I was talking with Your Aunt Mary Jane today and she remembered when I ran back to our house on 4th of July with her on my shoulders as a man with a shot gun was shooting at us.
Here is the Story
It was the 4th of July and Mary Jane said she was 5 or 6 so I would have been about 17 and it was about 1958. Some of our relatives and friends from Philadelphia would come to our house on 4th of July. The 4th of July was a lot of fun when we were growing up. There were competitions in the morning for the kids. Cutest baby, fattest baby, best decorated bicycle, and other competition, and the winners would get to be in our towns, big parade. There were more competitions and baseball games latter in the day, a big party at our house, all day and night, and of course the fireworks just as it got dark. Many things were going on at the same time all day and all night. One of the things we did was to take the kids from Philly into the woods and have adventures. This particular day we were at the ledges and little cliffs that were made when they built the NJ Turnpike, which ran right through the forest we lived next to, about a mile in. The NJ Turnpike was completed on November 30, 1951, when I was 10 years old.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
At Jessica's Request, My Most Embarrassing Moment
You all know what it is, but you might get an additional chuckle here.
As you know one of my jobs was a wedding photographer. I got my own wedding gigs through word of mouth and I also worked for a studio and was sent out by them on the day of the wedding. I did weddings when I was 19 to 26. I stopped when I was 26 because I married your Mother, Jill, and while spending Saturday, shooting weddings until sometimes late into the night was great fun when I was single, I wanted to have my Saturday nights with Linda, when we got married.
So here I was on a Saturday, some time between 19 and 26 at St Teresa's Church in Runnemede doing a big wedding. The church is big and beautiful with stained glass windows which let in a beautiful light as the ceremony was progressing. I was running around the church getting fantastic shots in the beautiful light. I headed toward the back of the church because I wanted to get away from the crowd because I really needed to fart. I got to the back of the church just as the bride and groom were starting to say their wedding vows so I figured I better fart and get up front for the wedding kiss. I farted away from everyone, at the very back of the acoustically perfect church and it sounded like a rifle went off. The sound echoed through the church. Everyone in the church turned around including the bride and groom. The priest just looked up from his bible. There I was at the back of the church with about 200 people looking at me and nowhere to hide. I turned around and looked behind me hoping that someone might be there but there was just the church wall behind me, everyone at the wedding knew it was me and I had to face them all as their photographer the rest of the day. It was definitely the most embarrassing event of my life.
As you know one of my jobs was a wedding photographer. I got my own wedding gigs through word of mouth and I also worked for a studio and was sent out by them on the day of the wedding. I did weddings when I was 19 to 26. I stopped when I was 26 because I married your Mother, Jill, and while spending Saturday, shooting weddings until sometimes late into the night was great fun when I was single, I wanted to have my Saturday nights with Linda, when we got married.
So here I was on a Saturday, some time between 19 and 26 at St Teresa's Church in Runnemede doing a big wedding. The church is big and beautiful with stained glass windows which let in a beautiful light as the ceremony was progressing. I was running around the church getting fantastic shots in the beautiful light. I headed toward the back of the church because I wanted to get away from the crowd because I really needed to fart. I got to the back of the church just as the bride and groom were starting to say their wedding vows so I figured I better fart and get up front for the wedding kiss. I farted away from everyone, at the very back of the acoustically perfect church and it sounded like a rifle went off. The sound echoed through the church. Everyone in the church turned around including the bride and groom. The priest just looked up from his bible. There I was at the back of the church with about 200 people looking at me and nowhere to hide. I turned around and looked behind me hoping that someone might be there but there was just the church wall behind me, everyone at the wedding knew it was me and I had to face them all as their photographer the rest of the day. It was definitely the most embarrassing event of my life.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Took Pictures of Two Presidents
In 1960 at the age of 18 I got my first job as an adult working for a local weekly newspaper called the Observer. I worked there for 11 years and did almost all the jobs there. My favorite job in the early years was taking pictures and writing stories for the newspaper. Today that position is called a photojournalist, back than I was a photographer and writer. I did lots of other things through the years, I eventually became plant manager and finally vice president but I always liked photography the most and continued to do it when I could even when I became vice president.
