Update 9-3-13

 

Hi,

 

Ah, yes -- spelling.  Patti Rose spells her name with an I not a Y.  And Amy Miller Cohen wrote to say:  "No P in Binghamton, New York."

 

[Rich -- Unlike say, the P in East Hampton, New York.  But it's OK, because last week I also wrote that I was working in that camp near Binghamton in the summer of 1964, and it was actually in the summer of 1963.

    Also, last week, I wrote that I knew 5 things about Willie Ottinger.  Now, I know many more.  And soon, so will you.]

 

From Dave Greenberg, '63:  Willie did manage The Left Bank and had one hit "Walk Away Renee."  I always think of him when I hear that song.  I spent a lot of time with him in his TR3.  Sorry to hear he's passed on.  What a great guy he was. 

 

From Sandy Tarter, '67:  Billy Ottinger I knew and loved.  1990 is the year my friend Billy Ottinger died.  He did manage The Left Banke.  He and my brother, Howard, were best of friends till Billy died.  His wife Susan and my brother remained friends till my brother passed away in 1993.  Only the good die young.

 

From Amy Kassak Bentley:  He graduated from South in 1960 and from Lehigh in 1964.  He went by the name Bill in college, majored in business, and was a member of Tau Delta Phi.  His wife was named Susan, and they possibly had three kids:  Jamie, Jennifer, and Jessica.  He was born in August 1942 and died in March 1990.  He had an older sister named Estelle who graduated from Central High in 1956 and possibly became a teacher.  His parents were Rita and Bert (Bertram).  Bert was a patent attorney.

 

From an Internet comment by Tom Finn, a member of The Left Banke:   We terminated our contracts with Mike's father and our road managers, Bill Ottinger and Roger Rubinstein, become our regular managers.  They opened an office called Rubott, and we nurtured 3 or 4 other local bands.  One of them was called The Chain Reaction, and their lead singer and drummer was Steve Talarico, who later became Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.  We paid him $50 a week as a song writer for 1 or 2 years, and I hired him to sing back-up on the songs I wrote for "Left Banke Too," our second album.  He appears on "Dark Is The Bark," "Nice To See You," "My Friend Today" and "There's Gonna Be A Storm."

 

On other matters, Dave adds:  So sorry I'm going to miss the 50th reunion of the class of '63.  It turns out I'll be in New York for the last week of September for a bar mitzvah but can't hang out for 2 more weeks.  And Bonlarron -- if you read this -- love you, bro.

 

And Sandy adds:  So many names in the last couple of newsletters.  Roz Minsky, I think, went to my brother's senior prom.  Patti Rose had a sister named Cheryl in the class 67, and they lived in Lynbrook.  I went to grade school and South with Cheryl.  And my friend Jack Drumm was quite upset when Johnny Cairns fell through the ice on the creek and drowned.  Another friend was with him that day.  His name was Mike DeVoe.

 

And Amy adds:  Does anyone remember the Lagens?  They lived next door to us on Cloverfield Road.  There were 2 girls, older than I was, and I think they went to South.

 

Similarly, from Zelda White Nichols:  Your mention of Mort Jacobs brought back some memories.  Do you know where he is now or what happened to him?   Also, can I ask those in the class of '65 who attended William S. Buck Elementary School if they remember Elaine Egan?  She was in our class, and I am wondering if there is any news of her.

 

Completely unrelated, from Larry Ruggen:  We had a great time in Europe.  Started out in Germany, with a few nights inWiesbaden, taking days trips to Heidelberg.  One of our friends told us about a horse show being held inWiesbaden while we were in town.  But I forgot he told us, and one evening we took a car ride heading for the Neroberg mountain train.  It's actually a very small mountain with an old one-car hydraulic-driven train going up the mountain.  We were driving towards the train when we found our selves in very slow traffic.  We guessed it was because of the blue flashing lights which I knew were from the German police, but when we arrived and parked our car, what we found was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

    We found ourselves in the midst of hundreds of people on horseback dressed in their “rider’s best."  Along with them were all kinds of decorated carriages.  This was part of the International Horse Show, and this evening was for the locals.  They lined the road as the horsemen and women and the carriages formed a parade down the mountain into Wiesbaden.  It was just amazing.

    After that, we spent a few days in Simmern, which is about 15 miles from Hahn Airport -- formally Hahn Air Base, where I was stationed.  Simmern is a half-hour drive to either the Rhein or Mosel rivers.  At the end of the week, we took the High Speed ICE train from Frankfurt to Amsterdam where we were part of a tour group – Gate 1 Travel –  which went to Amsterdam and other Holland towns then to Bruges and Brussels, Belgium, and finally to Paris for 3 nights.  To end our vacation, we boarded a French Thayls train back to Brussels for 2 nights.  It was an awesome vacation except for the weather.  May is supposed to average 65 to 70 degrees and be sunny.  We had rain more days than not, and often the temperature did not reach 60.  Nevertheless, it was the best trip.

[Rich -- As promised, I sent copies of my latest book, Crisscross Moon, to everyone over the weekend.  If it hasn't turned up, please check your spam filters.  Attached files sometimes trigger them.]

Finally, party reminders:

The Class of '61's Big 70th Birthday Bash.  Saturday, October 12, 2013.  The Wild Fish Restaurant, 507 Guy Lombardo Drive, Freeport, New York. 1:00 to 5:00 PM.  Buffet and Cash bar -- $45.00 per person.  Contact Emily Kleinman Schreiber at:   Cre8em @ aol . com   (please remove the spaces)

 

The Class of 1963’s 50th Anniversary Reunion.  Saturday, October 12, 2013.  The Cornell Club in Manhattan.  Luncheon -- $75/person.  Contact Amy Miller Cohen at:  ymarellim @ aol . com

 

For both parties, the invitation is extended to alumni from other classes who would also like to be there. 

 

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

 

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

 

 

Rich