Customer Reviews

Thanksgiving 1959: When One Last Corner of New York City Was Still Part of Small-Town America

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jay Price's book "Thanksgiving 1959'' turns back the clock to a long-gone era, when athletes played for the love of the game. I couldn't put down this fascinating story about the people involved in New York City high school football in what then was a much different Staten Island than it is today. Mr. Price is a great storyteller, but he demonstrates David Halberstam-like reporting skills in this sterling effort! From interviews with people like Wellington Mara on the early days of the NFL (when the New York Giants made the short trip to Staten Island to play games!) to the forward by Bobby Thomson of "Shot Heard Round the World'' fame, this is a tremendously creative book. Those who love the essence of sports will love this book.

Thanksgiving Game 1959 When One Last Corner of New York City was Still Part of Small Town and High School Football was the Last Thing Guys did for Love by Jay Price is an excellent read for both men and women growing up in the 1950's and who love sports, all kinds of sports, but especially football. I mostly recommend Price's book to all Staten Islanders because there are lots of names, places and people they will surely recognize. The book covers quite a span of years up to the present time and brings back very pleasant memories of a time and place when everyone knew everyone else and small time towns were very important to growing up.

Was sent this book as a gift. Having left Staten Island years ago with many wonderful memories, I'm always a sucker for a retropsective. But I was surprised I was so moved by Jay Price's book, Thanksgiving 1959. Anyone who is devoted to the exellent TV show about high school football in Texas, Friday Night Lights, will love this book. Staten Island in 1959 was small-town America, and its annual Turkey Bowl between Curtis and New Dorp High may have marked the high point of an era that was nearing its end, and not only in football. The mainly Irish and Italian kids who made up the two teams (and most of the other teams on Staten Island)forged friendships and created a history that would have been unthinkable to their grandparents, many of whom viewed their ethnic rivals with suspicion (and busted each others' heads off the playing fields). The names of the coaches and their players tell it all: Somma, Ryan, Barberi, Boylan, Fugazzi, O'Connell, Trucelli. They would all soon see their beloved borough change when the Verranzano Bridge destroyed (there is no other word for it) Staten Island's uniqueness. And the boys were heading into a society about to be riven by the most divisive war in our history. This book is about more than a football game. It's about people of character, at a lost time in our history.

Jay does a great job writing about the little known sports history of one of the least known parts of New York City. As a native "Islander", I found it to be informative and entertaining. However, Jay's love affair with the New Dorp team and especially their coach, Sal Somma permiates the book. It could have titled, "Sal Somma The Greatest Role Model The Game Has Ever Produced".

The changes the bridge brought are well documented. Instead of passing through the island and going to New Jersey, many (too many) people stopped and made a home there. The population quadrupled with all of the accompanying "big city problems".

The picture on the cover is from the historic 1959 Thanksgiving game between New Dorp (the city champs) and Curtis High school. Not enough background was written about the Curtis players. I played on that team. Although Jay appologized for getting my name wrong in the book, he made it seem that our victory was a fluke rather than well deserved.

All in all, I recommend the book. It's about a place, teams, coaches and a game that will never be forgotten.

Raymond Jenkins #30(Offensive Tackle, Defensive End, a 60 minute man)