I met President Nixon three times. The last time I saw him, I arrived early, at a meeting where he was going to speak. He was there early also and when I got there he said hello Joe. I was shocked that the President remembered my name but all politicians of any level have it in there DNA to remember everyone's name. We just stood there like regular guys talking for a few minutes. I don't remember what we talked about, it was just casual conversation.
When I met Johnson there was no conversation with me, he was with Soviet Prime Minister Aleksei Kosygin and I was just one of many photographers there.
I met President Nixon three times. The last time I saw him, I arrived early, at a meeting where he was going to speak. He was there early also and when I got there he said hello Joe. I was shocked that the President remembered my name but all politicians of any level have it in there DNA to remember everyone's name. We just stood there like regular guys talking for a few minutes. I don't remember what we talked about, it was just casual conversation.
When I met Johnson there was no conversation with me, he was with Soviet Prime Minister Aleksei Kosygin and I was just one of many photographers there.
The Glassboro Summit
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"This Day in Diplomacy: U.S.-Soviet Summit at Glassboro, New Jersey. Thirty years ago today President Lyndon Johnson and Soviet Prime Minister Aleksei Kosygin and their diplomatic and military advisers met at Glassboro, New Jersey. This impromptu Summit addressed the Arab-Israeli tensions in the Middle East following the Six Day War of June 1967 and took steps toward serious U.S.-Soviet arms limitations and agreement to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons to other nations. Following an emergency UN Security Council meeting in New York in mid June 1967 to discuss the recently concluded Six Day War, Soviet and American officials hurriedly organized an unplanned Summit meeting between President Johnson and Prime Minister Kosygin. Disagreements between the two sides on the locale for a meeting eventually led to the decision on June 22 to meet at Glassboro State College in New Jersey, exactly mid-way between New York City and Washington. The usual elaborate Summit preparations were telescoped into just a few hours. The surprised President of Glassboro State was abruptly moved out of his home, which became the site for the two days of heads of government meetings. President Johnson and Prime Minister Kosygin and their translators met in the study while Secretary of State Rusk, Secretary of Defense McNamara, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrew Gromyko, and Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin cooled their heels for long hours in the small living room.
The pictures are not mine, they are from Google, I might have mine in one of my boxes stored away. They met in 1967 in Glassboro, I don't think I was living in Pitman when they met but a little later Linda and I bought a house that was only about a mile from where they met in the neighboring town of Pitman.
Sunday, April 5, 2015
A Warm Kiss From a Stranger in the Atlantic Ocean at Dawn
My last blog ended in a shower of bullets, this blog is about a very unexpected warm kiss from someone I hardly knew in the Atlantic Ocean at dawn.
I was about 35 around the year 1977
I was on an emergency business trip to Raleigh North Carolina, and had to stay overnight. We "Webcraft" had just gotten the contract for the Carol Wright coupon envelope and we were printing 13,000,000 at a time. I was in charge of the project and the envelopes were spliting in the mail after the coupons were inserted in Raleigh. I ended up in a bar with a pool table and talked with a girl at the bar who I eventually played pool with the rest of the night. We exchanged phone numbers and said we would call like people do, but usually don't.
I did try to call her but didn't get an answer, most people didn't have cell phones back then. I found out she was in the hospital, I sent her flowers and a few calls later she agreed to visit me in NJ. She was going to stay for the weekend so I arranged for a double date with Eric and whoever he got to go with him so the two girls could have a separate room because the girl I invited made it clear that she was coming up for a date and not to expect anything else from her. not even a kiss. I felt that was fair, we would see how the weekend went, no promises. We went to the Jersey shore, and had a fun filled day and evening. We finally went to our hotel and Eric had gotten a date with a girl he had dated a few years before. He asked me and the girl I was with if we would sleep in the one hotel room because it had two beds, because he felt that he and Elanor, his old girl friend could have some time to themselves. The girl I was with said it was OK because she felt save with me. I realized that we would only be friends because I knew she was not interested in me romantically and I kind of felt the same way, but really liked her as a friend. We both felt comfortable with each other so sleeping in separate beds in our hotel room was no problem.
