Max McGrath: Announcing the Winners of Max's 'Tough Bastid' Award
May 21, 2014: I'm sure you're getting tired of my "bedpan" enlightenments on the progress of my cancer. The "bastid" began to worm some "stinkin' thinkin'" into my normally "half-full" mental attitude trying to deplete what "fighting-back" assets I had that remained.
I hit a quicksand of negativity between my two ears. My hands hurt in frustration from punching walls, plus the dog was tired of competing with me barking at people. Finally, I drifted into a new low, as my bridge work slammed into the mountain of depression.
What was needed was a booster, a pick-me-up, a cheering up, a kick in the patute, or a Nielsen's chocolate chip ice cream cone.
What added to the housebound blues was my move to the rental house next door. The tech geniuses at Comcast couldn't hook my previous number the extraordinary distance of twelve feet from the old home to the new for more than a month. I have been a loyal customer for ten years at $160 a month. Maybe that was not loyal enough! Just good luck I didn't have to chat with 911 in the middle of the night due to a dead phone!
You can imagine my shock when the phone shook off its accumulated mantle of dust announcing an incoming call from LA. (How's that for more drama?)
My fallen spirit was upraised 100% hearing the voice of "Read" Jackson. On the timeline of extended family friends, he measures the youngest.
I met Read one night in Pete's trying to cancel one another out with elbows and practiced lines wooing a very pretty blonde who was advertising her short miniskirt in the window booth. He was tough competition--six feet tall, thick, curly black hair, a Don Juan mustache, half Irish, half Italian.
My sainted mother, Betty, used to say of Read, "He is a good-looking SOB." He was also articulate and quick on his dancing feet.
In the middle of portraying Mister Right to the young "starlet" at Pete's, he turned to introduce himself to me and made a clever remark that broke me up. He has been extended family ever since, right there with Greg, Fritz, Dick, Jay, and Bob Burt. We have walked through decades of each other's lives. It hasn't always been fun, but we stuck together. It's also a tribute to B'ville on the friendships forged there on the ball fields and the study halls.
Read is a highly creative individual and finished out his career as a prizewinning head producer at Fox Sports.
He is also a hero of mine. He has been fighting cancer for 20 years while he and his beautiful wife, Nancy, are successfully raising an autistic child. That Italian and Irish background is his weapon to beat back the "bastid" trying to kill him, so he claims.
Read and I have had many adventures together that include his early days in the Navy stationed at Cape Hatteras to shipping out for V-Nam from San Francisco Bay. Upon his return from combat status, we worked at the same advertising firm selling useless stuff you didn't need. He was even Burg's roommate in New York City on the then-fashionable East Side three blocks north of my apartment. We had some fun!
Let this stand as a tribute to a dear friend and the only friend I have who went to Roosevelt High (class '62).
This year's Max's "Tough Bastid" Award is, unfortunately, shared between Read and Denny "Trooper" Davis (BHS '63), both of whom are fighting aggressive cancers. They don't need your votes, just your prayers!
Government & History Directory
Bronxville is a quaint village (one square mile) located just 16 miles north of midtown Manhattan (roughly 30 minutes on the train) and has a population of approximately 6,500. It is known as a premier community with an excellent public school (K-12) and easy access to Manhattan. Bronxville offers many amenities including an attractive business district, a hospital (Lawrence Hospital), public paddle and tennis courts, fine dining at local restaurants, two private country clubs and a community library.
While the earliest settlers of Bronxville date back to the first half of the 18th century, the history of the modern suburb of Bronxville began in 1890 when William Van Duzer Lawrence purchased a farm and commissioned the architect, William A. Bates, to design a planned community of houses for well-known artists and professionals that became a thriving art colony. This community, now called Lawrence Park, is listed on the National register of Historic Places and many of the homes still have artists’ studios. A neighborhood association within Lawrence Park called “The Hilltop Association” keeps this heritage alive with art shows and other events for neighbors.
Bronxville offers many charming neighborhoods as well as a variety of living options for residents including single family homes, town houses, cooperatives and condominiums. One of the chief benefits of living in “the village” is that your children can attend the Bronxville School.
The Bronxville postal zone (10708, known as “Bronxville PO”) includes the village of Bronxville as well as the Chester Heights section of Eastchester, parts of Tuckahoe and the Lawrence Park West, Cedar Knolls, Armour Villa and Longvale sections of Yonkers. Many of these areas have their own distinct character. For instance, the Armour Villa section has many historic homes and even has its own newsletter called “The Villa Voice” which reports on neighborhood news.
Village of Bronxville Administrative Offices
337-6500
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Police Department
337-0500
Open 24 hours
Bronxville Parking Violations
337-2024
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Fire Deparment
793-6400
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