Dick Clark parting with past

Dick Clark is famous for plenty of things -- “American Bandstand,” his New Year’s Eve gig, game shows, award shows, blooper shows -- but anyone who has been to his Burbank offices or his home knows he is also a world-class collector of pop-culture artifacts. On Tuesday and Wednesday, an impressive array of those totems and tokens will be sold off through Guernsey’s auction house at the Rose Theater in New York.

Clark is still coping with the challenges of the stroke he suffered two years ago, but he has said he will be on the air the last night of 2006 to count down to the ball drop in Times Square. His representatives, meanwhile, are fiercely stiff-arming any queries about Clark’s health or retirement notions; they said Clark would get on the phone to talk about the auction but warned not to let the interview wander into work plans or medical topics “unless you want him to hang up on you.”

Fair enough. The auction is interesting on its own. There’s enough historic wardrobe to fill the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll closet: one of John Lennon’s early Beatles-era suits, a Janis Joplin fringed poncho from 1969, some of Elton John’s boots and one of Michael Jackson’s sequined gloves. Clark, 77, said it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to a lot of it.

“It is, in a way, because I’m a collector,” he said. “But there comes a time when it seems right to clean house and also let other people have a chance to enjoy these pieces of history.”

There are instruments autographed by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd, but those don’t resonate with Clark in the way that two more humble-looking items do: One is an address book, the other an old, weathered microphone.

The book belonged to Beatles manager Brian Epstein. “That is a gem. It’s just a mangy-looking book, just to look at it, but inside it has all the phone numbers and addresses of the people of the day.” The microphone is from the set of “American Bandstand.” “That, well, that was part of my body,” he said.

Arlan Erringer, president of Guernsey’s auction house, said that although there are some singular items that will lure the high-end collectors of Elvis and Beatles memorabilia, it’s a no-reserve auction, meaning that even casual bidders might find something in a less-rarefied price range.

A portion of the proceeds will go to charity. Online bidding will be available at www.liveauctioneers.com.

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-- Geoff Boucher