POVERTY

The latest poverty numbers have been released and they are pretty discouraging. I thought the economy was getting better. The stock market has doubled in the past 4 years, housing prices are rebounding in many sections of the country, foreclosures have dropped significantly, and retail sales are up for many stores.

But 22% of all children, about 16 million live in poverty. And for African-American children its 39% and Latino children its 34%. Women are 34% more likely to live in poverty than men. 28% of all workers make poverty level wages. Those receiving food stamps is at all time high. And the number that bothers me the most is 50% of all jobs in the US pay $34,000 or less!! Many states have created new jobs but many of them are minimum wage or close to it, and don't have any or minimal benefits. How can you support a family on wages like that? How can you save to buy a house or condo? And every two houses bought in the country, creates at least 1 job.

So what can we do about this? Well, short-term or tactically, we can donate our time and money to soup kitchens, food pantries, food banks and places like the Salvation Army. If each one of us put 2 pennies a day into a jar, that's $7.30 a year. In my hometown there are over 17,000 people. If we all put those pennies in a jar for one year, that's $124,000 a year. And thats just one town. Imagine if every town in Massachusetts did that? There are over 300 towns in the state. That's close to $37 million a year. Hey, those pennies add up.

Long term and more strategically, we need everyone to get a good education and not just get jobs, but get careers. So how are we going to do this? Right now 25-30% of all students who enter 9th grade in this country do not graduate. And in some of the inner cities, its 50-70%. What happens to all those young adults? If they find work, it will probably be a minimum wage job. Some will turn to drugs, some of the girls will get pregnant, some will go to jail for various crimes. And the US has close to 2 million people incarcerated, the highest rate in the civilized world. And it  costs close to $80,000 a year to keep someone in prison. And more than this, what bothers me the most is that out of all these young adults that drop out of school,  all that unfulfilled potential is lost. Who would have been the next great statesman, the next great artist, or senator, or writer or even president?

So we have to keep these students in school. We have to give them Hope and Inspiration, to help many of  them get through tough family situations.  We have to help them develop a Vision for their lives and the Goals to reach that Vision. We have to give them a road map on how to succeed in life and teach them the life skills they will need to reach that success. We have to reach out to them. We need everyone in the country to think about this and give back and develop all the ways to eliminate poverty in the United States in our lifetimes and indeed "to make gentle the life of this world."

I Remember Patty

Its been a sad several days for the Larkin and Sullivan families. My sister in law Patricia Anne Sullivan (Patty) died in her sleep last Wednesday night. She was born on St. Patricks Day and would have been 68 this past Sunday. The family always gathered on St. Patrick's Day to celebrate Patty's birthday. It was always one of the highlights of the year. This year instead we were at the funeral home for her wake. But after the wake we all came back to our house and had corned beef and all the trimmings, we toasted her with our favorite beverages, and my wife Kathy made a birthday cake, we lit the candles and sang happy birthday to her.

I have always had a special place in my heart for anyone that has to live with handicaps of any kind. And Patty has always had a special place in my heart for the 45 years I have known her. I have two sisters whom I love very much, but I love Patty just as much. She was always my sister as far as I was concerned.  Sometimes we take for granted the every day things we do, like drive a car, get married, have kids, maybe have grandchildren.  Patty couldn't do a lot of those things but she really didn't need much to be happy. In recent years if she got a puzzle and stopped at Dunkin Donuts for an iced coffee, went for a ride and stopped to see her mother,  I think she was pretty content.

In the past few years, when Patty was on a liquid diet, we couldn't go out to eat anymore. My wife Kathy would pick her up at the Group Home, and drive her to Topsfield to visit her mother- Nana, and her sister Beth. I would drive down there ahead, and spend time talking to Nana and wait for Patty and Kathy to arrive. We did these visits a couple of times each month and I always looked forward to those visits. Now there will be a big void in my life.

And in years past when Patty would come to Maine, she and I would ride down to Naples in my truck,  and we would go for a boat ride on the Songo Queen. We would sit up front on one of the benches with a good view and Patty would be sipping a coke. And afterwards we would get an ice cream. And sometimes on the way back to the cottage in Bridgton we would sing songs, maybe Christmas carols or Happy Birthday, even if they weren't in season.

My heart is heavy without Patty here anymore, and my thoughts and prayers go out to her brothers and sisters, and all her friends in the Group Home, and especially to Nana. I can't even comprehend what it is like for a parent to lose a child.

I hope Patty is in that great big blue lake in the sky, riding on that heavenly Songo Queen, sipping a coke, with her Daddy and all her aunts and uncles by her side, looking down and smiling at all of us. May God bless and keep Patricia Anne Sullivan.  Your loving brother in law. FRAN

The Blizzard of 1888

We certainly have had a lot of large snowstorms this winter including the Blizzard last month and the storm today, where some towns had two feet.  And we had superstorm Sandy last fall  and two huge snowstorms the last two Octobers. There have been many articles written about the impact global warming and the increase in ocean temperature and air temperature have had on our weather. Some articles have said that we are going to continue to have large, huge storms and more of them. And that may well be.