I talked with my date for a while and we went to bed in our separate beds and everything was fine. Just as I was falling asleep there was a soft knock on the door. I got up and there at the door was Elanor with her bag in her hand. She said she had a fight with Eric and could I find a way for her to get back to North Jersey, right outside New York city, or could she stay in our room. She was beautiful and Polish and I knew I couldn't get her to New York and back in time to get my date to the airport in Philadelphia to catch her flight so I said stay here. I let her sleep in my bed and pulled two chairs together and tried to sleep there.
Here I was, with two vibrant beautiful woman in my hotel room in the two beds and I was twisted between two chairs. I could hear them both softly breathing. What the hell was I doing here, I couldn't sleep, I decided to jump in the ocean about a block away. It was pitch dark outside. I was just reaching for the door to leave when Elanor said where are you going. I said I was going for a very early swim. She asked if she could go with me. Of course I said, yes. We ran down to the beach and didn't stop and ran right into the waves. I think she needed the cold reality of a wave hitting her in the face as much as I did. We played and splashed in the waves and were having a good time. We had a moment between waves, the water was lower, I picked her up and started to swirl her around just as the sunlight started to hit the clouds out over the ocean, she kissed me. I was totally surprised, I didn't know her, I was very attracted to her, it had been a very long time since anyone had kissed me. We stood there as the sun came up, passionately kissing each other, hardly noticing when the waves pushed into us. We stayed there for a long time, not talking, just savoring the emotions that were going through us. Something very special happened in the moment that our lips met.
We finally got out of the water and realized we were both famished. We went to a NJ diner and ate voraciously, and then realized that Eric and my Date were probably wondering what happened to us.
When we got back, my Date and Eric were upset with us. I got my Date to the Philadelphia airport just in time, on the way back to the airport, about a two hour trip, my Date got very interested in me. I think it is a trait of woman and probably men to get interested in someone when they know someone else is interested. I never saw the Date again. Elanor really wanted to see me again and I wanted to see her. I asked Eric if it was OK and he said yes, so the adventure goes on. We had some great times together, we went on a trip to Maine, went to fantastic restaurants in the New York city area, went camping, and she made delicious perogies from scratch.
An added note. I am cleaning out old boxes of stuff, May 23, 2015, and I just found an envelope addressed to the girl from Raleigh, from 38 years ago, don't call me a horder. Her name was Martha Harris.
I was about 35 around the year 1977
I was on an emergency business trip to Raleigh North Carolina, and had to stay overnight. We "Webcraft" had just gotten the contract for the Carol Wright coupon envelope and we were printing 13,000,000 at a time. I was in charge of the project and the envelopes were spliting in the mail after the coupons were inserted in Raleigh. I ended up in a bar with a pool table and talked with a girl at the bar who I eventually played pool with the rest of the night. We exchanged phone numbers and said we would call like people do, but usually don't.
I did try to call her but didn't get an answer, most people didn't have cell phones back then. I found out she was in the hospital, I sent her flowers and a few calls later she agreed to visit me in NJ. She was going to stay for the weekend so I arranged for a double date with Eric and whoever he got to go with him so the two girls could have a separate room because the girl I invited made it clear that she was coming up for a date and not to expect anything else from her. not even a kiss. I felt that was fair, we would see how the weekend went, no promises. We went to the Jersey shore, and had a fun filled day and evening. We finally went to our hotel and Eric had gotten a date with a girl he had dated a few years before. He asked me and the girl I was with if we would sleep in the one hotel room because it had two beds, because he felt that he and Elanor, his old girl friend could have some time to themselves. The girl I was with said it was OK because she felt save with me. I realized that we would only be friends because I knew she was not interested in me romantically and I kind of felt the same way, but really liked her as a friend. We both felt comfortable with each other so sleeping in separate beds in our hotel room was no problem.
