Howard Beckerman R.I.P.

 Howard Beckerman R. I. P. It looks like my friend Howard passed away. I always loved this 1963 picture Howard sent me of himself, with his

daughter Amy. This was the year that Howard story boarded Rankin/Bass' Return to Oz TV Special, which was their first TV special. The Special aired in February of 1964, on the same night The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan show for the first time. First appearing on NBC's The General Electric Fantasy hour, everyone thought Return to Oz would be the big hit! Ten months later, Rankin/Bass Productions Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer hit the air waves on December 6th, 1964, and went down in history. I was connected to Howard by Tony Peters, the designer of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Return to Oz. #howardbeckerman #returntooz #returntooz