The thought arose as, I walked between the rain sprinkled trees in the beautiful country of Yardley, Pennsylvania, why do I bother writing these monthly essays/letters? The first response was I liked to keep in touch with my family and friends. But then undoubtedly I enjoy trying to clarify my thoughts about any subject in my mind. Writing helps me do that. In writing you must put it in some logical and clear manner what are now just ideas. Undoubtedly, my professional past, a life of creating letters and arguments has helped me in my writing. All that said I found it doesn’t fully explain why! It is a good habit and it does give me pleasure to read that others enjoy, or at least note those thoughts. At times I am amazed how long this has been happening! I’ve been writing these things since 1992,now close to sixteen years. It started with an imitation of my father’s weekly (or maybe a monthly) letter to his children then spread around the world. Some of my original letters were six to seven pages long! But in 1994 I began to limit the number of pages to four.
They keep me in touch too and even faster now with the speed and ease of ’email’. A secretary typed my Dad’s letters and then he would add a personal note. I do the same when emailing the document. I add a personal note. Fortunately they are typed and thus readable…even if occasionally grammatically skewed. I recall my sister Winifred telling me that our brother Patrick, who was away at the seminary, sent our Dad’s notes to her to translate his scrawl! I don’t know if it happened every time or once in a while, but I can attest from having work some years with him that his writing was often unreadable.
Returning to the Philadelphia area and reading the local Philadelphia Inquirer always brings back memories. One of them that have occurred over the last five years is that of the governor Ed Rendell. Back even before he became Philadelphia’s DA and Mayor I knew him. He was then in 1971 an assistant D. A.
Rizzo’s election in 1970 brought an end to my serving as the Commissioner of Records of Philadelphia. He, Rizzo, and I had a couple of run ins while he served as Commissioner of Police. One incident with him, which I’ll never forget, occurred at a Commissioner’s meeting. The Mayor called the meeting to talk about the United Fund (UF) campaign in Philadelphia. It was then in progress. It seems that Rizzo had ordered his policemen not to contribute. The Mayor apparently was anxious to bring the matter to a head and thought a meeting of all the commissioners would do it. Rizzo was asked for his ‘reasons’ for prohibiting his men to contribute. His answer was that the leaders of the UF were liberals! I suppose he meant in politics but it was never clear, as were a lot of Rizzo’s concepts. I spoke out against such thinking since it had nothing to do with the association’s helping people in need. The real issue was ‘how do the leaders of UF use the money given to them’. The rest of the Commissioners agreed and that was the last we heard of the matter – but not from Rizzo. From that day forward I was addressed when we met as “counselor” with a tone that really sounded something like ‘son of a bitch!’
So there no chance that under his administration I would serve in any capacity– much less heading one of the city departments. So I resigned two days before his term began despite the then present Mayor Tate’s objections. The mayor’s objection was a surprise since he had told us earlier to cooperate with the elected mayor. His calling me and telling me not to resign was one of the many signs that showed that the old Mayor was not pleased with the actions of the newly elected Mayor. Why Mayor Tate ever supported Rizzo I’ll never know since they were two different political animals and it was always a surprise as the campaign began that he did so.
In the new year I received from friends, now judges, the appointments to defend some charged with the crime of murder who could not afford to pay a lawyer themselves. Under the law then in Pennsylvania it was one of the areas where an appointed counsel could receive payment for his services and any reasonable expenses. Having lost an income it was a great gift to a Dad with then seven children. It was while trying these few cases that I got to know Ed Rendell. I remember especially talking to him later when he was being considered as the party’s nominee for Mayor. He evidenced a real anxiety about whether he could do a good job at such an office. He performed it so well that he became known as “America’s Mayor”, a title conferred on him by Al Gore. There was also a book published, entitled “A Prayer for a City” by Buzz Bissenger. He managed to do all this in part by having around him people whom he not only trusted but were knowledgeable in the fields he asked them to handle. He did that without reference to their party affiliation only their talents. All of which led him to “the most stunning turn around in recent urban history” and to win a primary to run for Governor. In which office he has served and will serve the maximum two terms. I last saw him at a granddaughter’s graduation from Buck West High School in 2004. He was the main speaker. It just happens that while we have been up here this time, we attended the same granddaughter’s graduation from college, i.e., Towson University in Maryland. I only saw and heard Ed from distance but enjoyed his comments to the graduates. He encouraged them to take part in politics. It was he said a way to make their world better and use all the knowledge they had acquired.
As noted earlier, one of the reasons we were north, was to attend our granddaughter Kelly Golden’s graduation from Towson University. We had been up there on previous occasions while she was attending the university. It is physically located outside of Baltimore, MD. It is near John Hopkins University where another grandchild, Dave Hopkins has attended. It wasn’t till we attended Kelly’s graduation on the campus, that I became aware of the size and character of the University. I had some idea it was just a small suburban college and no where near the size it really is. It covers nearly 328 acres. It is the second largest university in Maryland…the University of Maryland alone is larger. It was founded in 1866 offers more that 100 bachelors, masters, and doctors degrees in liberal arts and science, and applied professional fields. It had more that 18,000 students.
We attended her graduation on Friday afternoon of May 23rd when two of the colleges, Graduate Studies and Research and the College of Business and Economic had their graduations. Prior to this one there had been four other graduations commencing May 21. A total of six graduations were held that week. The President of the University during the ceremony made a note of the flags covering the rear of the stage from one side to the other. He said that there were 83 flags representing the countries of students who attended Towson University! So I had an education myself in learning the kind and size that Towson University really was!
While we were north I celebrated a birthday. One of the gifts I received was a book entitled ”Taking the Hill: From Philly to Baghdad to the United States Congress” It is written by the man who made that trip Patrick Murphy. I received the book from my nephew Richard McSorley, Esquire who claims him as a friend and asserted that one of these days he’ll be president. Richard has worked for 20 years or more with the Philadelphia Municipal Court. After reading the story I can believe too that such a result is possible. He, Murphy, came from a police officer’s family living in northeast Philly. He worked his way through college and one of the ways that helped was via the ROTC. Following graduation he enters the Army and is assigned the to the 82nd Airborne Division. He does qualify as a member of that distinguished division. While serving he takes leave to enter law school and becomes a lawyer. He’s then sent to West Point were he ultimately is a law professor in their law school. His being sent to Bosnia and later to Baghdad breaks this service. There he sees friends killed and dodges many IED’s…imported explosive device. He like those there continue to question ‘why are we here?’ This is especially true since the Government disbanded the Iraq Army and it lead to have to train others to try to create order. He returns after at least a year plus and is discharged with a Bronze Star. He finds a law office in Philly he begins working with. He lives in Lower Bucks County, the area where we just spent May and June. He works for Kerry during his campaign and gets the idea of running for the seat to congress from that area. The incumbent is a long time politician from lower Bucks. The area is a heavily Republican and he is seeking it as a Democrat. He does what seems to be the impossible winning the primary and then the general election. It is a story that sounds like fiction but isn’t. One of his main winning issues is the lack of planning regarding the war in Iraq. I can agree with my nephew’s claim that one day he could be President!
Traveling is fun up to a point. Your routine is broken and a new one is required –then the fun starts to diminish. So it is a joy now, that as I write, that we are back in St. Pete’s and back in our old routine! Well almost, we are both down with colds and are taking antibiotics. As I have said before. travelling and being away from home especially as long as we have this time, i.e., two months, makes a reality of the adage “there’s no place like home” Until next time Pax Tecum!