Hollywood icon Dick Van Dyke has made many memories in his 100 years on Earth. But there is one colossal corpus of memories he treasures more than anything.
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His wife, Arlene Silver, spoke to PEOPLE to talk about the first thing the legend reaches for in the case of a house fire. Dyke and Silver live in their Californian home, so wildfires are a serious problem they need to always be prepared for.
But whenever the flames threaten their homestead, there is one thing the actor always reaches for first.
Apparently, among his “favorite” memento of his life and career are “these leather bound books that he has.”
“Frank Adamo, who was his dresser and an assistant, and he pops up in the Dick Van Dyke Show a lot — he made him these kind of Encyclopedia Britannica leather bound books of his career in the ’60s [filled with] pictures, scripts. And whenever there’s a fire that is the first thing we take,” she described.
I can only imagine the wealth of memories and iconic moments stored inside the book. It’s no wonder it’s a prized possession of his, it’s his life he’s taking with him. For that to be lost would be a real tragedy.
But he doesn’t have every memento of his life in his home.
Dick Van Dyke’s Wife Stumbles Across Mementos Of Him Online
Arlene Silver told the outlet that she sometimes comes across mementos of the actor while online shopping.
“I found this clown painting of him online that’s kind of my one of my favorites,” she said. “It’s this artist that was drawing clowns. I can’t remember the artist’s name, but I found it online and it was — it’s this beautiful painting of him as a clown.”
“Dick as a clown.”
A hundred years of memories lay stored in their home and online. I’m sure many fans would relish the opportunity to have a peek inside that leather-bound book of memories. I’m just glad he safeguards it as much as he does.