Dear Otus,
As you know, we here in Eureka have our share of aging hippies and eccentric retirees. We sort of take them in stride, but when one passes, we wonder if the tall tales you hear at Myrtie Mae’s are true.
What can you tell us about Cam Craddock, who died Jan. 3? We called him “Plasticman” because the privacy fence for his house set back off Pivot Rock Road looked like it was made of Legos. He kept pretty much to himself, but rumor has it he had some connection with Hollywood.
- Paul David Hewson, Eureka Springs
Dear Paul,
It was wholly a pleasure to hear from you, although I was saddened to learn of the death of the polymer legend.
I’m also not surprised that Craddock ended up a recluse. It’s an understandable denouement for one who rocketed to the dizzying heights of fame and fortune as Craddock did, only to suffer the precipitous plunge into the Stygian abyss of ignominy and anonymity.
It was a promising life early on, according to the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture.
Cameron “ Cam” Craddock III was born June 13, 1943, in Fayetteville and moved to Little Rock at the age of 10 months after his father graduated law school.
Cam’s father, Cameron “Ron” Craddock Jr., was a highly respected trial lawyer and partner in the prestigious Little Rock firm of Wright, Harrison, Lindsey, Upton, Lester, Shults & May. Cam, it was assumed, would follow in his footsteps.
Cam graduated with honors from newly built Hall High School in 1961, and received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from posh Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., in 1965.
His roommate his sophomore year in Spencer House was Morgan Duquesne Webb, younger brother of Charles Richard Webb, future author of The Graduate, the novel upon which the enormously successful 1967 film of the same name was based.
Here’s the Hollywood connection.
In a 1968 Tom Wolfe interview in the inaugural edition of New York magazine, Webb said he based the book’s hero, Benjamin Braddock, on Cam. Braddock was played in the film by Dustin Hoffman.
With no interest in the law, Cam was unsure of what to do with his life after college. He was visiting his old roommate in California when they attended a showing of The Graduate at Christmas 1967. Cam’s future was sealed in one iconic scene:
Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?
Benjamin: Yes, I will.
Plastics - Cam had heard the siren call of fate from up on the Big Screen. He had an epiphany.
The next spring Cam was accepted to the College of Polymer & Plastics Engineering at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, where his brilliance was instantly recognized.
After attaining his master’s in applied theory, he went to work for DuPont and quickly rose to head the division that manufactured acrylics, amino resins, epoxy and other thermosets, as well as thermoplastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene.
It was in 1977 that Cam made the discovery that would change his life and the world.
Working late at the lab one night, Cam perfected the styrenic block copolymer for polycarbonate resin injection molding. He had invented the perfect formula for the creation of the one item that had eluded plastic engineers for decades. Cam had invented the commercially viable modern spork.
It was a thing of beauty and in use unchanged to this day. The keys are the four tines and the perfect scooping basin. It was years ahead of the rest of the industry that had foolishly concentrated on the foon, a similar three-tined product that never caught on.
Cam was named Man of the Year by Plastics Engineering Quarterly. He appearedon the cover of Popular Mechanics and went on The Dating Game (he didn’t get picked by a young Kirstie Alley) where he hung out with host Jim Lange.
Cam’s unprecedented success lasted almost three years. Seduced by the fame, Cam took his sizable fortune and invested it all in runcible sporks and spifes. A fickle public rejected both, but especially the spife. Who needs a spoon with a serrated knife edge for a handle? It proved more dangerous than handy.
Busted flat, Cam could only find work designing the Catherine Cat House and Mortimer Mouse for Lego Fabuland. He quietly retired to his modest Eureka Springs home in 1987 and spent the last 25 years of his life building that 12-foot Lego fence.
Until next time, Kalaka reminds you to beware of hubris and think kindly of the late Cam Craddock when you unwrap your spork at Myrtie Mae’s.
Disclaimer Fayetteville-born Otus the Head Cat’s award-winning column of humorous fabrication appears every Saturday. Email: mstorey@arkansasonline.com
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