November 29, 2010

ASSORTED COMMENTS FROM READERS OF THIS BLOG

Sterling Morrison, 1960 graduate of Division Avenue High School

STERLING MORRISON
Ira Selsky 1960: I was a friend of Sterling's in our junior and senior years at Division. Unfortunately, I lost track of him after we graduated. I had thought about attending Syracuse University with Sterling and Jimmy Tucker, but ended up with a full scholarship to Adelphi (which I couldn’t turn down).

Sterling and I used to hang out at Jimmy Tucker’s house listening to records, mostly Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry records. I had no idea that he could play the guitar. And Jimmy’s little sister, Maureen (“Moe”), was constantly in the background.

After moving back to New York in 1998, my law firm represented both Bo Diddley and Lou Reed, and I was thrilled to meet both of them. I remember talking to Lou about Sterling, and he had great things to say about Sterling.

BROOKLYN DODGERS
sue weldon 1960: thanks for sharing such a lovely memory in your november 15 blog post. reading it kicked in one of my own.

my maiden aunt martha was a fanatical brooklyn dodgers fan. she was a poorly paid office worker and lived with my grandmother. it seemed to me that only her love for "dem bums" brought joy to her life.

aunt martha and several officemates chipped in and bought season tickets to dodgers games. when it was her turn on a weekend day, she always took me. we had wonderful seats behind the dugout and the players would always turn to the stands and wave to the fans before they took the field. aunt martha told me they were waving directly at me and of course they were. i remember duke snider winking right at me as he returned to the dugout after hitting a three-run homer.

my aunt martha's love for the dodgers and the fact that she shared that love with me was and is a powerfully warm connection still.

JUDY LLOYD
Pete File 1960: Judy Lloyd (see November 6 blog post) was a good friend of mine and dated Chuck Keuning for about two years. Judy, Chuck and I hung out a good deal, and of course I knew her mom well also. Judy co-wrote the song ‘This is My Love", and her group ‘The Emjays” recorded it. It got a little play but not a whole lot. I too have a copy of that record. I lost touch with Judy after graduation.

She was a beautiful red head with a great sense of humor. It would be great to talk to her again. Chuck was a year ahead of us at Levittown Memorial, and he and I and a few others played as a band for 2-3 years.

WRESTLING AT THE DUFFYS' HOUSE
Lou Zinser 1964: I had to laugh about the boxing ring described in your November 28 post about Al "The Animal" Williams. I was friends with Jim Duffy and knew his older brother Doug. I would go over to the Duffy house and since Jim was a very good wrestler, we would put down sheets in the living room and wrestle. I was a basketball, baseball and soccer guy at the time (8th grade) and hated wrestling with Joe Williams nd the Hill brothers. Then Doug would come in and beat the hell out of Jim, Joe and myself, but not Pat and Mike Hill.

After that day I became very careful not to enter the Duffys' domain. The Hills' house was another home I learned not to inhabit unless I wanted to head butt with Mr. Hill. Mr. Hill would do pushups in the end zone after Blue Dragons football scores. The parents of both families were great people.

ABOUT BRAD CLARK
Merrill Clark 1962: My brother Brad (Division 1966) grew to be a big boy, 6'7'' and 280 lbs , and pretty trim and strong. He was probably the premier basketball player to come out of Division Avenue High School. Our cousin John Crisp, a basketball player in Lexington, Mass., and Brad were selected as two of the top 50 high school basketball players in New York and Massachusetts in 1966. Together, Brad and John had over 150 basketball scholarships offered to them. Brad elected to go to the Citadel and John attended UConn.

My brother died in August of 2004 of a rare and incurable condition called, "Paraneoplastic syndrome with lymbic encephalitis". He was 57. I sure do miss him as we were very close.

1 comment:

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