I talked with my date for a while and we went to bed in our separate beds and everything was fine. Just as I was falling asleep there was a soft knock on the door. I got up and there at the door was Elanor with her bag in her hand. She said she had a fight with Eric and could I find a way for her to get back to North Jersey, right outside New York city, or could she stay in our room. She was beautiful and Polish and I knew I couldn't get her to New York and back in time to get my date to the airport in Philadelphia to catch her flight so I said stay here. I let her sleep in my bed and pulled two chairs together and tried to sleep there.
Here I was, with two vibrant beautiful woman in my hotel room in the two beds and I was twisted between two chairs. I could hear them both softly breathing. What the hell was I doing here, I couldn't sleep, I decided to jump in the ocean about a block away. It was pitch dark outside. I was just reaching for the door to leave when Elanor said where are you going. I said I was going for a very early swim. She asked if she could go with me. Of course I said, yes. We ran down to the beach and didn't stop and ran right into the waves. I think she needed the cold reality of a wave hitting her in the face as much as I did. We played and splashed in the waves and were having a good time. We had a moment between waves, the water was lower, I picked her up and started to swirl her around just as the sunlight started to hit the clouds out over the ocean, she kissed me. I was totally surprised, I didn't know her, I was very attracted to her, it had been a very long time since anyone had kissed me. We stood there as the sun came up, passionately kissing each other, hardly noticing when the waves pushed into us. We stayed there for a long time, not talking, just savoring the emotions that were going through us. Something very special happened in the moment that our lips met.
We finally got out of the water and realized we were both famished. We went to a NJ diner and ate voraciously, and then realized that Eric and my Date were probably wondering what happened to us.
When we got back, my Date and Eric were upset with us. I got my Date to the Philadelphia airport just in time, on the way back to the airport, about a two hour trip, my Date got very interested in me. I think it is a trait of woman and probably men to get interested in someone when they know someone else is interested. I never saw the Date again. Elanor really wanted to see me again and I wanted to see her. I asked Eric if it was OK and he said yes, so the adventure goes on. We had some great times together, we went on a trip to Maine, went to fantastic restaurants in the New York city area, went camping, and she made delicious perogies from scratch.
An added note. I am cleaning out old boxes of stuff, May 23, 2015, and I just found an envelope addressed to the girl from Raleigh, from 38 years ago, don't call me a horder. Her name was Martha Harris.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
The Tree, the Dump Manager, and Me
Vanessa, Jessica, and Me were talking for a long time on a 3 way skype call and they started talking about my stories and asked me to tell a few, which I did. They then decided that I should write a story every day, from my past, and send it to you all. I know I will never be able to write one every day but I will try.
About 1953 to 1955
When I was somewhere between 12 and 15, I got together with my friend Dick Gaskill and we decided we were going to become entrepreneurs. We started our business by building a shed at the edge of my yard which bordered a forest. We envisioned filling the shed with all kinds of metal junk, paper junk, and any other junk we could find at the dump. This dump happened to be past the forest, past Suicide Hill, and at the end of the plain at the bottom of the hill. Back in those days you could accumulate junk and call a salvage dealer who would come to your place of business or your back yard with a big truck and a big scale and give you the published price per pound for iron, copper, aluminum or any other metal, even Gold. The dealer would also give you the published price per pound for paper, if you kept it dry, reason for the shed.
