Meinhardt Raabe

In all of the posting last week, I neglected to mention Meinhardt Raabe who died at the age of 94.  Meinhardt Raabe played the Coroner in the Wizard of Oz.

The thing I find fascinating about Raabe's story--even aside from the fact that he trained Air Force pilots during WWII--is that, "Growing up, he later said, he assumed there was no one else in the world like him."

That changed in 1933, when the young Mr. Raabe visited the Midget Village at the Chicago World’s Fair. There before his eyes was a world of men and women just like him. Thrilled, he took a job as a barker there the next summer.

For all that we talk about how important it is to be unique and special, I wonder if it's even more important for us to feel that we're not the only one.  That there is a Munchkinland out there where we fit in.  That there are others like us.

Another great article about Meinhardt Raabe here.