By Kevin Martel

Regina’s Dick Assman wishes David Letterman a happy retirement

May 20, 2015 | 7:57 AM

As David Letterman gets ready to host his last show Wednesday night, a Regina man with an unusual name is recalling his 15 minutes of fame with Letterman from two decades ago.

Gas station attendant Dick Assman first caught the eye of the show in 1995 during a segment called “dumb ads”. Petro-Canada had used a newspaper advertisement to let customers know that Dick and another employee were moving to a different gas station location in the Queen City. That ad got Letterman’s attention.

He stuck with the bit for months, frequently checking in with the gas station employee over the phone. Tony Orlando sang a song about him on the show. Even NFL legend Joe Namath declared himself as having “Ass-mania”.

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Assman eventually travelled to New York City and appeared on the show dressed in his red Petro-Canada shirt and hat, escorted out by two women as the band played the Canadian national anthem before being handed flowers by Dave.

“It was fun. I enjoyed it,” he recalled about his several months in the spotlight, insisting he wasn’t nervous when he met Dave and was viewed by millions.

Twenty years later, 81-year-old Assman is still working at Petro-Canada five days a week pumping gas. Even after all that time, he says people still come up to him and chat about his short-lived Letterman fame.

“They recognize me right away. Everybody tells me I haven’t really changed in 20 years. There’s still quite a few (who) come get autographs and take pictures with me,” he laughed.

Assman admits his name is actually pronounced OSS-mun, but always went along with the joke.

“I thought if they wanted to have fun with it go ahead.”

Not one to stay up late, he also admitted that he didn’t even know who David Letterman was when he was first contacted by producers and that he doesn’t usually watch The Late Show now. However, Assman is going to make a point of tuning in to Dave’s final moments before his retirement to once again see the man who made him a brief star all those years ago.

“I sure will, I’ll watch it. I wish the best of luck and hope he’ll enjoy [retirement].”

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