James Dean fans commemorate legend's life, career and death

FAIRMONT, IND. -- Every year on Sept. 30, thousands of people are drawn to a small town in northeast Indiana. They come from all over the globe for one reason, for one person who isn't even there anymore: James Dean.\nFairmount, the town where Dean grew up, has become the annual magnet for people who want to celebrate his life and his image. They participate in parades and look-alike contests, place flowers on his grave and have been known to even steal his headstone.\nDean grew up a Hoosier farm boy, but became the universal symbol of adolescent angst and attitude through his films and lifestyle. It\'s been written that Dean (along with Elvis Presley) invented the image of the teenager in America. Perhaps it is that which seems to draw the fans, most of whom weren\'t even born when he died -- his Porsche Spyder crashed in California on Sept. 30, 1955.\nCinematically, Dean's accomplishments are few. He was in only three films ("East of Eden," "Rebel Without A Cause," and "Giant") and lived only 24 years. But there must be something about this man that makes people from Japan, Holland, Germany and elsewhere flock to a little town in Indiana.\nThis year's festival, which always falls on the day he died, was one of the few three-day weekend festivals. There were many old cars, rides, contests, and other attractions. But the greatest attraction was the fans. \nIf there are fans that rival Elvis fans, it would be The Deaners (a term coined by the fans themselves). They show their devotion in so many ways. Many actually come as the rebel himself, dressed in one of his well-known movie personas. \nAlmost all who make the trip to Fairmount visit the fairly modest grave site. By the end of the weekend James Byron Dean's grave is covered in pictures, candles, money, and most of all lots of unopened packs of cigarettes. \nJames Dean had an impact on each fan\'s life in one way or another, some in profound ways -- many saying they "just felt some kind of a connection." \nMark Kinnaman, one of the "hardcore" James Dean fans (clearly distinguishable by the James Dean tattoo on his arm) said he was as a teen growing up in Alexandria, about 10 miles from Fairmount, when he first saw the movie "East of Eden." \n"He changed my life," Kinnaman said.\nHe was able to relate to the struggles that Cal (Dean's character) had with his father in the film. Since that moment, Kinnaman has become one of the top James Dean experts in the country and probably in the world. He has filled over four rooms in his home with James Dean memorabilia and collectables. He now goes around the country selling reproductions of his collection pieces. James Dean is part of his everyday life.\nCarol Thailing from Cleveland, OH also relates to Dean through her father, but more because she was able to see much of her father in Dean\'s bad boy image. This is her sixth year at the festival. She says she doesn't come to Fairmount just to remember James Dean, but also because the fanatics like herself have become like a "second family."\nKris Frailey, a member of the official James Dean Fan Club, said that she was first taken by Dean watching "Rebel Without A Cause." \n"As a teenager, I liked to see someone who was going though the same things that I was," she said. Magdalin Leonardo, president of the James Dean Remembered Fan Club, said she was attracted to Dean because of his good looks and acting ability. She started the fan club in 2000, because the original James Dean fan club that started in 1978 folded in 1999.\nFor some, the weekend is an opportunity to go back to Dean's time. With sparkling 1957 Chevys rolling down the street, women with bandanas in their pony tails, and men with their hair slicked back, it seems that time has stood still. \n"It's like the Fairmount that Jimmy grew up in. It's like Fairmount never changed," said Pam Crawford, who has been to Fairmount ten times since 1991.\nWalking through the old cars and women in poodle skirts, you realize that it isn't just about the man, it's about the image. Even more so, it's about the decade. These fans have not only immortalized a man, but have immortalized a period of American life through an actor sometimes called an American icon. They remember James Dean as a riveting actor who died because of his free rebellious ways.