David Cassidy on the Web
How many David Cassidy concerts has this woman seen?
August 16, 2007
By Will Higgins
http://blogs.indystar.com
"I work, I pay taxes, I go to church," says Nancy Schofield of Mays Landing, N.J.
What she means is: "I know what you're thinking, but I've not lost my mind."
Nancy Schofield scrapes together about $500 a trip to go to a David Cassidy concert.
The disclaimer is appropriate because Schofield, a 49-year-old divorcee, in the last two years has attended 31 David Cassidy concerts. She has traveled the country and even abroad, to England, to see her childhood idol.
She was in Indianapolis last night, where Cassidy, a '70s heartthrob, performed at the Indiana State Fair.
Schofield is a nurse, an LPN. To pay for her habit (the average Cassidy concert, with travel, costs her $500), most weeks she picks up 12 extra hours.
She travels on the cheap, last night staying at the Econo Lodge on Shadeland Avenue.
She sleeps four hours a night and runs five miles a day. She runs marathons. She is 5-1, pixie-ish.
Divorced since 1988 and with her one son grown, Schofield dates men but not seriously. She has no interest in re-marrying. "I'm just loving the freedom," she says. "If I don't want to cook, I don't cook. If I want to travel to see David Cassidy, I travel."
She travels alone, but often meets friends at the concerts. There are several dozen middle-aged women from around the country who share Schofield's fascination with Cassidy and also travel extensively to see him perform.
Schofield's non-Cassidy friends back in New Jersey at first were uneasy with her passion, but now they understand. "They've learned he has this charisma, and it makes me happy," Schofield says.
Cassidy first made her happy in the early '70s, with his big head of hair and bubble-gum hits like "I Think I Love You." She had posters of him on her bedroom walls.
Her mother indulged her passion, taking her to three Cassidy concerts. Soon she too came to appreciate Cassidy. "I think she loved him as much as I did," Schofield says.
Her mother died in 2005, leaving Schofield forlorn and, for the first time in many years, thinking about David Cassidy.
She checked out his Website and soon was booking a flight to Seattle to see a show.
Thirty-one shows later, Cassidy is still magic to her.
Schofield forgot to eat dinner last night, so excited was she as show time approached.
She had a seat in the front row and loved the show - "two hours he sang, and in that heat!"
The quality of Bob Dylan's concerts is known to vary widely, but Cassidy is "always on the money," Schofield says.
Next on Schofield's David Cassidy tour is a three-night stand in Orlando in October.
