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Patti LuPone


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Wasn't sure where to plunk this one; but, have friends who LOVE Patti LuPone; gave me her book to read - started last night - UPDATE: ADDICTED TO IT; NOW, HOW CAN I GET ANYTHING DONE!!!! - they tell me she had a Jamestown connection....WOW! does she ever; news to follow.... JK

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I look forward to hearing her Jamestown connection. It was great to read Rue McClanahan's book and discover her own Jamestown connection when I was en route to the city. LOL

 

I shall copy from Patti's book tomorrow, when I have more time; then, relate 'our' local connection.

 

What is Rue's connection to Jamestown, Brock? Thanks....JK

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I shall copy from Patti's book tomorrow, when I have more time; then, relate 'our' local connection.

 

What is Rue's connection to Jamestown, Brock? Thanks....JK

 

****

Here we go, sports' fans!!!!

******

.......page 13 - Patti LuPone: - had to look in index for the family name: Patti she also mentions, she took the maternal family name as her 'stage' first name - can't find it right now... but, definitely in the first 30 or so, pages:

 

"My mother and father were first-generation Americans. My grandparents, the maternal Patti's and the paternal LuPones, came over from Sicily and Abruzzo to start a new life in America. They settled in Jamestown and Dunkirk, New York. Neither set of grand parents spoke English; so a lot of Italian was spoken in the houses; but, none was spoken to the grandkids. Both familes were boisterous and full of laughter; but, the Patti's took the prize for the amount of noise they could make at a single gathering. There were hints of threatrical blood from a few of the adults, but it was when my mother pulled out the Encyclopaedia Britannica and reverently showed me a picture of my great-grand-aunt, Adelina Patti, the famous nineteenth-century coloratura, that my voice and my oversized emotional personality started to make sense. I'm small, but the voice and personality are BIG, I thought. Must be in the genes.

 

There's a family rumor that Grandma Patti was a bootlegger. They say she hid the liquor under the floorboards of a sewing room and could smell the cops coming a mile away. Grandpa Patti was murdered (1927), before I was born (1949), and the other rumor was that Grandma was somehow involved. According the the Jamestown Evening Journal of October 10, 1927:

 

'Awakened by two men early Sunday morning, James Patti, 42/1927, was lured from his home on Lakewood Road (now Route 394, or, as we call it Fairmount Avenue) and shot to death by gunmen who are being sought by the Sheriff's Department. Mystery surrounds the motive for the crime, which baffles authorities. The slaying took place on Howard Avenue* (West Ellicott/running north and south, between 394 and Hunt Road), near Patti's home shortly after 5:30 a.m., in a dense fog, which covered the gruesome scene. Patti's son, George, with Carmelo Calabrese, who was a material witness, found Patti lying in a pool of blood caused by three wounds in his head . . . [in the past], both Patti and his wife have been arrested on charges of bootlegging . . . Those who were subjected to the most questioning were Patti's wife, the son, George**, the daughter [MY MOTHER!], and Carmelo Calabrese, their neighbor . . . The widow of the slain man and his daughter [MY MOTHER!], were not locked up, but Calabrese and the Patti youth, George**, were kept in jail yesterday but last night all were released except Calabrese."

*****

 

*for those of you familiar with Route 394, Fairmount Avenue, West Ellicott, @Tanglewood Manor (which, when I was growing up, was the Coca Cola Bottling Plant), @Gifford and near Merlin Avenues, running north of Howard Avenue, which runs south from 394...

**don't know much about George; but, would have been James' older brother, children of deceased and the bootlegger...

 

Now, for the juicy part, Grandma and Grandpa Patti, from Sicily, had two sons (that I know of), James and George - James (who is NOT mentioned in the above information) had two sons: James - b. 1932, or thereabouts and George (younger than Jim) (that I know of); believe there is a sister; but will have to research that more.

 

James Patti (b. 1932) was one of my husband's best friends through their childhood and early adulthood, my husband coming to the area at about age 8 - they were carted off together, kicking and screaming and drafted, at about age(s) 18, to Korea, and served a couple years each...1951-53.

 

James/1932 had a daughter, Diane/50's, who I believe may have been the Diane mentioned in Patti's book, who gets credit for some of the early-on photos - they would have been cousins, best I can figure. Diane passed a few years back, way too young; I have to look up her obit for the name; but, I believe it's the one in Patti's book - she was a chiropractor.

 

HOW'S THAT FOR A JAMESTOWN CONNECTION????!!!! Good grief! Makes me want to jump out of my skin, it's so close....

