Recently, the sister of a classmate of mine at St. Mary Mother of Jesus elementary school asked in a Facebook post if anyone had pictures of her brothers as young men. I posted one from the 1963 yearbook of our graduating class to her FB feed. It was the height of the baby boom. There were three eighth grade classes. Ours had 40 students. Since the photos came unglued over time, I assembled them into a whole. Here it is. I apologize for the poor quality:
And here's what I remember about each, starting from the top, going left to right:
Eleanor Pasquale - She was tall, and I think she had a crush on me.
Linda Noce - I've run into her within the past decade. She's had a rough life.
Teresa Mazzotta - Sorry to say I don't recall anything about her.
Concetta Chinni - had unbelievable dimples.
Frances Carino - considered the class beauty and was so nice.
Phyllis Pirotta - I had a crush on her at one time.
Carmen Ruggiero - Don't recall anything about her.
Stephen Orr - energetic, wrote "Hotsy Totsy you're a dirty Nazi" in my autograph book - and included a swastika. That would have gotten him into serious trouble today. I loved it and laughed.
Charlie Marchisotto - amiable.
Jimmy Saporito - last saw him in the '80s' as an opponent in softball. He is mentioned in my novel Present and Past.
Freddie "Bucky" Bucalo - the beating he took from Sister Grace on the first day of seventh grade is also mentioned in the aforementioned book. Great kid.
James Coffey - I believe his mom was the long-time traffic officer at the corner of 23rd Avenue and 85th Street. Everyone loved her.
Pete Cavallaro - great kid. His dad was KIA in Korea. P.S. 281 is named after him.
Richie Cupo - we were good friends at the time. My last recollection is of him carrying a large bottle of brew. He already had quite a beer belly in his 20's.
Helena Leavy - lovely Irish brogue. The way she pronounced "mortal sin" charmed us. Also mentioned in the novel.
Cathy Falcone - very amiable.
Donna DoCampo - from St. Mary's to high school, her demeanor seemed to change radically from light to darkness. I mentioned it to Linda, who seemed baffled by my observation of her good friend.
Kathleen De Fato - don't recall anything about her.
Ann Caratozzolo - ditto.
Theresa Yakoumakis - ditto.
Louise Verde - a very good student. Had the feeling she loathed me.
Paul Affuso - class valedictorian, scholarship to Xaverian H.S.. I ran into him at a wake. He became an NYU professor.
Tommy Mazzola - big kid, sweet nature.
Tommy Urso - a group of us spent a lot of time in the basement of his house. His mom was so sweet. His dad drove an "earl" truck, which I mention in another of my novels, Killing. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant in the NYPD.
Mario Ricchiuti - well-mannered. He's mentioned in Present and Past.
John Redden - reconnected with him on Facebook. Often posts his conservatives views and support of President Trump.
Charlie Ruggiero - nice kid. One of his relatives owned the house at the right-hand corner of Benson Avenue & Bay 37th, my block.
Joey Leoncavallo - the most popular kid in the class. Recently reconnected with him on Facebook. Retired from the NYFD, now selling real estate.
William Carrique - smart kid, very nice. No idea what became of him.
Benedetto Gentile - Where are you Benny? Great guy.
Ann Amato - Tommy Urso was madly in love with her and, as he told me at the reunion of the Lafayette class of '68, which a group of us from '67 crashed - she dumped him! Biggest mistake she ever made.
Susan Pezzela - good attitude. Haven't seen her since '63, nor heard of her. Dubbed Prudence Pots, a character in a TV commercial.
Mary Passaro - very nice girl. Haven't seen her since H.S..
Richie Semendoff - he's the one whose picture I sent his sister. Tall, good nature. I wonder if he's the only one to have passed away. RIP, sir.
John Califano - the class clown. His antics are on display in Present and Past.
John "Caggy" Caggiano - Another one I haven't seen since '63.
Yours truly.
Vinnie Manzo - loved baseball. His dad took us to a Mets' doubleheader at the Polo Grounds. Haven't seen him since graduation day, nor heard of him.
MIA - two of the tallest kids in class, Ronnie Tutino, who I used to meet at Saturday matinées at the Benson Theater; and Richie Finn, a goofball also mentioned in Present and Past.
I apologize if I've mis-tagged any of the female pics. Any corrections or info would be appreciated.
The owner of this car got just what he deserved when Californian firemen responded to a call:
As I set out on my morning walk I noticed that the most favorable parking spot in terms of the floating book shop was open, and I was lucky to get it. It was the only way I could have operated at my usual nook on such a cold day. I sat in the ol' Hyundai a couple of times to warm up, which enabled me to put a couple of hours into the endeavor. My thanks to the two women who each bought a book in Russian, and to the gentleman who purchased a Cambridge dictionary; and to the one who selected a book on influence and persuasion; and to the middle age man on a bike who delivered a three-book set in Russian; and to the young woman who donated a large bag of books, most of them young adult fare. I put the four most marketable on display and took the rest home.
My Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Fortezza/e/B002M4NLJE
Read Vic's Stories, free: http://fictionaut.com/users/vic-fortezza
No comments:
Post a Comment