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Six months of doing this column. Boy, that went fast! You can’t say The Daily Star doesn’t reach far and wide. (The online readership is amazing!) I thought it would be fun, say twice a year, to take a sampling from the (e)mailbag.
From my second column, “Final Exits,” Gina Wilson of Hammondsport caught the name Millard Fuller. Gina shared with me a memory of actually working side-by-side with Mr. Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, in the early 1980s while building homes for the less fortunate in Georgia. She remembers Fuller as a warm, likable and passionate humanitarian who was a joy to work with.
The smoking column got a lot of attention. Many readers mentioned how they took up smoking at a very young age and recalled the commercials for it on TV before they were banned.
Ted from Garrattsville wrote me: “Hey Chuck, I got my first cigarette courtesy of ‘Uncle Sam.’ It was among the ‘goodies’ they gave me on my way off to war. They were Lucky Strike Greens if I recall, and they were the nastiest things I had ever tasted. Thanks, Uncle Sam. I smoked them for forty years!”
More e-mails came in from my Kate Smith column than any other. One from Susan in Schuyler Lake said, “I met Kate Smith once at a TV show taping of hers in New York City. She was just as warm and kind as you said she was. I will never forget this great lady.” Sentiments shared by many, Sue.
Rose, who lives at Goodyear Lake, mentioned how I write the same way as I speak (on my radio program).
Don’t get me wrong, it was a lovely and very complimentary e-mail, but I guess those of us who communicate for a living never really think that we have a “style.” I mean, try to imagine Andy Rooney, Charles Osgood, Edward R. Murrow or Harry Reasoner trying to explain their style. I will wager that they would just shrug their shoulders and say, “I haven’t got a clue. I just write, I guess.” It is for smarter people than me to try to figure out what exactly my “style” is, but hey, thanks for noticing, Rose!
Ellis from Margaretville spent years volunteering in Haiti and had very nice words to say about my column regarding the Haiti earthquake. He wrote, “While it is correct that Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, just ask any person who has been there and they will tell you that the Haitians are indeed a very rich people. They are deeply religious and live the Good Word daily despite their hardships. They have strong generational family bonds and a rich, although under-appreciated, culture. Their history is one of oppression and renewal, and it is that sense of renewal that will guide them to a better day.” Well put, Ellis!
The “Sock Hop” column brought back a lot of memories to my readers. One e-mail in particular that I liked was from Jeanne C. of Oneonta. She wrote: “Wooo-ey! Loved, loved, loved your Sock Hop column, ‘Dancing Chuckie’! I don’t know how old you are but I know how old I am and the sock hop story gave me the biggest giggle I’ve had in a while!” It seems that all of Andes was roused to e-mail me to let me know that I left a very important local figure off my list of New York state lieutenant governors.
So I will mention him here ... loud and clear. Lt. Gov. M. Linn Bruce of Andes!
Dave, from Dallas, Texas, wrote: “As a man who has two relatives buried in Arlington Cemetery, your Memorial Day column was fitting and heartfelt. And you know what, Chuck? I never thought about it, but nobody really does know when Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays really are.
Thanks for the info!” Eagle-eyers Bob Cairns, Steve Rose, Dulcie Shaw and many other Delaware County readers caught my road-marking mistake for Tremperskill Road in my “Pepacton” column. You’re right, everybody. It is Delaware County Route 1 and not New York state Route 1.
Everyone agreed with my “Baggy Pants” column that we are seeing way too much of the young guys’ underwear on the streets of our hometowns.
But reader Janice put me up to a challenge. She wrote, “Hey Chuck. Loved your story on the guys with the saggy, baggy pants. Now, do you dare do one on women who wear those low-rider jeans?” Well, Janice, as I told you in a return e-mail, having four females in my family is enough for me to ignore that topic with the proverbial 10-foot-pole!” And so, as Dino used to say at the end of his show each week — ”Keep them cards and letters coming, folks.” Although, go ahead and use the e-mail. It’s free! I’ll catch you in two …
‘BIG CHUCK’ D’IMPERIO can be heard on weekdays beginning at 6 a.m. on WDOSAM 730 in Oneonta, and also on Thursday nights from 7-9 p.m. on WSRK-FM 103.9 for his “Oldies Jukebox Show.” You can find “Big Chuck” on Facebook under Upstate New York Books. He invites you to contact him at wdosbigchuck@aol.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/bigchuck. You can find “Big Chuck” on Facebook under Upstate New York Books.
Big Chuck
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"Big Chuck" D'Imperio
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I Was Just Thinking: Time to check on the electronic mailbag
- Big Chuck
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George Wallace gives us the 'one-finger salute'
This is Black History Month. I regret that I was never involved in the Civil Rights movement.
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When delivering papers was all in a day's work
I walk to work in the morning. Shortly after 5 a.m.
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Readers who write get a little feedback
Well, it's that regular interval where we stop for a minute and take a look at some of the offerings from the mailbag over the last six months. And it has been busy. And please, do not hesitate to drop me a line if something stirs you in one of my columns.