The dump was at least a mile or two from the house but we devised ways to get the heavy treasures to our shed. We had a few run ins with the Dump Manager who we found out had the same ambition as us, to make money by selling stuff from the dump, which was stuff that had been thrown out by people in our town and he had no more right to the stuff then we did. He didn't own the dump, it was on public property and anyone had the right to walk there. It was not like today where there are fences and gates around dumps and you are not allowed to trespass.
We finally got the shed almost filled and while we were doing it tried to stay away from the dump when he was there. We had camouflaged spots at the top of Suicide Hill where we could spy down to see when he would leave so that we could make a raid to get more stuff. The day came, we finally had the shed full and called the salvage company. They came the next day and weighed our stuff and we were shocked we got more than $200 dollars. Dad, your Grandfather, Great Grandfather and Great Great Grandfather, was making $100 dollars per week and we were kids and we had $200 dollars in our hands. I had never made more than $5 or $6 dollars a week selling newspapers.
Now we were more determined then ever to get the metal we could find at the dump, but we got careless and we got caught. We were just walking in the dump and he came up behind us and grabbed us. We said we were just walking through but He made us show him the bottom of our sneakers. He had made castings of the impressions our sneakers made when we were there and taken some big stuff. Our shoes matched the castings. He couldn't believe we were so puny,(Feet grow first and even though I was a kid my sneaker size was 11) he didn't know how we had taken the very heavy metal parts out of there. He was also very mad and told us if we ever came back, it would be our last time. He was really big and really strong, but we figured he couldn't run as fast as us, so we came up with a plan.
We figured without his truck, we could cover the ground faster then he could and maybe without the truck we could keep him out of the dump completely, for a few days. We looked around and on the road leading into the dump there was a giant oak tree right next to the road. At the age of 11, when brother Dave became an officer in the Air Force, I was in charge of getting the trees that we burned in our furnace to keep warm all winter. I figured I could get that tree down mighty quick. Well it was a big tree and it took a lot longer than I thought. About a week later with the help of my friend, Dick, the tree was ready to fall. From all the trees I had chopped down I was good at getting a tree to fall where I wanted by the way I chopped. We figured because of the size of the tree, it might take a week or longer to cut it apart and get the truck through to get back to the dump. We wanted to block the road, so that we would have free run of the dump, we were not prepared for what happened.
Just as the tree was falling, tall trees seem to fall in slow motion, the Dump Managers Truck came speeding around a bend in the road. Dick and I stood in terror and horror. We never expected the Dump Guy to be coming right when the tree was falling. It looked like the Dump Guy was going to be crushed under the tree. He saw the tree and slammed on the brakes and by a miracle the tree smashed right in front of his truck. Dick and I were still frozen for a second as I looked into Dump Man's eyes, I realized I should run as fast as I could because he thought we were trying to kill him and I saw in his eyes he wanted to return the favor. Dick ran back toward home and I ran into the swamp, figuring he wouldn't follow me there. I was wrong, as my feet splashed into the water I heard the first shot and the water kicked up beside my knee with the sickening sound of a bullet hitting water. I started running faster even though I thought I had been running as fast as I could. The bullets hit the water around me as I ran in total terror. You are all living proof that I made it out of the swamp and back home that day. I never told Mom or Dad about the whole thing. I knew I would get in as much trouble as the Dump Man. I will never forget that moment when I looked into his eyes and realized he thought we were trying to kill him and the fury in his eyes, as I realized he was going to attempt to kill us.
I never returned to that spot or the dump, our entrepreneurial days were temporarily put on hold. The dump was eventually closed and filled in, I never saw the Dump Man again. I never got to tell him we were just trying to block the road.
About 1953 to 1955
When I was somewhere between 12 and 15, I got together with my friend Dick Gaskill and we decided we were going to become entrepreneurs. We started our business by building a shed at the edge of my yard which bordered a forest. We envisioned filling the shed with all kinds of metal junk, paper junk, and any other junk we could find at the dump. This dump happened to be past the forest, past Suicide Hill, and at the end of the plain at the bottom of the hill. Back in those days you could accumulate junk and call a salvage dealer who would come to your place of business or your back yard with a big truck and a big scale and give you the published price per pound for iron, copper, aluminum or any other metal, even Gold. The dealer would also give you the published price per pound for paper, if you kept it dry, reason for the shed.
