An update of some prior stories, after the jump ……….
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First, some new stories (one of which I only alluded to in this space).
Two weekends ago, I had a mini meet-up with some high school classmates. Many people have dire memories of their high school years (and want nothing to do with them anymore). I can relate — it’s just that junior high school was a horrible time (including some bullying before I started growing in high school). The high school I attended gave me a new start, away from my tormenters. And while I was still shy: by senior year I had now healed, and even though with a graduating class of over 400, I still enjoy seeing folks. Only four others were there that day … yet warmed my heart.
While my family moved in the late 1960’s (when I was age eleven) and the town we moved to was where I came-of-age — and where I have often visited to see family/friends and for hiking — I grew-up in the NYC suburb of West Hempstead, NY. Over the years, I have been there — for an extended family wedding or funeral (and lately, more of the latter) — yet I never really spent some time walking about, rather than just a drive-by.
So the next day — for the first time in over fifty years — I took a walking tour of my old stomping grounds. Our old house has a ramp leading-up to it, and the vacant lot next door (where we used to play softball or horseshoes) has long had a new house built on it. A block away, there was Jerry’s: a convenience store in today’s parlance, but we saw it as a candy store, newspaper seller, with a small luncheonette where my folks might treat us to an ice cream soda (and maybe a hamburger). In its place today are a barber shop/hair salon, with a deli across the street: the ultimate successor to Jerry’s.
Public buildings (schools, post office, library) are updated versions of their old selves, yet most commercial shops are gone. One exception: Reisterer's Bakery (which two days later had its 90th anniversary, still owned by the family of a German immigrant). They had a sign outside asking, "Why not stop in for a coffee and a buttered roll?" - so I did. The old shop was just a small bake shop - now much larger, they have tables for light dining. Good choice — brought me back in time.
My old school (at least from the exterior) looks almost unchanged — the one sign of change was a "No skateboarding" sign. I walked up to the town line with the larger town of Hempstead — and sure enough, the old White Castle is still there. I had lunch at a Jamaican fast-food shop, and the owner liked my telling him I finished my tour at a place that would not have existed in my youth.
It dawned on me, a bit later: this was the kind of walking (about 2-½ hours) I did at age ten or so — so that I was a “free-range kid” of my era … when that term did not exist.
Just before we went into Covid lockdown, I wrote an essay of a most uncommon NYC restaurateur — Jimmy Neary, the owner of a small restaurant in NYC’s Upper East Side who — at age eighty-nine — came in to work every single day (except for Christmas) and while power brokers often dined there: he greeted every diner who came in as if they were his old friends. In a pinch, you’d see him clear tables or bring-out food. An immigrant from Ireland, he was able to buy his space in the mid-80’s (at a low point in the NYC real estate market) and was thus able to survive when many competitors were forced to close …. not due to food/service, just staggering rent increases. You can read my initial essay — which also looks at the larger restaurant issue — at this link.
Now …... an update.
Jimmy Neary died earlier this month at the age of ninety-one, and at his funeral: a eulogy was given by a regular customer ... former NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg. His daughter Una will continue the restaurant and she placed this sign on the door:
We want to thank you all for being a part of his life. Dad loved you all, and he loved being with you for the past 55+ years. You were all a critical part of his family and enriched his life in countless ways. As he always said ‘I love my life!’ ”
Finally, in this space seven years ago, I wrote about fulfilling a childhood dream in 2005 — flying to London to attend the first reunion concert of my favorite 1960’s band Cream, who performed in my hometown of West Hempstead when I was young … yet at age eleven, I was unable to attend. They split in the late 60’s, and I thought I’d missed-out. You can read my original essay at this link.
Now …... an update.
Earlier this year, a British fellow posted a notice on a Cream fan site. He publishes books about popular music groups — but does not write them, instead asking for reader accounts of seeing them at different venues, acting more like an editor. I sent him the link to my original Top Comments essay and his finished book Cream — A People’s History— on pages 328-331, selected passages from my Top Comments essay appear, with the below as the intro:
Let’s close with perhaps the big surprise of those reunion shows — We’re Going Wrong, from the 1967 album Disraeli Gears. A decent song, I felt …. but the rendition delivered live was so much better than the original.
Now, on to Top Comments:
From smileycreek:
In the diary by News Corpse about the deposition on inciting a riot that 45 has been ordered to give — pasadena beggar gave sage advice on how to respond to a deposition, depending on who's asking the questions.
Highlighted by FormerGoper:
In the front page story about the latest GOP deadbeat, Newt Gingrich— this comment made by kamachanda.
And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the front-page story on how 45 is having trouble hiring attorneys due to his …. ummm …. past payment practices — tjlord notes that it is not only senior partners in law firms who are reluctant.
Next - enjoy jotter's wonderful (and now eternal) *PictureQuilt™* below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment featuring that photo.
TOP PHOTOSOctober 13th, 2021
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And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
1) Please proceed. by rudewarrior +2614) Our conversation continued… … by Frank Pedraza +1439) I second that comment! by noonetou +10518) And the next day… … by Frank Pedraza +8120) Thanks Greg, “crunch” indeed... … by learn +8024) Need a laugh? by Denise Oliver Velez +78