 

Respectfully submitted, JK

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****

Here we go, sports' fans!!!!

******

.......page 13 - Patti LuPone: - had to look in index for the family name: Patti she also mentions, she took the maternal family name as her 'stage' first name - can't find it right now... but, definitely in the first 30 or so, pages:

 

"My mother and father were first-generation Americans. My grandparents, the maternal Patti's and the paternal LuPones, came over from Sicily and Abruzzo to start a new life in America. They settled in Jamestown and Dunkirk, New York. Neither set of grand parents spoke English; so a lot of Italian was spoken in the houses; but, none was spoken to the grandkids. Both familes were boisterous and full of laughter; but, the Patti's took the prize for the amount of noise they could make at a single gathering. There were hints of threatrical blood from a few of the adults, but it was when my mother pulled out the Encyclopaedia Britannica and reverently showed me a picture of my great-grand-aunt, Adelina Patti, the famous nineteenth-century coloratura, that my voice and my oversized emotional personality started to make sense. I'm small, but the voice and personality are BIG, I thought. Must be in the genes.

 

There's a family rumor that Grandma Patti was a bootlegger. They say she hid the liquor under the floorboards of a sewing room and could smell the cops coming a mile away. Grandpa Patti was murdered (1927), before I was born (1949), and the other rumor was that Grandma was somehow involved. According the the Jamestown Evening Journal of October 10, 1927:

 

'Awakened by two men early Sunday morning, James Patti, 42/1927, was lured from his home on Lakewood Road (now Route 394, or, as we call it Fairmount Avenue) and shot to death by gunmen who are being sought by the Sheriff's Department. Mystery surrounds the motive for the crime, which baffles authorities. The slaying took place on Howard Avenue* (West Ellicott/running north and south, between 394 and Hunt Road), near Patti's home shortly after 5:30 a.m., in a dense fog, which covered the gruesome scene. Patti's son, George, with Carmelo Calabrese, who was a material witness, found Patti lying in a pool of blood caused by three wounds in his head . . . [in the past], both Patti and his wife have been arrested on charges of bootlegging . . . Those who were subjected to the most questioning were Patti's wife, the son, George**, the daughter [MY MOTHER!], and Carmelo Calabrese, their neighbor . . . The widow of the slain man and his daughter [MY MOTHER!], were not locked up, but Calabrese and the Patti youth, George**, were kept in jail yesterday but last night all were released except Calabrese."

*****

 

*for those of you familiar with Route 394, Fairmount Avenue, West Ellicott, @Tanglewood Manor (which, when I was growing up, was the Coca Cola Bottling Plant), @Gifford and near Merlin Avenues, running north of Howard Avenue, which runs south from 394...

**don't know much about George; but, would have been James' older brother, children of deceased and the bootlegger...

 

Now, for the juicy part, Grandma and Grandpa Patti, from Sicily, had two sons (that I know of), James and George - James (who is NOT mentioned in the above information) had two sons: James - b. 1932, or thereabouts and George (younger than Jim) (that I know of); believe there is a sister; but will have to research that more.

 

James Patti (b. 1932) was one of my husband's best friends through their childhood and early adulthood, my husband coming to the area at about age 8 - they were carted off together, kicking and screaming and drafted, at about age(s) 18, to Korea, and served a couple years each...1951-53.

 

James/1932 had a daughter, Diane/50's, who I believe may have been the Diane mentioned in Patti's book, who gets credit for some of the early-on photos - they would have been cousins, best I can figure. Diane passed a few years back, way too young; I have to look up her obit for the name; but, I believe it's the one in Patti's book - she was a chiropractor.

 

HOW'S THAT FOR A JAMESTOWN CONNECTION????!!!! Good grief! Makes me want to jump out of my skin, it's so close....

 

Respectfully submitted, JK

 

Absolutely incredible! I'd love to have some time on a future visit to research it while in town...perhaps at the Fenton?

 

I haven't gotten to Rue's memoir yet, but now I have even more motivation.

 

Mary Jane Fan

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I look forward to hearing her Jamestown connection. It was great to read Rue McClanahan's book and discover her own Jamestown connection when I was en route to the city. LOL

 

About Rue's connection to Jamestown; found some of the first two husband's 'names' still in area phone book; Bish [Youngsville, PA/close to Jamestown, within 25 miles] and Hartweg/Hartwig [Jamestown/Lakewood listings in phone book] (this one in the 'business'/so might be him; IMDb sketchy information); both marriages seem to have only lasted one year; perhaps, both were from Jamestown area.

 

Wish we could find out MORE....any suggestions? JK

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