The dump was at least a mile or two from the house but we devised ways to get the heavy treasures to our shed. We had a few run ins with the Dump Manager who we found out had the same ambition as us, to make money by selling stuff from the dump, which was stuff that had been thrown out by people in our town and he had no more right to the stuff then we did. He didn't own the dump, it was on public property and anyone had the right to walk there. It was not like today where there are fences and gates around dumps and you are not allowed to trespass.
We finally got the shed almost filled and while we were doing it tried to stay away from the dump when he was there. We had camouflaged spots at the top of Suicide Hill where we could spy down to see when he would leave so that we could make a raid to get more stuff. The day came, we finally had the shed full and called the salvage company. They came the next day and weighed our stuff and we were shocked we got more than $200 dollars. Dad, your Grandfather, Great Grandfather and Great Great Grandfather, was making $100 dollars per week and we were kids and we had $200 dollars in our hands. I had never made more than $5 or $6 dollars a week selling newspapers.
Now we were more determined then ever to get the metal we could find at the dump, but we got careless and we got caught. We were just walking in the dump and he came up behind us and grabbed us. We said we were just walking through but He made us show him the bottom of our sneakers. He had made castings of the impressions our sneakers made when we were there and taken some big stuff. Our shoes matched the castings. He couldn't believe we were so puny,(Feet grow first and even though I was a kid my sneaker size was 11) he didn't know how we had taken the very heavy metal parts out of there. He was also very mad and told us if we ever came back, it would be our last time. He was really big and really strong, but we figured he couldn't run as fast as us, so we came up with a plan.
We figured without his truck, we could cover the ground faster then he could and maybe without the truck we could keep him out of the dump completely, for a few days. We looked around and on the road leading into the dump there was a giant oak tree right next to the road. At the age of 11, when brother Dave became an officer in the Air Force, I was in charge of getting the trees that we burned in our furnace to keep warm all winter. I figured I could get that tree down mighty quick. Well it was a big tree and it took a lot longer than I thought. About a week later with the help of my friend, Dick, the tree was ready to fall. From all the trees I had chopped down I was good at getting a tree to fall where I wanted by the way I chopped. We figured because of the size of the tree, it might take a week or longer to cut it apart and get the truck through to get back to the dump. We wanted to block the road, so that we would have free run of the dump, we were not prepared for what happened.
Just as the tree was falling, tall trees seem to fall in slow motion, the Dump Managers Truck came speeding around a bend in the road. Dick and I stood in terror and horror. We never expected the Dump Guy to be coming right when the tree was falling. It looked like the Dump Guy was going to be crushed under the tree. He saw the tree and slammed on the brakes and by a miracle the tree smashed right in front of his truck. Dick and I were still frozen for a second as I looked into Dump Man's eyes, I realized I should run as fast as I could because he thought we were trying to kill him and I saw in his eyes he wanted to return the favor. Dick ran back toward home and I ran into the swamp, figuring he wouldn't follow me there. I was wrong, as my feet splashed into the water I heard the first shot and the water kicked up beside my knee with the sickening sound of a bullet hitting water. I started running faster even though I thought I had been running as fast as I could. The bullets hit the water around me as I ran in total terror. You are all living proof that I made it out of the swamp and back home that day. I never told Mom or Dad about the whole thing. I knew I would get in as much trouble as the Dump Man. I will never forget that moment when I looked into his eyes and realized he thought we were trying to kill him and the fury in his eyes, as I realized he was going to attempt to kill us.
I never returned to that spot or the dump, our entrepreneurial days were temporarily put on hold. The dump was eventually closed and filled in, I never saw the Dump Man again. I never got to tell him we were just trying to block the road.
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