Grave Error

Thu 1 Nov 2007

8 Responses to “Straight to Brooklyn”

1. Charlie Says:
   November 2nd, 2007 at 5:25 pm

   Alas, I was at Flatbush and Bedford, in I think 1952, as a member of the Cub Scouts, and watched the Dodgers’ Carl Erskine pitch a no-hitter against the Cubs- as Jackie, Campy, Peewee, Junior, BIlly, Carl, Gil, Andy, the Duke and Happy, looked on. Tell me who Happy was without looking it up and I’ll buy you a ticket for the Dodgers next home game at Ebbetts Field. I can remember the entire starting lineup from a baseball game in 1952, but can’t ……….. grumble, grumble, grumble.

2. eric Says:
   November 2nd, 2007 at 8:34 pm

   Charlie,

   Sounds like memory lane!!! It’s amazing when you think about how happy a place can be and then it ceases to exist accept in your memory. I sometimes think that the only thing that can be “possessed” is memory.

   ReWrite is a big Mets fan, but that’s on the other side of town.

   By the way, Happy Thanksgiving a little early. Those are memories of pumpkin pie, chocolate pudding, tapioca pudding, shrimp dip, Mary Dobey’s quiche, etc etc that are like an indelible line-up in my mind.

3. Randy Says:
   November 3rd, 2007 at 4:49 am

   Brooklyn? Way to go ReWrite! What a fabulous place. I blogged on Brooklyn a few weeks ago (see below), linking to an article I wrote about it for AP in 2002. The stereotype of Brooklyn perpetuated by the YouTube video is totally inaccurate for about two thirds of the borough.

   Monday, October 08, 2007
   Day trip to nation’s fourth-largest city

   I brought the whole family to Brooklyn yesterday, one of my favorite places. I’ve taken my 4-year-old son to Manhattan many times, but this was his first glimpse of Brooklyn. We went to the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, walked along the boardwalk and played on the beach. Then we had a late lunch in Sheepshead Bay (at Randazzo’s Clam Bar) and later enjoyed the boats and the docks.

   Brooklyn has always held a special fascination for me. One of my grandparents lived there at the turn of the century, and during my days with the Associated Press in New York City, I visited it often, exploring different neighborhoods. I wrote a travel piece about Brooklyn for AP in 2002.

   One of the amazing things about it is how much talent was spawned there. The list of famous people born and/or raised in Brooklyn includes:

   Comedy

   Joey Adams, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Jack Carter, Larry David, Andrew Dice Clay, Pat Cooper, Dom DeLuise, Danny DeVito, Phil Foster, Jackie Gleason, Morty Gunty, Buddy Hackett, Gabe Kaplan, Danny Kaye, Alan King, Jerry Lewis, Eddie Murphy, Rhea Perlman, Martha Raye, Ritz Brothers, Joan Rivers, Chris Rock, Phil Silvers, Neil Simon, Jerry Stiller, Mae West, Henny Youngman.

   Film-TV-Theater

   F. Murray Abraham, Gene Barry, Clara Bow, Ken Burns, Steve Buscemi, Joseph Chaikin, Tony Danza, Richard Dreyfuss, Harvey Fierstein, Allen Funt, Vincent Gardenia, Louis Gossett Jr., Elliott Gould, Susan Hayward, Rita Hayworth, Gregory Hines, Harvey Keitel, Larry King, Martin Landau, Spike Lee, Alyssa Milano, Mary Tyler Moore, Zero Mostel, Rosie Perez, Mary Pickford, Edward G. Robinson, Mickey Rooney, Judge Judy Sheindlin, Jimmy Smits, Paul Sorvino, Barbara Stanwyck, Connie Stevens, Gene Tierney, Marisa Tomei, John Turturo, Brenda Vaccaro, Ben Vereen, Abe Vigoda, Eli Wallach, Lillias White, Shelley Winters.

   Music

   Carmine Appice, Eubie Blake, Benjamin Britten, Betty Carter, Aaron Copland, Marshall Crenshaw, Vic Damone, Clive Davis, Neil Diamond, Joey Fatone, David Geffen, George Gershwin, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Lena Horne, Lainie Kazan, Carole King, Julius LaRosa, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Johnny Maestro, Barry Manilow, Robert Merrill, Bette Midler, Stephanie Mills, Eddie Money, “Cousin” Bruce Morrow, Nilsson, Lou Reed, Buddy Rich, Santo & Johnny, Beverly Sills, Barbra Streisand, The Tokens, Vanessa Williams.

   Sports

   Riddick Bowe, Howard Cosell, Billy Cunningham, Al Davis, Mike Dunleavy, John Franco, Marty Glickman, Michael Jordan, Albert King, Bernard King, Sandy Koufax, Vince Lombardi, Sid Luckman, Stephon Marbury, Doug Moe, Chris Mullin, Floyd Patterson, Joe Pepitone, Jerry Reinsdorf, Jackie Robinson, Joe Torre, Mike Tyson, Lenny Wilkins.

   Writers

   Isaac Asimov, Dave Barry, Truman Capote, W.E.B. Dubois, Moss Hart, Pete Hamill, Joseph Heller, Garson Kanin, Norman Mailer, Bernard Malamud, Frank McCourt, Arthur Miller, Henry Miller, Joseph Papp, S.J. Perelman, Erich Segal, Hubert Selby Jr., Irwin Shaw, Mickey Spillane, Iyanla Vanzant, Walt Whitman.

   Others

   Joseph Barbera, Al Capone, Shirley Chisholm, Alan Dershowitz, Bobby Fischer, Milton Friedman, William M. Gaines (Mad magazine founder), Carlo Gambino, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Rudy Giuliani, John Gotti, Salvatore “Sammy Bull” Gravano, Alexander Hamilton, Charles (Lucky) Luciano, Peter Max, Geraldo Rivera, Steve Ross, Carl Sagan, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Ben Shahn, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Bugsy Siegel.

4. Charlie Says:
   November 3rd, 2007 at 5:53 am

   Okay so nobody is interested enough in the Dodger ticket to attempt to answer my question. It was Happy Felton of Happy Felton’s Knothole Gang. He had a pre-game show where little leaguers got to talk to one of the Dodgers and received a bat and glove. Randy’s list is amazing. Plenty of libs on the list, Rewrite.

5. James Says:
   November 4th, 2007 at 9:37 am

   I just don’t care enough about baseball or Brooklyn to put forth the effort to look up information on either.

   I much prefer cugino’s Thanksgiving food list.

   Things that seemingly no longer “exist”, are ever present in the dark and quiet spaces of the mind palace. Steal away with the best of life, and even absent of human contact, you are never alone.

   I only ever have to miss those people and places I admire, briefly, and whispers of the past are quickly regenerated into vivid imagery and sound … not particularly accurate, but enjoyable, nonetheless.

6. Randy Bergmann Says:
   November 4th, 2007 at 11:58 pm

   Charlie,
   If you and Dad had invited me to the Dodger game, I might have had a crack at answering the trivia question. That’s what you get for not letting the squirt come with you.
   Randy

7. eric Says:
   November 5th, 2007 at 3:55 pm

   I suppose I am with James on this one: I know nothing about baseball!!!

   But yes, Randy, Brooklyn is a definitely a fascinating place. I wonder if we can add ReWrite to that list one day?

8. ReWrite Says:
   November 6th, 2007 at 6:12 am

   don’t count on it.

Leave a Reply