Waterbury A Lifetime Ago

We may get a sense of Waterbury's past by looking at pictures or personal accounts or reading old newspapers but surprisingly enough there is a book on the subject by Jeremy J Joyell (A Lifetime Ago: Before The Death Of Childhood, iUniverse $17.95).

Born in Waterbury in 1942, Joyell recounts his early years living on Wood Street attending Walsh and then Bunker Hill grammar schools. Through Joyell we learn the life of a simple family in the 1950's growing up in a small apartment where the father worked in a brass factory and the mother stayed home. Relatives lived in the same neighborhood in some instances for many years. Eventually his family moved to a more suburban setting on Wayland Street in the Bunker Hill section.

Joyell's first day of school was in 1947 when he was dressed in a sailors suit hand made by a relative "authentic in every detail down to my cheif petty officer's insignia" walking with his mother and brother in a baby carriage down Dikeman Street then to Walsh. Joyell's first experience with moving pictures was watching Pinocchio at the Carroll Theater on North Square. His hair was cut by Pat Travisano on East Farms Street at Pat's Barbershop "a spittoon sat in one corner, presumably for the tough old Italians who smoked Perotti cigars..." on Cherry Street was a twenty foot high milk bottle in front of Warden's Diary. And as Joyell tells it:

On summer days, horses drank deeply from the, Carrie Weltons fountain which was designed specifically for the horse traffic of an earlier day. Handsomely dressed men and women walked quickly from store to store on Bank Street in search of fine clothing and jewelry. Downtown employees grabbed last minute grocery's at Mohegan Market, which opened onto the street much like an open-air bazaar in foreign countries.

One day Joyell and his friends decided to walk downtown to sneak into a theater and watch a movie. As he tells the story there were four theater's to choose from and they picked the Palace.
Distracting the the lady at the ticket counter they were able to sneak in where they watched a movie about Billy The Kid. Joyell managed to get caught by the usher and was thrown out finding himself alone. Walking home through East Main past Crosby High School (now the police station) up Cherry then Camp then Orange, he became lost only to eventually find his bearings and arrive home late. The streets are familiar yet with different people and society. To pull off such a stunt Joyell couldn't have been more then 10 years old. (note: the author of this review had pulled a similar stunt at about the same age only to get really really lost in Time Square).

In Bunker Hill his new street on Wayland Avenue was occupied by doctors and executives and beyond that were mostly untouched woods for miles. This was his new world of Valentine, Woodruff, Circuit and Adalaide. Joyell played Little League at a place called Mert Conner Stadium which had a press box, club house and and outfield fence with local advertisements. Joyell doesn't mention the location of the stadium only that it was lost forever during the flood of 1955 along with his birth certificate located in a file somewhere in the complex. Little League doesn't exist in Waterbury anymore but at that time it shouldn't have either because as Joyell explains for a town of 100,000 plus there were only 8 teams which was a violation of Little League rules. As for the flood he recalls going down Bunker Hill Avenue and right at the bottom is where the Naugatuck river started. If that's the case the river indeed over ran it's banks onto a large area. There isn't much said on matter in Joyell's book but if the river came up to Bunker Hill Avenue then there is no wonder there was such devastation.

To read about the life and times of a place so familiar is a fascinating treat. There's nothing like a book to bring us to a place, in this case Waterbury, to allow us to peak into the past in ways that pictures cannot. What Joyell refers to in the sub-title "Before The Death Of Childhood" are changes in the school ciriculum which are substantial and not for the better (Joyell went on to become a teacher in Bristol) and other familiar differences that aren't news such as video games, obesity, over sexed culture, MTV etc. There isn't too much analysis on this just a juxtaposition from time to time. Just why we are the way we are now comes from something, whatever it was, back then whether it was the expansion of media, affluence, the near isolation of children from society as a whole with homes sprouting up in increasing isolated areas. His life on Wood Street was much different then Wayland Street neither for the worse nor better. If Joyell's intent was a sociological focus on why childhood doesn't past the muster of yesteryear he is quick to explain what is different but hardly why it became that way.

