Village14 regular and former TAB editor Gail Spector is writing a book about the legendary locals of Newton for Arcadia Publishing. Arcadia are the folks who publish those sepia tinged books of historic photos from individual towns. Their newer Legendary Local series are books about the unique individuals past and present that have had a lasting impact on their community.
Gail’s doing research at the moment, and looking for your nominations, stories, photos of any people that you think should be included. Who are Newton’s legendary locals? Who are the people that define the city? Who are the most interesting characters? Who has left their mark on the city? She’s mostly interested in folks from the last 50 years but will also be including older historic figures as well.
Send them to [email protected] or better yet, just post them below. I’ll start it off, with one of the most obvious local legends.
For a long gone, historical figure, I nominate Upper Falls homeboy Otis Pettee.
… and a present day nomination for Sidewalk Sam.
Jerry,
You scooped me on my own story!! I was going to post this today!
Thanks for taking it off my to-do list!
Way cool! Here’s Sidewalk Sam’s website:
http://www.sidewalksam.com/
Freda Rebelsky, beloved former psychology professor at BU and long time Newton Corner resident and neighbor of Sidewalk Sam’s!
Howard Zinn – another beloved BU Professor and long time resident of Fern St in Auburndale.
Al Guzzi who was the father of Paul Guzzi, former State Rep and Secretary of State. Al was almost alone in carrying the banner for the Democratic Party in Newton during the 1950’s when the Republicans controlled just about every local office here. He loved campaigning on off years for a seat on the Board of Aldermen and in even years for one of Newton’s State rep seats. Always engaged, knowledgeable and down to earth.
Charlie Feeley, retired Newton Police Sergeant. Was the bike safety guy for a million years, driving around with giant bull horn speakers on the roof of his cruiser. Lived on Watertown St, just out of West Newton Square. Had two large totem poles in his back yard that came from the old Norumbega Park. Great guy an friend to everyone.
How about Fats Pellegrini.
Tom – I guess you missed my link in the original post. Yes, the book wouldn’t be complete without him.
Jackie Gauvreau. She told Cardinal Law to his face twice that Father Shanley had molested a teen age boy. After the story broke, she testified about the Cardinal’s direct knowledge of her accusation–he denied any memory of the meetings. She basically lit the fuse that led to Law’s removal and led to the national revelations of the problems in the church. She paid a heavy price; the initial shock of the revelations and scepticism about the charges made her extremely controversial and virtually unemployable. Her story is detailed in the Boston Globe story on the scandal and the book based on it and “The Faithful Departed” by Philip Lawlor. A blog entry years ago asks when she will receive a formal apology from the church now that the truth of her charges are universally acknowledged. She still hasn’t.
@The Whole Truth. Charlie Feeley was a wonderful man and a dedicated police officer. He had a sixth sense that seemed to tell him when some kid was violating a bicycle rule. You have him living on Watertown Street and perhaps he did at some point in his life. He was living on Floral Street in Newton Highlands when I knew him. He was a real fixture in this village. Everyone knew him, liked him and respected him immensely I know he was a staunch Republican and I think he ran for some local office here at some time in his life; but he was always reaching across political, ethnic, racial and age barriers.
There is one Newton legend that Gail came to know quite closely through her news reporting. Since Gail’s style includes a respect for the basic kindness and dedication of a person, while readily drawing attention to the spinach in their teeth if it’s meaningful to her, I would be shocked not to see the Mayor just prior to Setti Warren as one of the legends. It would be an interesting read.
Legendary or notorious?
Thanks all for your great suggestions. I’m going to start another thread in the next couple days with a little more information about what I’m looking for. But these are all terrific suggestions.
@Hoss: The question you raise, not surprisingly, is the one I’ve heard most often. I criticized Mayor Cohen at the end of his tenure as mayor, but he served this city for many years — as alderman, state rep, and then mayor. He made an ugly exit that was mostly, if not entirely, avoidable (the ugliness, not the exit). But he did a lot for this city, including getting Newton North built, love it or hate it. This doesn’t mean he’s going to be in the book, but he’s certainly a contender.
@Greg and all: Notorious is good too!
I’m not a Safire, but I think of a legend as someone that gained name notoriety through accomplishments and then local opinion took over for either good or bad reasons. I think of notorious as a word the often precedes criminal.
People to cover:
Ted Williams lived on Locke Rd in Waban, there are some stories about his regular milk shake fix at Rhodes pharmacy.
Jimmy Piersall of the Red Sox (and the movie “Fear strikes out”) lived on White Oak rd.
Newtonite/World Champion, Olympian Skater, Dr. Tenley Albright.
Cardiologist, Dr. Bernard Lown, Nobel peace price winner
As a side note: Officer Feeley was a legend of my childhood. A wonderful guy who led the bicycle test in elementary school and was well thought of by all.
Ted Williams also lived in Upper Falls. Here’s a story from a recent Upper Falls News.
Larry Smith, shared his own wonderful Upper Falls story. “Years ago, when I was about 9 or 10, me and a couple of buddies took a new baseball to see if we could get Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox (considered the greatest hitter of all time) to sign the ball for us. Ted Williams lived on Lucille Place off Route 9 and just a block up from High Street.
We rang his doorbell and he came to the door carrying his baby daughter who was crying because we had woke her up and Ted was quite mad at us. We handed him the ball which he grabbed in anger. We said Mr. Williams could you sign it for us. He said come back next Saturday and then slammed the door on us. We weren’t sure whether we should come back or not but we did. We rang the bell again and he came to the door with the ball in hand and SIGNED. He was nice and friendly this time and we went away thrilled to have the ball signed. But, rather than save this now valuable signed baseball, we used it playing ball at the Emerson Playground the following week which discolored the ball and his signature and made the ball no longer a prized possession.”
Speaking of Red Sox, there was the year Jason Varitek handed out candy to trick-or-treaters.
mgwa –
I put that story in my proposal for the book!
Does anybody remember Sam Fried of Fried’s Department Store (circa 1900-1967). Sam helped over 500 immigrants receive citizenship by teaching the necessary steps needed to pass citizenship. Memories of immigrants driving cars for the first time under Sam Fried’s tutelege brings a chuckle. Also, Sam was involved with the Newton Boys Club and state leadership. Many nights parents called Sam to help their child get released from jail. Once released, Sam escorted them to the Boys Club saving many from futures of crime.
Sam was loved by all and was acknowledged with “Man of the Year” honors for Newton early 60’s. Gail, you can find information in the Newton Times on Sam Fried. In the Times, there is a great interview with Lt. Feeley discussing the Fried family’s philanthropy. Also, there is a book by Beryl Gilfix called “The Adam’s Street Shul” mentioning in great detail the Fried Family and many other wonderful citizens.
I LOVE stories like that, Barry! Sam Fried sounds like a great man.
Officer Charlie Feeley shepherded a generation of suburan, white (Newton) teenagers into the inner city and through the Civil Rights movement, opening our eyes and hearts to the reality of De-Facto Segregation in the Boston schools. Working closely with the Youth Group of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Officer Feeley set our lives on the path of true civic responsibilty, empathy, and what it truly means to be “our brothers’ keeper”.
Correction, The newspaper said Sam Fried sponsored 1000 French and Italian immigrants to America. He also raised money for the local church to buy an organ. Oh, and he and a man named Kavanagh I think, we’re the first people in the Softball Hall of Fame.