But huge storms have always been with us in New England history especially snow storms. The Great Snow of 1717 is still talked about. The snow was 3-4 feet deep and that was the snow, not the drifts. There was no travel for days. And more recently who can forget the Blizzard of 1978 and all those cars stranded on 128 and the state shut down for a week.

But next week is the 125th anniversary of the  grandaddy of them all- the Blizzard of 1888. March 11-14. Spring was in the air. The crocuses were coming out. The weather was unseasonably warm. And then it started to rain. But lurking to the south was a monster storm. The temperatures dropped. The rain turned to snow and before it ended 3 days later, 40 to 50 inches had accumulated. Drifts were 30 to 40 feet! Some drifts covered 3 story houses! The next time you are traveling north of Albany on the Northway, Route 87, and you pass Saratoga Springs, think of them receiving 58 inches of snow on the ground!!!That was the record for the storm.

80 mph wind gusts were reported and the barometer reached 29.00, as low as some hurricanes. The storm stalled near Block Island and just spun like a top, intensifying as it went and throwing foot after foot on New England towns. The mid Atlantic states and New England were paralyzed for days. A drift at Westport, Ct. on the railroad tracks was so huge it took 8 days to clear. More than 400 people died, including over 200 in New York City.

200 ships were wrecked or tossed ashore, leading to the loss of life of 100 sailors. And after the storm there was severe flooding as warm weather returned. After the storm New York city started placing its telegraph and telephone lines underground. And the storm was partially  responsible for the establishment of the Boston and New York underground subway systems.

So large storms have been with us in the past. The question to be answered is will they now be more frequent due to the climate changes. Keep your eye on the Weather Channel and the local stations to find out!

The Day The Music Died!

Yesterday was the 54th anniversary of the day the music died, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper-J.P. Richardson, along with the pilot, Roger Peterson died in that horrible plane crash in a cornfield in  Clear Lake Iowa. I was in 7th grade, and I can remember it just like yesterday, sitting in Mr. Fish's homeroom in the old Brooks Academy building, and we were all stunned and couldn't believe it. Most of us were into rock and roll and loved the music of all three of the musicians.

They had just performed a concert that night in the Surf Ballroom, in Clear Lake, and for various reasons, they wanted to fly to the next concert site instead of taking the tour bus, which had broken down and didn't have much heat. And who took the flight and who didn't take it, has taken its place in rock and roll mythology! The Big Bopper took Waylon Jennings place and Ritchie Valens won a coin toss to get a seat. And Dion of Dion and the Belmonts could have gone but didn't want to pay the $36 fee. Supposedly Waylon Jennings thought about this every day for the rest of his life.

The Surf Ballroom is still there and every Febuary 3 they have a memorial concert. Its on my bucket list of places to see before I check out! And the cornfield is visited by thousands of fans from around the world each year.  And I think back to the mid 50's. I was there for the beginning of rock and roll. I talk about this  in my memoir of growing up on Cape Cod and in the United States back in the 50's and 60's, called Cape Cod Forever. It will be an ebook out this summer. Bill Haley and the Comets, Elvis, Chuck Berry-my all time favorite, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley and Buddy, Ritchie and the Big Bopper.  They were all there in the formative years of rock and roll, and many of them were huge inspirations for the Beatles, Rolling Stones and many of the other English groups in the 60's.

And you know, you can see them all today on YouTube!! Clips of them in concert are all there. And there are Buddy Holly tribute shows all around the country. There are some singers who sing like him, look like him, sound like him and who play the same guitars and music as Buddy did. Buddy Holly lives, 54 years later!! So if you get a chance, go onto YouTube, type in Buddy, Ritchie and the Big Bopper  and go down Memory Lane for a few minutes and think about them as we remember them on their anniversary.

Thanking you for your time, this time, until next time, FRAN

One Solitary Life

I have a section on holidays and their meaning in my book 5 Words and Then Some. Here is what I wrote about Christmas. When we lived in Danbury, Ct. this ran in our local paper every Christmas.  The source is unknown. Whatever you believe, whatever you think, something special happened over there.

                                                     ONE SOLITARY LIFE

"He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village, where he worked in a carpentry shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn't go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place he was born. He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.

"He had no credentials but himself. He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind's progress.

"All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earthy as much as that ONE SOLITARY LIFE."

Pretty amazing and powerful stuff. Merry Christmas everyone. FRAN

Tip O'Neill's 100th Birthday

Today ( December 9)  is the 100th birthday of former Speaker of the  House Tip O'Neill. I think he was one of the great politicians in our history and was someone I admired tremendously. And although I never met him, we do have a  few,small connections. He had a house in Harwichport, on Woodland Road. I grew up in Harwich and when I was in junior high and high school, I used to mow lawns and take care of the yards and do landscaping for several houses on that street, although closer to the Bank St end.  Tip didn't live there back then so I never got a chance to meet him.

