stuck within the pages was the original owner's answers to the above questions. I question some of the answers. It looks like he stopped at question 16.
Included is the short story "Terror at 10,000 Feet". Not a true story, but I do like the Peter Max-esque artwork.
A guide for what to do if you find yourself in "quick sand". Quick sand was a very big concern of mine in the 70's. That and it's cousin "quick mud".
The original owner was stumped by a few crosswords. I'll leave it to you to solve them.
Though uncredited, I immediately recognized the art of Jared Lee, artist behind Dynamite's "Bummers", which I've featured in the past. I have to admit, even wen the panels are assembled in the right order, I have no idea what's going on.
Finally, a few pages tucked inside. I was never a sports fan, but I'm pretty sure he means "Gary Unger":
This one gives me Peanuts' "Marcie" vibes.
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