Update 9-18-12

Hi,

 

Happy New Year, of course, to those who celebrate.

 

And for those looking for a different kind of celebration, a note from Claire Brush Reinhardt:  In case you think any of your readers might be interested, our class -- 1962 -- is having a 50th reunion weekend, and it's coming up really soon.  Our committee has been working hard for over a year, and we're really looking forward to the weekend events.

    We're having an informal get-together on Friday evening, October 5th, at J. Mags on Atlantic Avenue in Lynbrook.  The main event will be at the Bridgeview Yacht Club in Island Park on Saturday afternoon, October 6th.  There will also be an after party that night at the Keystone Yacht Club in Woodmere, and a brunch early Sunday afternoon.  

    All of the details are on our web site, which Roberta Brill Birnel did a great job putting together.  The link to that is:  vssh1962reunion.weebly . com  (please delete the spaces)  Anyone who wants to can also contact me at: reino @ optonline . net  (again, take out the spaces)

    Best to all.

 

A different reason to celebrate, from Rachael Robinson Mitzner by way of Facebook:  Good luck, everyone.  This year, October has five Mondays, five Saturdays, and five Sundays. This happens once every 823 years, and it is called "Money bags."  It's based on Chinese Feng Shui.

 

[Rich -- Thinking of last names, last week, I forgot to add Irene Saunders' married name to her note.  It's Goldstein, of course.  Sorry, Irene.]

 

A quick story from Barbara Blitfield Pech:  I have a friend from Valley Stream who's father, Bert Keller, was the vice principal of Central High.  He was a very well-liked man and part of the founding family of the town -- his ancestors built Fireman's Field.  In any case, a former student, one of the creators and early writers on Sesame Street, created and named the muppet Bert after Mr Keller.  In a note from his daughter, my friend Kath, she mentions that the muppet was facially modeled in the image of her father.  Cool story, huh?

 

Next, from Steve Zuckerman:  I have read many times in the newsletter about when the jazz singer Billy Valentine would be performing on the coast.  Around 1973, I was friends with this guy from Laurelton who, like me, was a jazz buff.  He knew someone who was an engineer at the CBS recording studio in mid-Manhattan, and since we both liked listening to Miles Davis, this engineer friend of his invited us to come in and hear Miles Davis record and put the finnishing touches on his latest album.

    We showed up, but Miles Davis had stayed in California to do the remaining recordings.  Instead, my  friend took me to meet some jazz singer named Billy Valentine.  I had never heard of him before, but we went to his apartment, had some scotches-on-the-rocks, and he sang a few of his latest songs, several that he was still trying to get the right melody for.  One thing that impressed me more than his singing voice was his two grand pianos.  They took over his living room.  I would really like to know if this is the same Billy Valentine who sings in Los Angeles.

 

[Rich -- I wrote Amy Lieberman, Billy's partner, and got two answers.]

 

From Billy:  It's possible, but it might be the other Billy Valentine.  If I did meet Steve, he would probably know Alvin. 

 

From Amy:  It's doubtful that Billy met Steve, since Billy didn’t really spend much time in the city.  And Alvin was Billy's brother, the one sibling of thirteen we lost, just a few years ago. 

 

Meanwhile, Steve wrote back:  As I recall, the Billy Valentine that I met in '73 was a tall guy who seemed to be in his late fifties or early sixties.  That was my impression.

 

[Rich -- I wrote Steve that this Billy was about our age, and that his bio is online at:  billy-valentine . com  (as usual, take out the spaces).]

 

And Steve wrote back:  I'm pretty certain the Billy Valentine that I was introduced to by my friend from Laurelton was a tall guy, who I thought might be in his fifties.  He had a keen insight into the bebop jazz era and related many stories about jazz legends like Monk, Coltrane, Dizzy, Miles, and the jazz group Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross (Annie Ross, who passed away recently).  You could talk about jazz for hours with him, and he loved to sing for you.

    On the trip to the CBS recording studio, I invited Don Faber to come with us because Don appreciated jazz and had actually met Miles Davis on the set of the Johnny Carson Tonight Show, when Don was working on the production staff.  My jazz friend and Don got along well, and even though Miles Davis failed to show up at the recording session, at least, we all got to see the recording technicians do their thing.  So the visit wasn't a complete wash out.

 

[Rich -- so Steve Zuckerman didn't meet Amy Lieberman's Billy Valentine, and we've all learned that there was an earlier jazz singer with the same name.  Coincidentally, John Coltrane's wife Alice lived around the corner from me until she died several years ago.  Their children still live here.]

 

On a different subject, Steve added:  Fifty years ago, JFK delivered his famous speech at Rice University in Houston saying that the United States would send men to the moon and bring them back safely before the end of the decade.  How sad that he never lived to see his vision become a reality.  Of course, what just about every one forgets is that before people could travel into space, they had to be able to fly faster then the speed of sound.  And thanks to the daring of test pilots like Chuck Yeager and Scott Crossfield, who attained speeds of over 1500 miles-per-hour, we were able to send men into orbit and to the fringes of space.

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com

 

The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com / SouthHS65

 

 

Rich