A Lifetime Ago will be enjoyed by many in this area for what it is. A postcard from Waterbury's past with people living in a different way. That it was the intent of the author is of no matter.

Truth And Consequences, Keith Olbermann

Keith Olbermann is a former sports anchorman for ESPN hosting the popular news program Sportscenter with Dan Patrick. Probably the most watched sports news program in all of cable thanks for the most part by these two. Sadly he's moved onto other areas of television journalism hosting a political talk show on MSNBC oddly named Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Why the name is odd is that there really is not count-downing of anything despite the frequent show of numbers blinking on the screen in fast succession between breaks. Sad because the format is a series of news stories with Olbermanns views mixed in which are mostly anti-Bush, anti-war or anything bad Republican. We expect talk shows to be opinionated that's not the problem but Olbermann clearly has an axe to grind with Bush and he won't let go. Another reason the program suffers is there are no interviews with anyone who disagrees with him. Bill O'Reilly who hosts the far more successful program The O'Reilly Factor which airs at the same time, at least has guests of differing viewpoints which makes for lively discussion and thus a far more dynamic show. In a display of cheap sour grapes O"Reilly and the network he works for is a frequent target of much of Olbermanns vitriol.

At times Obermann will end his program with "special comments" which he is very proud of. So much so that he's collected them all and put them in book form (Truth and Consequences: Special Comments On The Bush Administrations War On American Values. Random House $24.95). Now just to dispel the appearance of negative critique simply because the author of this review just doesn't like liberal views, Al Frankin who is a liberal writes books of this type and are far more enjoyable funny with cogent analysis and criticism. Al Frankin pulls it off, Olbermann doesn't. Chris Mattews, another liberal, host a program on MSNBC that is very engaging and thoughtful. Olbermann by contrast is an embarrassment.

The sole focus of the book is the deviant or incompetent nature of president Bush ("Mr. Bush" to Olbermann) and the war on Iraq. Olbermann stance is that the war is fought for no good reason by a president who lied to get us into it and in the meantime is taking away the constitiutional rights of American citizens and if you don't agree with this Bush and his minions think you're a traitor. So a war is fought lives are lost all for no good reason what so ever. What's missing here is what is the reason we are in Iraq. Bush lied, but what is the truth Olbermann thinks Bush is trying to hide? It's not enough to say it's all for nothing because at least he must think that Bush doesn't think its for nothing and that in the president's mind there must be some reason to go to war, or is Bush a war monger? The closest he comes to an explanation is when Olbermann rants on about the evils of Republicans:

The protection of the environment is turned over to those of one political party, who will financially benefit from the rape of the environment. The protections of the constitution are turned over to those of one political party, who believe those protections unnecessary and extravagant and quaint.
The enforcement of the laws is turned over to those of one political party, who will swear beforehand that they will not enforce those laws. The choice between war and peace is turned over to those of one political party , who stand to gain vast wealth by ensuring that there is never peace, but only war

Just how Republicans gain vast wealth from the war is not explained. This is a bit over the top and if he really believes any of it its no wonder he's filled with anger. So why no different viewpoints on his show? If Olbermann thinks this is the mindset of Republicans then let him take them on, bring in the guy who says the hell with the forest lets get some shopping malls up or the guy who trashes the constitution and makes money on the war? It could be because these views don't exist and he resorts to knocking down strawman arguments to enhance the sting of his smug moral indignation. The war is all for money, please,

A case could be made against the war in Iraq, it's execution and it could be made from both parties. That Bush is a war monger who lied, who trashes freedom of speech and everyone who doesn't agree are traitors, oh and top of it all Bush and Cheney are cowards and should be impeached is taking a pathetic low road in the debate.

Olbermann didn't put himself on MSNBC NBC did. He wasn't known for politics and now they put him front and center. He is a good broadcaster and anchorman and in his own element can be humorous. This is not his venue. Just what is going on at NBC?