And for my mother's surprise 70th birthday party at what was the Country Inn back in 1990, I called Tip's office and asked them if he could come to Mom's party and say a few words to a life long democrat and stay around for a drink and some snacks. His office said he would love to but he was going to be in Ireland that week getting an honorary degree. He sent a personal note to Mom and an autographed copy of his book Man of the House, with a note in that as well. Mom greatly admired him too and would often see him at Mass at Holy Trintity Church in West Harwich but never wanted to bother him.

Tip tells the story in his book about how he was ill prepared to give a talk one night and former Mayor, the legendary Jim Curley who was in the audience, came up to him afterwards and invited him to his house and told Tip he was going to give him several poems that he could memorize and use on any occasion and would always be prepared. One of them was "Around the Corner" by Charles Hanson Towne. Its about friendship and staying in touch with old friends. And Tip would recite this each year when he got the old gang together from Barry's Corner. I was so moved and touched by it that I used it at one my luncheons at IBM. At the end of it, there was not a dry eye at the table! And I included it in my book 5 Words And Then Some. I have a section in it on quotes to use on any occasion. I wonder where I got that idea from?

And every time I walk the Great Beach on Cape Cod I think of Tip and his efforts to bring the National Seashore Park to the Cape. If  it hadn't been for him, it probably would not have happened. I am just about finished my memoir of growing on the Cape and in the United States in the 50's and 60's and the first chapter is about Tip's efforts to get the National Seashore in place. By the way, the book's title is Cape Cod Forever.

Tip was an avid golfer and played a lot at Eastward Ho in Chatham. My Uncle Bob Larkin was the golf pro there and one day after Tip had finished a round he was in the pro shop and was talking on the phone. My Uncle Bob was over in the corner arranging some golf equipment when Tip said, "Bob, get over here. There is someone on the phone who wants to say hi to you." My uncle Bob picks up the phone, and the voice says 'Hi Bob. This is President Carter. How are things on the Cape?"

For years my mother lived in Country Meadows which is on Forest Street in Harwich.  When I was visiting her I would always go out for a run and one of the routes I took was through the cemetery in Harwichport where Tip and his wife Millie are buried. Its a beautiful spot, right next to the Harwichport Golf Course,  and there is a marble bench there with "I"ll see you at apple blossom time" engraved on it. I always stopped and paid my respects to this great man.

One of my favorite tv shows is Hardball with Chris Mathews. Chris used to work for Tip O'Neill. I would love to meet Chris someday for lunch and listen to his stories about Tip. Another great biography about Tip is Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century by John Farrell. Read these two books when you get a chance. Not only are they about Tip, but they cover most of the major events and presidents of the last century.

As I write this, I have a glass of Baileys Irish Cream on the rocks, beside me. I am toasting this great American and all the wonderful things he did. Thanks for everything Tip. Ave atque vale.


Thanking you for your time, this time, until next time. FRAN

70th Anniversary of Cocoanut Grove Fire

This past Wednesday November 28 was the 70th anniversary of the horrible Cocoanut Grove Fire in Boston. 492 people died which was the second worst fire in American history. A fire in a Chicago theatre in 1903 killed 602. This was the premiere nightclub in Boston and some of my aunts and uncles lived in Boston at the time and I am sure they had been there.

The Boston College football team was undefeated and heading to the Sugar Bowl when Holy Cross beat them 55-12. I remember my father talking about this. He was in the Army in Mississippi and was having his hair cut and the barber told him the score. My father said that the barber must have heard the score wrong. BC was undefeated and Holy Cross was 4-4 and BC was heavily favored. The barber told my father he heard it correctly and my father was shocked.

BC had reserved a large table in the center of the nightclub but when they lost they cancelled going to the club. If  they did, the BC football could have been wiped out. The fire led to reforms of fire codes in the country and major improvements in the treatment of burn victims. And earlier in the month, 6 firefighters died in a fire in East Boston when a building collapsed. So this was just a horrible month in Boston.

And many of the victims could have lived. Side doors were shut so patrons couldn't leave without paying. A window was boarded up. Other doors opened inwards and the crowd trying to escape just piled up in the front of the doors. And the main entrance was a revolving door where the panicked crowd piled up and prevented people from escaping.

The cause of the fire is still in dispute. Many blame a busboy for lighting a match that ignited flammable material but he was exonerated. It is estimated that there might have been 1000 patrons in the club that was designed to hold 460. Five people survived by hiding in a walk in refrigerator and some crawled  out through the kitchen. One Coast Guardsman got out and then went back in 4 times looking for his date, who unknown to him, had escaped. He had extensive burns over half his body, spent 21 months in a hospital and had hundreds of operations. He married the nurse that took care of him.

The site of the fire is now a parking lot in the Bay Village on Piedmont St. There are a couple of small plaques there. I haven't been there but plan on taking the train into Boston and walking over there and pay my respects.

Thanking you for your time, this time, until next time, FRAN