Q: When I was a kid in the 1950s, there were some local kids programs that we would watch. One was “The Popeye Club” with Officer Don. I found a lot of information about the show, but another program was “Miss Boo.” I’m not able to find anything on the show or the actress. Would you please see if you can find anything on the show and who played Miss Boo?
—Jim Lowe, Peachtree City
A: I received this question a little more than a month ago and put it on the list I keep of your inquiries.
When I began the search, Miss Boo initially proved to be elusive. There were few online clues, but I soon found her real name – Rosie Clark — and after a few calls, I had her phone number, thanks to Karen Tauches at the Swan Coach House Gallery.
I wish I had gotten a quicker start on this question, because when I called Calvin Court, the Buckhead retirement community where Clark lived, I was told she died earlier that day, which was Feb. 18.
She was 90.
Clark became an artist and expressed her eclectic personality through her work.
Much of her art depicted animals in comical or unusual situations. Clark illustrated the Swan Coach House’s cookbook, called “The Swan’s Palette.”
Local stations often produced portions of their programming in the early days of TV, leading to shows and characters such as Miss Boo, who was a friendly witch.
Marietta’s Margaret McDaniel emailed last week asking for more details about Clark’s life.
“As an Atlanta native, I remember Miss Boo fairly well, mainly as a 5-year-old who was petrified of her, but yet loved her,” she wrote. “Through the years I have mentioned her to many and few knew of her.”
Clark graduated from Salem College in Winston-Salem, N.C., and worked at Rich’s for a while, friend Nancy Kollock told the AJC.
John Tribble, an Atlanta furniture and arts dealer and one of Clark’s friends, mentioned that she lived a holistic lifestyle. She said she once cured ovarian cancer with “nuts and berries,” Tribble said. Clark also would drink water from a well in Clarkesville and only out of glass jugs.
“She lived a full life,” Tribble said.
Street name dead end
Readers have asked about the origin of the names of three Atlanta area streets. The answers have eluded me, so I’m turning to you for help.
If anyone has any info on Pulliam Street, Curran Street or LaVista Road, please let me know.
Pulliam Street runs parallel to the Downtown Connector between Memorial Drive and Turner Field and Curran Street extends from 14 Street to 10th Street near Northside Drive.
LaVista Road is a busy road in DeKalb County.
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