They called him “Skipper.”
He was an adorable 11-year-old boy with a sly, crooked grin, interviewed in April of 1970, outside of what appears to be Lincoln Junior High School, as Minneapolis’ striking teachers marched in the background. In the video, “Skipper” wisely agrees that teachers deserve better because of all the things they do for kids (and though we didn’t know to listen closely to everything he said then, he was definitely right).
And he’s adorable, stinking adorable. And familiar. Strangely familiar.
The film from that April day was neatly stored away at WCCO TV, Minneapolis, and forgotten through the years until Production Manager Matt Liddy recently decided to review 13 minutes of the restored archival footage for a current story about Minneapolis striking educators (Yep. The more things change…). Being a Minneapolis Native and a lifelong music fan he recognized “Skipper” instantly as a preteen version of his Royal Badness himself. But how to be sure?
Well, unsurprisingly, there are lots of people in Minneapolis who know a thing or two about Prince. Weird…
So, after the very scientific showing of the video to coworkers and saying, “Who does that look like to you?” Liddy decided to get serious and that led to a local archivist and historian who noted that all the facts we have about Prince at that time fit and that it absolutely looks like The Artist, but recommended Liddy contact Prince’s childhood friend Terrance Jackson for official confirmation.
And what did Jackson say?
“That is Prince!” That’s Skipper! Oh, my gosh!”
Check out the video here on WCCO’s website.
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
