A Broadcast to Old Friends Jude Wanniski December 3, 1998

Memo To: Website fans, browsers, clients
From: Jude Wanniski
Re: My childhood friends

In a chance conversation, a fellow asked me yesterday if I am still in touch with friends from my childhood. He's 61 years old, he said, and was only in touch with two friends he knew when he was 14 years old. I told him I'm a year older and was only in touch with one from that far back. But hey, I have this website, which is now attracting 2000 visitors a day. It occurred to me that if I ran out a list of all the kids I knew way back then, it could bring about a lot of connections. The Internet could do this. So let's try it out.

Early Years (1940-1950)

I'm living in Borough Park, Brooklyn: 1042-50th Street, on Fort Hamilton Parkway. These are the kids I remember playing with on the street. The Wanniski family was the only Catholic family on the street, all the others Jewish. Here are the names I remember:

I. Jerry Goldberg; 2. Herbie Young; 3. Donald Holtzman; 4. Marcia Holtzman; 5. Ronald Birnbaum; 6. Danny Birnbaum; 7. Arnold Yarmolovsky; 8. Ruth Beigelson; 9. David Beigelson; 10. Marty Adler; 11. Leonard Lachman; 12. Judy Satkowitz; 13. Loretta Youngfield; 14. Stevie Weisman; 15. Ronnie, Joey and Albert Parisi (Jewish mother, Italian father); 17. Stanley Weinstein; 18. Georgie Abelsky.

Grade School Friends (1942-1950)

I entered kindergarten in September 1941, at PS 160 at 51st and Fort Hamilton Parkway. There I stayed, one year in K, a year and a half in the lower grades, skipping once. Then I transferred, at grade 2B, to St. Catherine of Alexandria grade school at 40th and Fort Hamilton Pkwy. Here are the names I remember.

1. JoanBatalado (PS 160). Then, St. Catherine's: 1. Richard Campanella (with whom I remain in contact with) 2. Anthony Perrone; 3. Andrew Malaspina; 4. Michael Cartagiana; 5. Anna Cartagiana; 5. Rena Ginocchio; 6. Patricia Rocco; 7. Donald de Simone (a novelist who wrote Sunset Park); 8. Victor Urgo; 9. Patrick Albano; 10. Frances Grey; 11. Anthony Volonino; 12. Vincent Lo Biondo; 13. Aurelio Grey; 11. Anthony Volonino; 12. Vincent Lo Biondo; 13. Aurelio Lacanina; 14. Carmella Caccace; 15. Robert Reyes; 16. Carmine Orrico (who changed his name to John Saxon and became a movie star); 17. Vito Piscatelli (who was going to become a priest).

High School Friends

In January 1950, I entered the all-boys Brooklyn Technical High School. My closest friend became a Brooklyn neighborhood boy, Leslie Nathanson, who was a year older and went to New Utrecht HS. My high school friends at Tech were these: 1. William Supowit; 2. Seymour Bucholz; 3. Albert Podell; 4. George Ziener; 5. Bruce Speigelberg; 6. Donald Mollocone; 7. Donald Hess; 8. Robert Mulhern; 9. Robert Petri.

College Friends

In January 1954, I entered Brooklyn College, where I remained for a year and a half before transferring to UCLA in September 1955. The only Brooklyn College friends I remember were Michael Creedman and Jeanne Masch (my first girlfriend). UCLA friends included: 1) Chuck Holloway; 2) Tom Adams; 3) Esker Harris; 4) Don Williams; 5) "Twit" Collier; 6) Jaime Tovar (from Panama); 7. Joe Mochizuki; 8. Kassaye Makuria (from Ethiopia); 9. Sandy Darnley; 10. Diane Cave; 11. Suzie Sonntag; 12. Joe Rothstein; 13. Allan Rysicind; 14. Howard Adelman; 15. Wolf Wergin; 16. Eugene Wohlbold; 17. Ken Ibsen (from Denmark)...

There are a great many others too numerous to mention, but if the Internet can make a connection with some of these, I'll be a happy man. Remember, they will all be close to my age.