I’ve only seen a handful of episodes of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and those were watched years ago. So I freely admit to not being intimately familiar with the character of Gomer Pyle or the show itself. Still, after reading only a few pages I was pretty confidant that something wasn’t quite right with many of the facts included in this novel. Everyone knows Gomer Pyle was born and raised in Mayberry, right?

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Front – Copyright 1965 Pyramid Publications, Inc.

According to the novel, he was born in a little town called Sinking Springs, where his relatives and their many strange but lovable friends still reside. At first I thought maybe the character of Gomer Pyle was said to have been from Sinking Springs originally. When I checked Kurt Peer’s wonderful TV Tie-Ins: A Bibliography of American TV Tie-In Paperbacks, however, he confirmed that the novel gives “a back-history that’s contrary to Gomer’s roots as a gas station attendant on The Andy Griffith Show.”

Peer also reveals that E. Kitzes Knox is a pseudonmyn for Esther Kitzes and Helen Knox and says there was a second Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. novel, by Robert Tralins and called Gomer Pyle’s Secret Weapon, written by never published. Mysterious. Aside from changing Gomer’s back story, the novel gives Sgt. Carter’s full name as Harold Q. Carter rather than Vince Carter like it was in the TV series. And Gomer’s pals are Regis (Gomer calls him Ray and his name is always written Regis-Ray) Jim Holmes and Fat Gorley, none of whom appeared in the TV series. If the novel had been written before Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. was on the air I could understand Sgt. Carter’s name being wrong and Gomer having a bunch of friends never mentioned on screen. But to ignore Mayberry?

None of this detracts from the story itself. It’s still enjoyable. I could have done without the capitalization to show emphasis (“PYLE! At your feet and at ATTENTION!” “PYLE. YOU ARE SEVEN MINUTES LATE!”) and some of the folksy charm exhibited by the residents of Sinking Springs borders on the disturbing. But it’s a fun story involving tens of thousands of letters and an equal number of cakes and pies and cookies, a general who refuses to be driven anywhere, ramps (related to leeks), a relative of Gomer building a pool in his backyard and the Singing Drums, a musical family from Sinking Springs consisting of Daddy Drum, Mama Drum, Melody Belle, Xylo Viola, Clara Nettie, Mandy Lynn, Reveille Lullaby, Organ, Harmony Carol and Hymn (the only boy).

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Back – Copyright 1965 Pyramid Publications, Inc.

Gomer, of course, gets himself into loads of trouble without intending to but winds up befriending the aforementioned general and has a parade thrown in his honor at Sinking Springs, attended by his whole platoon. And Sgt. Carter falls for one of the Drum sisters and gets to meet the whole Drum family. For all its inconsistencies relating to the television series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is a cute, short novel that fans of the series may find amusing. I doubt anyone else will, though.

Sources:
Peer, Kurt. TV Tie-Ins: A Bibliography of American TV Tie-In Paperbacks. 2nd Ed. TV Books: New York, 1997.

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Does anyone remember collecting this cards back in 1965? Did anyone actually trade them? Did they come with a stick of gum?

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