This book really did it for me. So much so that I immediately wrote a letter to Mr Price. By now he has it in hand. I think it's appropriate to share it with anyone considering this wonderful work by Mr Price.
Here it is in its' entirety:
"My brother sent me a copy of "Thanksgiving 1959". It has certainly triggered memories for me. It is very well done; I am enjoying your efforts immensely.
At 14 I was on the first Curtis team that lost to New Dorp in 1948. When I joined the team I had absolutely no knowledge of football. I wound up being a tackling dummy, a fast ball target in pass drill or wound up minding Andy's son more often than not. I didn't even know how many players were on a team. Rifle arm quarterbacks like Don Trentalonge and Dave Laverty would take turns knocking me down with passes while running pass drill. Towards the end of the season, on one lucky day, I caught four in a row and the entire team cheered. Carmine Ragucci was the Team Captain and we would ride to school together from Stapleton. He was a wonderful fellow and eventually went on to Kings Point. One day I saw him presenting the Heisman on TV. Unfortunately, many members of that 1948 team are no longer with us. The Korean War took its' toll.
I transferred to New Dorp the following year and did not go out. At 15 my loyalties were challenged. I was having other troubles as well. Eventually, I had an Uncle living in Saratoga NY that took me in. I would play ball again in my senior year. Your mention of "Short Choppy Steps" really got to me. As ignorant and young as I was under Andy, I paid very close attention to his mentoring. Andy would demonstrate SCS and hand use attacking a defender or leading a block. I never forgot and it came to very good use in my senior year. By then I was 6 ft 1 inch and weighed 195 lbs. I could hit and maintain balance. Later on, the same footwork helped me while training young Soldiers in bayonet warfare and close combat drill. The SCS footwork helped on the dance floor too.
The point, we learn lots from great men like Mr. Barberi and Mr. Somma, things that pop up throughout our lives. Subconsciously we incorporate those teachings learned during formative years.
I was a Sgt in the NYNG after returning from Germany in 1956. I had a young soldier on my AA gun crew; He was a kid brother to Joe Moresco, QB for that 1948 New Dorp team; it's a small world isn't it? To read about all those fine young men, that like me, who were just kids doing "Good Stuff" trying to get by, was Oh so enjoyable. I never amounted to much as a football player but things I learned there, and in the U S Army, would enlighten my life and make me successful professionally and as a family man. "Short Choppy Steps", maintain balance and control, close in and risk a hit, if you want to deliver one ... wow! God Bless those men that devoted their lives to putting up with us confused children, battling hormones, seeking a "Right of passage" through adolescence. They were our mentors. I'm glad Curtis won that 59 game; Andy really needed it. ND had enough glory. The lesson in losing inadvertently helped them considerably I'm sure. I am saddened by what happened to Fugazzi. Senseless crimes seem to grab the good ones. I knew of the Ryan family but never personally met them.
I have been away from Staten Island since 1964. I will treasure your book for the rest of my life. It took me back to my youth. We players are all the same and I'm sure you could develop a story on any individual you choose but suffice it to say, "It is more important that you sent us guys, from that era, back in time to review our own story"

For that, I am eternally grateful to you Mr. Price. Given the opportunity I would be honored to shake your hand.

Sincerely,
John M"

Highly, Highly Recommended!!
Thanksgiving 1959 is a truly fine read--- one in which the reader is brought back to a time and place where decency, hard work, caring and warmth set the tone for young men's lives. You'll find yourself immersed in their small town world filled with rough and tumble innocence, with a variety of personalities you can truly connect with. You will feel as if you know these people personally.
A fantastic, warm, caring, meaningful story. In this day and age, that's a great thing.

I heard the author of this book on the radio being interviewed and was really interested in the book for my dad and fiance. My dad called me to tell me that it is a terrific read and that he thinks I would really enjoy the book too. In short, it is a great story about a 1959 high school football game - however it is way more than that with the various characters and side stories that intertwine throughout the book. And it is a true telling of people and places, a great read for all ages.

I knew those kids Jay Price is writing about. And the coaches. Just change the coaches names to Foster and Beck. And the times. And the belief system the community established, and the unmandated diversity that just happened and was not planned by some government committee. More by economics. The more players we had whose names ended in "i" or "y" indicated how strong our team would be. The book is good. But it doesn't rate four stars on literary merit. The interest I found in reading it was strictly personal and my familiarity with the players, the community and its values. I grew up in Yonkers, NY, the son of a truck driver, living in a cold water flat, and no poorer nor richer than 99% of my friends. Marty Ryan would be the role model for many young kids in Yonkers just as he was in Staten Island. I am afraid that a reader has had to have had exposure to that slice of lower-middle class America to read and enjoy the story line. Others just might not understand. The author would have done well by probing more players' lives in detail. Price has a tendency to cast a phrase he likes, and use it a couple of more times than he should have. Inevitably, he relies on some sports cliche's to tell his story. But his story is worth telling, and he tells it authentically and with care. Although one understands the pain the players feel when the punt is blocked, it's their friendship and love that allows them to suffer their defeat.

Jay Price's book, Thanksgiving 1959, a rich story of Staten Island before the (Verrazono-Narrows)Bridge, exudes the authenticity of Friday Night Lights and rivals the philosophical formulas for achieving success (in football and life) of legendary coach Vince Lombardi extolled in Lombardi's biography, When Pride Mattered. And Jay Price gets all of this and more across the goal line in a breezy, fun-to-read fashion. If you love a good story, nostalgia, unforgettable characters, history and the high drama of championship-caliber high school football this is the book for you. It was so good that the surprise ending was merely the cherry on top.

I am an admittedly biased reader since Jay Price is my father, but this is one of the greatest sports books you will ever read. And you don't have to be from Staten Island to enjoy it. All you need is a love for sports, and specifically high school sports, and a love for a simpler time when being part of a team meant more than "getting yours" in today's me-first sports environment. To be honest, I don't like writing reviews when the author hits so close to home, but felt it necessary to respond to the earlier reviewer who made idiotic comments. Political? Are you serious? For everybody else out there, read the book (unlike the previous poster) and then write an honest review here. Long live sports.