Growing up, Maureen McCabe didn't give much thought to what her father did when he was a young man.
He wasn't talkative about it, and although he had a scrapbook about his years in the entertainment world, McCabe didn't pay close attention to the photographs, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia that chronicled his 10-year love affair with vaudeville.
Her father, Weldon O'Toole, died nearly 20 years ago, a bit cynical and jaded, no longer the center of attention for his skill as a tap dancer.
Two years ago, when McCabe became the keeper of her father's scrapbook, she began to investigate the era that meant so much to him before he met and married Maureen's mother and settled down to family life.
In the process, she gained greater understanding and appreciation for what her father accomplished. She recounts his story and times in her first book, "Moon Over Vaudeville."
"It was so fresh looking back at him when he was really young," she said, "when he could imagine anything was possible."
McCabe, 59, grew up in California and moved to Sudden Valley five years ago with her husband, Richard. Her mother, Patty O'Toole, lives at The Leopold, in downtown Bellingham. Her sister, Sharon Cairney, lives close by in Port Moody, B.C.
While a teenager, McCabe's father learned a few tap dance steps from a fellow Western Union delivery boy in Washington, D.C. He wanted to learn more, so he spent hours watching Hollywood musicals to memorize the dance moves, and signed up for lessons at dance studios.
His career took wing after he formed a dance duo with Honey Dalzell. A real looker, she had won a contest for resembling "The Blonde Bombshell" Jean Harlow, a 1930s film star and sex symbol.
McCabe's father used his mother's maiden name in his stage name, Weldon Barr, and kept busy performing as "Weldon and Honey" from 1933 until 1937, when he and Honey parted ways.
He stuck with it as a single act, performing along the West Coast from Hollywood to Vancouver, B.C., and elsewhere. In 1941, he won praise in the New York Post - "A solo dancer has to be good. Weldon Barr is." - for his work at the famous Roxy Theater.
Once his gig at the Roxy ended, he was inducted into the Army. By the time he was discharged, vaudeville was dead.
After the war, McCabe's father opened a dance studio, but a heart attack ended that career. He later sold swimming pools and real estate during the '60s boom years in Southern California.
McCabe's book is short, just 96 pages, but it's wonderfully illustrated with more than 100 photographs, clippings and other vaudeville images. It's a bittersweet - but mostly sweet - homage to a special time, and to a young man's tap dance with fame.
COMING UP
What: Maureen McCabe will talk about her book, "Moon Over Vaudeville."
When: 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13.
Where: Village Books, Fairhaven.
Online: moonovervaudeville.com.
