meeting a childhood hero

Yesterday I went to a reception at the First Pres Gallery and had a chance to meet and talk with one of the exhibiting artists, a painter named Carol M. Popp Bennett.  You, if you're old enough, may remember her as Carol from a locally produced TV show on WKJG-TV called "Carol and Corkie". When I was about 12 it was one of my favorite afternoon shows.  I loved to watch her draw pictures, sometimes creating something from a random squiggle, sometimes using alphabet letters as the basis for a picture, sometimes simply drawing.  Her paintings on exhibit now are considerably more sophisticated and cover a wide range of subject matter from still lifes to western themes.  When we met I told her how much I had enjoyed her show and that, later, when I was an art teacher, I actually used some of her ideas in my classes.  She seemed quite pleased with that.  My son, who really is an excellent artist, had quite an involved conversation with her explaining some of the internet sources he uses for some of his productions. She seemed very interested in learning more about ideas she hasn't tried yet. All in all a fun half hour with a childhood hero. I also found out, from her print material, that in 1951 she was Miss Indiana and first runner-up to Miss America. I wonder what her talent was.