Muhheakannuck Nations at Nu Scodack
It takes 40 years to make a Sagamore .... S 5 2022
The Making of a Sagamore
Never Called by His Given Name
After HS Graduation
After GraduationHis interest in music continued but earning a living through music was questionable. So he tried other things.
Fork Lift operatorHe drove a fork lift at Rolland Hand Bags. He liked doing this. At night, he would park the fork lift and turn it off. As he was walking away, it would turn itself on, and follow him. The fork lift was driving itself. He would get back on it, park it again, turn it off and walk away. It again turned itself on and came after him. With great difficulty, he managed to get the fork lift to stay. The fork lift had been modified as part of an experiment of some folks at Cornell University working with artificial intelligence.
Another task at Rolland was to drive a freight train under the Hudson to and from New Jersey, transporting merchandise. He really enjoyed this.
Loading FreightHe then worked at Finer Chrome, mostly packing and loading bars onto trucks. One day he was out sick. They were scheduled to load a 500 lb. wood bar onto a truck. The guys he worked with waited for him to come in the next day.
When the foreman learned this he fired Mike.
"Notes"He learned music theory from books in the University of Pennsylvania library stacks. She went every week and selected the ones that "felt" right. He would read them and she returned them the following week, exchanging them for another batch. He heard about a work shop with Leopold Stokowski (born 4/18/1882}. The workshops were held once a week and cost $5 a session. Leo had all the participants write some music. After looking over everyone's sheets, he selected Mike as the person to copy all the music and take it to the printer at Columbus Circle. Stokowski called him "Notes". Notes was unconventional in the way he arranged for the various voices. He would give string parts to brass and horn parts to strings, etc.John Sasso, the Sunriser's horn instructor also attended these workshops. Leonard Bernstein, Count Bassie and other established musicians also came to some of the sessions to help out. Playing ViolinNotes had never had an opportunity to learn to play a string instrument although he loved singing as a bass violin. Stokowski showed Notes how to play a violin. Leo explained precisely how to play the violin: how to hold the violin, how to hold the bow, how to caress the strings with the bow. The first time Notes played the violin, it sounded so good he upset the First Chair. She had practiced daily since childhood, had majored in music and Notes played better than she on his first try. Stokowski had founded the American Symphony Orchestra in 1962 and invited some workshop attendees to join it but Mike knew he had other things in his future Leo returned to London in May 1972. Notes was called when he died Sept 13, 1977.
Reversed Hands. Mike played piano with opposite hands, playing melody with the left hand and chords with right. He took lessons with Irma Valetini [daughter of Leopoldo] once a week for a few months and learned to play conventionally.
"Notes"He learned music theory from books in the University of Pennsylvania library stacks. She went every week and selected the ones that "felt" right. He would read them and she returned them the following week, exchanging them for another batch. He heard about a work shop with Leopold Stokowski (born 4/18/1882}. The workshops were held once a week and cost $5 a session. Leo had all the participants write some music. After looking over everyone's sheets, he selected Mike as the person to copy all the music and take it to the printer at Columbus Circle. Stokowski called him "Notes". Notes was unconventional in the way he arranged for the various voices. He would give string parts to brass and horn parts to strings, etc.John Sasso, the Sunriser's horn instructor also attended these workshops. Leonard Bernstein, Count Bassie and other established musicians also came to some of the sessions to help out. Playing ViolinNotes had never had an opportunity to learn to play a string instrument although he loved singing as a bass violin. Stokowski showed Notes how to play a violin. Leo explained precisely how to play the violin: how to hold the violin, how to hold the bow, how to caress the strings with the bow. The first time Notes played the violin, it sounded so good he upset the First Chair. She had practiced daily since childhood, had majored in music and Notes played better than she on his first try. Stokowski had founded the American Symphony Orchestra in 1962 and invited some workshop attendees to join it but Mike knew he had other things in his future Leo returned to London in May 1972. Notes was called when he died Sept 13, 1977.
Reversed Hands. Mike played piano with opposite hands, playing melody with the left hand and chords with right. He took lessons with Irma Valetini [daughter of Leopoldo] once a week for a few months and learned to play conventionally.
"Chauffeur"
One day his wife was running late in leaving for work and asked him to drive her to the "D" train instead of taking the 20 bus as she usually did. On his return, a neighbor asked him to drive her to the train. He did and when the neighbor asked how much he charged, he told her whatever she wanted to pay.
Thus began his Taxi Service.
Kingsbridge was not serviced by Yellow Cabs but by radio dispatched white cabs. However, it was a major complaint of neighborhood people who called them that they never came. So he had lots of customers who were tired of waiting. And the longer they had waited, generally the more they paid him.
He was driving a light green 1952 Cadillac. He acted as a professional chauffeur. He would come around the car and open the door for his customers.
The man at the auto parts store where he bought his oil gave him a box of umbrellas. On rainy days he gave free umbrellas to his customers.
He never looked for customers. They found him.
President of IBOB
When asked what union he belonged to, he had for years said: Local 14 - Villains, Thieves and Scoundrels.
However, while accompanying his wife, the Vice-President of Local 2627, Electronic Data Processing Professionals for New York City, to various union events, he was frequently asked what union he represented. His standard reply became that he was the President of IBOB. When asked what was IBOB, he said: the International Brotherhood of Bums. He had gotten the idea after Mrs. L called him a bum. He used it occasionally even before she worked for NYC and they moved to Rahway.
Continued as Law Enforcement 6