SHOWCASE:
The Just David International David Cassidy Fan Club

Tina and Barbara were kind enough to grant me the following recent interview about the origins and structure of The Just David International David Cassidy Fan Club. Here are my questions and their joint answers. Enjoy!

Why a club for David Cassidy?
When David closed his business fan club, there was no way to know his activities or information about him in Germany. Since Tina had pen pal contacts in the U.S. who would tell her what was going on, she decided to just write the news out, photocopy it with maybe a photo or two and mail it out to some German fans, so they'd know.

Were there a lot of David Cassidy fan clubs at the time you started yours?
There were about five other unofficial fan clubs in Germany who did their best, but unfortunately they did not have any U.S. contacts to get information. It was just luck that Tina had that connection.

How did you go about making this an "official" club, recognized by David Cassidy? When did this happen?
In 1975 Tina asked RCA in Germany and they asked and got the permission of David, who was in Hamburg at the time. Tina later met David outside his hotel with other fans, she told him she was doing the fan club for him, and asked if it could be his official one - David said yes.

What is the structure of the club? How large is your staff?
The official staff consists of Tina and Barbara, but in essence, we think all the members are the "unofficial" staff because they contribute a lot to the newsletters with photos, information they found out, etc. The club couldn't be done without them.

With Tina in Germany, and Barbara in New York, do you find this a help or a hindrance?
It is no hindrance because of the advancement of modern technology such as fax machines. In the words of Steven Spielberg when he moved to New York and was asked how will he be able to work so far from Hollywood:"As long as I have a phone and a fax machine, I can work anyway!" It is a help because it is easier for fans in Europe and U.S. if they have a contact to the club in both Continents, and when David does things in the U.S. and Europe, we have a base on each side.

Recently the format of the newsletter changed from one bilingual issue (German/English) to an all-German issue and an all-English issue. What prompted this decision? Is this the first format change there has ever been?
We felt it was unfair for all members to pay for 1/2 of a newsletter that they couldn't read, and as the number of English speaking members has increased to the majority in the 23 years, we decided it best to split the issues. This is by no means the first format change! The first official issue was all in German 8 x 10 size with a drawing on the cover and photos from magazines only and eight pages one-sided. As the club got more connected to David's management, the photos and information improved and format went to double sided. In 1984 there was a separate English and German version (merged with another Germany-based English language club) each on 8 x 10 size paper, double sided. The English version went to booklet size for one year. Then in 1988, when the English language German club closed, the only newsletter was the German one. In 1990 when David resumed his recording career, the news-letter went bi-lingual to handle the increased international membership, while still caring for the German-only speaking fans. In 1992, it was brought down to booklet size.

Do you have plans to create a website?
Yes, hopefully in the near future.

Any additional comments?
A million thanks to all the members for their consistently loyal support through all the years!

Thanks very much for your time!

Newsletters ("Just David") are tri-monthly, separate all-English and all-German language issues

US fans send a self-addressed, stamped envelope, and Canadian/South American fans send a self-addressed envelope and one International Reply Coupon to:

Barbara Pazmino
979 E 42nd St
Brooklyn, NY 11210 USA.

European/Far East fans send a self-addressed envelope and two International Reply Coupons to:

Tina Funk
Bueltbek 20
22962 Siek
Germany.

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