With all the rain this summer, I was reminded of William Henry Cosby Jr.

You know him as Bill Cosby.

He was born in Philadelphia on July 12, 1937 -- less than a month after me.

We have little else in common, but Bill's career in comedy began about the same time as mine started in radio.

His first comedy album in 1963 was titled "Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Fellow ... Right!" It sold more than a million copies. It contains a classic routine in three parts titled "Noah." Who among us doesn't chuckle when we think of God speaking to a guy who was prompted to build an ark in his driveway.

"What's a cubit?" and "How long can you tread water?" are imbedded in our memory banks.

CANDLELIGHT HORSESHOES

Also on that album is a short bit titled "Superman." Clark Kent senses an emergency, enters a phone booth and starts to change. A cop taps on the glass, asking what Kent is doing. He doesn't believe it when Kent insists that he's taking his clothes off to morph into a superhero. The best line comes from the cop after Kent points to the red "S" on his chest.

I wrote a column about vanishing telephone booths. Where will Superman change when they're finally extinct?

Richard Daley sent New York City area articles on the subject. In the "West Side Spirit" was a piece titled "Does Superman Live on West End Avenue?"

Rich said there is still a phone booth in the Beekmantown rest area off the Northway. He also spotted an inside booth at the Lewis truck stop.

About my recent piece on horseshoes, Sue Connick said, "I can remember a number of years back when we played horseshoes at night with candles stuck in the poles to be able to see where to toss the shoes."

Phil Spurlin grew up on a Kentucky farm and recalls that "there were no official rules, but us kids had fun just the same. We used horses and mules to till the soil, so horseshoes were in plentiful supply."

The ice-cream column found fun memories. A reader from Mississippi wished he could find his favorite flavor -- orange pineapple.

Arnie Burdeau writes, "Who can forget the four school board members learning that they could sing barbershop when they tried out their voices on Ice Cream' in the Music Man'?"