A Couple of Jeff Pearlman Quickies

Jeff Pearlman, Mahopac High grad and well-known writer of multiple sports topics, has often been featured here.  I've interviewed him and exchanged quick notes here and there.  If you've read this blog long enough than you've seen me post many links to his blog.

I'm adding two more.

He often writes about Mahopac and, honestly, not always the most flattering stuff.  There's a certain whimsy in his posts, peppered with ruminations on our hometown being super-white, ultra-conservative, and even borderline anti-Semitic.  His experiences are different than mine but it should be noted that we grew up on two very different sides of town.  Beyond that, I'm 1) white, 2) grew up in a conservative house, and 3) not Jewish.  Therefore, it's easy to see that I probably didn't see or hear the things that he came across.  I probably wasn't as sensitive to it.  He has written of friends who had crosses burned on their properties and families who were asked to not move into the neighborhood due to color.  I never - NEVER - saw or heard any of that.  It sickens me to think of that.

OK, way off topic there, but still a fair opening to what Jeff wrote about in this piece, in which a Mahopac High grad asked if Jeff could write anything positive about the 'Pac.  He brings up Tom Gilchrist, a phys-ed teacher whose son was in my graduating class.  Which brings me to this picture...

Yes, that's little ol' me, dead center, at the 1987 Senior Prom in White Plains.  I still talk to Scott Wilson (the BIG hair), and occasionally to the former Rachel Rubin, who was my date.  Beyond that, the rest have disappeared, and that bothers me.

OK, I'm getting off-base again.  Back to Jeff Pearlman...

Jeff continues to hammer out "The Quaz", his interview with people that have varying degrees of fame.  Whether I've heard of the person, or even like the person, is irrelevant.  I find the "Quaz" to be fascinating, terrific stuff, and I have read every one of them.  Jeff recently interviewed Marty Appel, PR pro and Yankees historian.  Just as importantly, Marty has been on "The Press Box" a few times and was the guy who helped broker our interview with the wonderful Kay Murcer.  Marty's "Quaz" is great, and worth reading.