Thomas Hunt

Patrick J. Hunt, 73, of Brookfield, CT, died Saturday evening, Aug. 30, at Danbury Hospital following a long illness. A devoted husband, father and grandfather, he is remembered for his genial nature and his hearty laugh. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus. His hobbies included golf, bowling, art, woodworking, crossword puzzles and stamp collecting. Patrick was born in New York City on March 8, 1941, the second child of the late Patrick and Mary (Foley) Hunt, immigrants from Ireland. As a boy, he traveled twice to Ireland in the company of his mother. He graduated in 1959 from Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx, New York. He received a bachelor's degree in Math from Manhattan College in 1963. He and his childhood sweetheart, Concetta M. Prisco, were married at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Lucy in the Bronx on Jan. 26, 1963. He was a longtime resident of the Bronx and parishioner of the Church of St. Lucy, where he served as lector. He and his family subseq...

"...a man who took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice..."

I've never been the sort to wish I was a different age. When I was 10, I genuinely liked being 10 and didn't want to be anything other than 10. If later years happened to come my way, I'd accept them, but I was in no rush to reach them. As I passed through my teens and into my twenties, I found reasons to enjoy those years too, but never really wished to stay in any of them longer than my allotted time. When I hit 30 and then 40, I experienced no yearning to go backwards to childhood or teenage or young adulthood. Been there, done that. (I am convinced, by the way, that those of later years who yearn to return to childhood, failed to truly experience childhood because they spent those early years wishing to be older. Just can't please some folks.) So, here is 50. I've heard many of my peers speak of the age with dread and quite a few with outright denial. Doesn't seem a bad number to me. In fact, I like 50. And with good reasons: - It's the numbe...

Almost anything can happen when two teams compete on a baseball diamond. And we saw much that was unexpected in the just-ended Red Sox-Cardinals World Series: improbable fielding errors, baserunning miscues, controversial calls by umpires, unbelievably strong pitching performances and some miraculous hitting. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the series is how unsurprising - even predictable - the end result was. The teams entered the postseason with identical 97-65 regular season records, and sportscasters constantly referred to the Red Sox and Cardinals as very similar in strength and as the best regular season teams in their respective leagues. As far as overall regular season records go, they were correct. However, there was a difference between the two that most failed to notice. Despite the fact that the World Series is an interleague competition, virtually no one discussed the teams' regular season interleague records. Or course, merely glancing at interleague wins...

Michael Tona and I just completed work on the two-volume historical biography, DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime . Mafioso Joseph J. DiCarlo was once known as “the Al Capone of Buffalo” and as western New York's “Public Enemy No. 1.” DiCarlo - Vol. I Son of the region's first known Sicilian underworld boss, DiCarlo was rejected as heir to his father's criminal empire. After spending troubled years as a vassal of the influential Stefano Magaddino, DiCarlo and his underlings wandered, seeking their fortunes in Youngstown, Ohio, and Miami Beach, Florida, before returning home to witness the bloody disintegration of western New York's Mafia organization. Through the two volumes, DiCarlo's colorful and violent life story becomes a window into the history of the powerful Magaddino Crime Family and the American Mafia network. Volume I covers the period through 1937. Volume II focuses on the period 1938 to 1984 and includes an epilogue describing event...

Many years ago, when particularly exhausted during a drive home from a late-night shift at work, my right arm happened to hit my right thigh. Not feeling the ring of keys that I have always - ALWAYS - kept in my right pants pocket, I instinctively knew something was terribly wrong. I quickly checked my other pockets, though I knew that was futile. No keys! Thoughts flew through my mind, as I got more and more panicky: "Should I return to work to search for the keys?" "I don't know how to get in the building at this hour, so I've just got to go home." "But how will I get into the house when I get there?" "What's going on? I've never misplaced my keys before." "I guess I could climb into the house through a window." "It's still so early - should I wake someone to help me?" "Uh oh. I have to work again later today - how will I be able to get to work without the keys to start the car?" "I...

Today marks the 87th anniversary of the birth of Robert Francis Kennedy. Kennedy served as U.S. attorney general and U.S. senator. He was killed by an assassin's bullet about 45 years ago, as he celebrated an important win in his quest for the Democratic nomination for U.S. President. Here is a collection of some of my favorite quotes from the very complex Kennedy. "People say I am ruthless. I am not ruthless. And if I find the man who is calling me ruthless, I shall destroy him." "How do you tell if Lyndon [Johnson] is lying? If he wiggles his ears, that doesn't mean he's lying. If he raises his eyebrows, that doesn't mean he's lying. But when he moves his lips, he's lying." "There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of the comfortable past which, in fact, never existed." "The advice 'bomb them back to ...