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I Was Just Thinking: Inventors, writers and others pass on in 2011
Plenty of ink was spilled this year reporting on the passage of such giants as Steve Jobs, Andy Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor and a couple of baddies named bin Laden and Gadhafi. But let's take a peek behind the final curtain and see who else merits a tip of the hat.
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I Was Just Thinking: Stella turned me into a pet person
I never really understood being a "pet person." I just didn't get it. My wife, however, is incomplete without a pet. When I met her, she was in the waning days of a relationship with her dog, "Jake," who was a venerable elder presence in the house until she passed away many dog years beyond her typical span.
- Monday, December 5, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: Waiting for a friendly wave that never came
My earliest recollection of taking a train ride was when my dad would take me and my brother Jim and sister Fran on the train from Sidney down to the Afton Fair. Mom would greet us at the crossings along the way with a baby in her arms and a big wave to the four of us.
- Monday, November 21, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: Local youngster created amazing tribute to veterans
When I think of veterans, I often think of the older ones who fought in World War II. I honor all vets from all wars, but as my radio listeners know, I just love to hear stories from the old warriors of the Greatest Generation.
- Monday, November 7, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: Remembering my small glimpse of the Cuban Missle Crisis
I read recently in a newspaper that the U.S. was beginning a "year-long observance of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, culminating in October 2012." Fifty years? I'd been following the crisis on TV as my mom and dad fretted over the news being presented by the dour-faced men in gray business suits who gave us the news each night on our brand-new Zenith television set.
- Monday, October 24, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: A remote-controlled cooler sounds enticing
Here they come! I am ready to gird myself against the onslaught of junk mail that is starting to roll in for the holidays already. I do not buy from catalogs. Never have. Don't even read them. North Face? L.L. Bean? Omaha Steaks? Vermont Country Store? No thanks. Except for one.
- Monday, October 10, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: I never took a hike in my life; would do it again
"Take a hike!" That is what my father used to tell me when he'd had enough of my smart talk as a kid. Unfortunately, I never took that hike. In fact, I don't think I've ever hiked in my life, either formally or informally.
- Monday, September 26, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: Local traffic's got nothing on LA
I will never complain about traffic again. I just got back from a wonderful vacation with my daughter, Frances, in Los Angeles. I had lived there many years (and a million people) ago. While I was there from 1974 to 1980, I saw this exciting and vibrant city through the eyes of a longhaired wanderer. It was great.
- Saturday, September 10, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: 9/11 is behind us but we'll never be the same
Since the horror of Sept. 11, 2001 is now a decade in the past, many will use this as a time to reflect on how our nation has changed since my generation's Pearl Harbor was visited upon our country.
- Saturday, September 3, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: 'Radioathon' was about more than just donations; it meant love, sharing
Over the years I have been involved with many fundraising efforts at our radio stations. As far back as the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. We raised a thousand dollars in change and turned Main Street Oneonta into one large collection bucket.
- Monday, August 29, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: No mystery about good works done by PEO
I get a lot of requests for speaking engagements. A lot. Most of the time I actually know who the audience will be. I've addressed more than 50 historical societies, dozens of reading groups, several museum groups and enough Rotary and Kiwanis luncheons to make me feel like the Toastmaster General of the U.S.
- Monday, August 15, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: Back-to-school used to be a simpler affair
Have you seen the "back-to-school" sales now going on in stores? Ahem, hello? It's still summer! Which got me to thinking about back-to-school shopping when I was a kid in the 1950s. The list seems almost infantile by today's standards.
- Monday, August 1, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: Messages from the (virtual) mailbag
Well, it's mail call time again. Every six months I like to recap some of the correspondence I have received from readers. I welcome any and all emails!
- Monday, July 18, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: St. Mary's was part of Oneonta life
One of the longest-running chapters of Oneonta history just came to an end. Officially.
- Tuesday, July 5, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: Small-town memories have universal appeal
This Friday, July 8, I will be presenting my one-man show, "My Town is a Cathedral," at the Oneonta Theatre. It is sponsored by the Green Toad Bookstore and is a benefit for the Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care. The show is a gentle look at growing up in Smalltown U.S.A. in the black-and-white days of the 1950s and 1960s.
- Monday, June 20, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: Father's Day gifts reflect the man ... or the times?
Well, Father's Day 2011 is history. Hey, dads, did you dodge a bullet this year? Gift giving for dad is always problematic. Being a father now for nearly 30 years, I can certainly identify with the touchy situation that my own dad was put in on Father's Day back in the 1950s. As they always say, "What do you give a man who has everything?"
- Monday, June 6, 2011
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I Was Just Thinking: How a softball game can conjure youthful memories
While listening to a sports report at the radio station last week, the high score tallies for local youth softball games struck me as unusual. Eighteen, 20, 27 runs and more. Geez, I thought. What does a game like that look like?
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George Wallace gives us the 'one-finger salute'
