The Italian
Nov 13th, 2007 by Lenape
The Italian
His name was Sam…
I met Sam at the local Café as our afternoon expresso coincided many times over and we got to talk about life. Sam and I became very good friends! Sam was 85 years old, an Italian descendant, a great oral storyteller and a living treasure for my ears and my natural curiosity about the community.
He went on to tell me how he worked as a bartender for a local bar owned by Jackie Gleason before he became famous an went to Hollywood, and how Frank Sinatra used to hang around as a teenager and all kinds of adventures he had in the neighborhood and in the Italian community. He also told me about Sarah Vaughan, how she was already famous as a teenager singing at the church next door and where Connie Francis lived a block away from the café and how she still comes around for weddings and funerals… It was interesting hearing him and I just let him talk for hours! I was probably one of the very few audiences he had on a regular basis.
One of the most interesting things he told me was about the warehouse on Chestnut Street, at that time a car alarm repair shop. According to Sam, that place had been am Italian boxing training ring and many of the worldly famous Italian fighters of the 30’s had come out there.
One day, a truck driver friend of his invited Sam to go with him for a delivery next town. Sam was happy to go along and so he did. Sam never came back. I was told the truck had an accident and Sam hit the windshield dying instantly. It was his time to go but I wasn’t ready for it yet. There were so many things yet to be discovered about my neighborhood. And I truly miss him.
A year later, I watched in horror the Italian boxing ring being demolished to give birth to town houses. I desperately looked for any information about it on the net but there is nothing there and Sam didn’t stick around long enough to give me all the facts. I haven’t lost the hope of gathering enough information to put such place in the Italian legacy books.
lenape
