Murdock Muse
May-June 2007, Part 3

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Don Lytle, 1994 Photo by Nancy

DONALD LYTLE David Leake I came across the 2005 entry in your Murdock Muse newsletter while trying to find information about Donald. He and my late dad were first cousins; their mothers were sisters. I lived with Don and his friend, Ben Courant, in the apartment they shared in Brookline while I was a student at BU (1960-64). I've lost contact with him over the years, although Christmas cards I have continued to send to his Hubbardston address have never been returned as undeliverable. A cousin mentioned her sister is fairly certain he is still alive and living in his home. That's how I happened to do a Google search and came up with the link to your site. Don inherited the house from his parents, William and Thyra Lytle, and I remember playing there as a boy. I know he later adopted a young teen, Paul, and that Don's blind brother Bill and sister Lora died in recent years. Can you tell me whether he is, in fact, still alive, and anything about his condition? Thanks very much, Dave Leake, Winter Park, FL P.S.: "Bob and Nancy" were the names of dear friends and next door neighbors here in Winter Park for about fifteen years. Both are now gone, but the mention of the two names together bestirs fond memories. [Ed. Note: I got a little carried away with my response (below). It was about 12:30 AM when I got to bed.--NAM] April 17 - So good to hear from you! We think very highly of Donald. He is living in Hubbardston. This was not the address his parents lived at, to the best of my knowledge. I believe he did help them buy a house at one time, though. He brought his whole family to Hubbardston to help them. Around their first Valentine's Day in Hubbardston, Donald bought his mother an expensive, fancy card. He showed it to us and said that he had bought it because his mother had a difficult adjustment to make, living so far from all she was used to doing with friends. They lived way out, away from even our modest little town center. He lives somewhat secluded in his room on the second floor. Being in his 90s, he is scaling down what he used to do for many years. He and my brother Tom Howlett became friends when Tom and his wife Marcia (who was not yet his wife) were on the school committee, many years ago. Donald used to spend Sunday evening at their house, as well as holidays, for dinner and visiting. After he decided he shouldn't drive any longer, Tom would transport him. But now he is a lot more comfortable staying at home. Tom visits him from time to time. Donald's sister Doris's widower, Ralph Meagher, died recently. We will all miss him. He was a great friend for Tom. I don't know how well you knew Doris, but Ralph really loved her fully. She was always a good person when I knew her. I lost track of her later, but I still received occasional news of her and her family. Actually, my strongest memories of Doris are of her dancing a hula with one or two of her sisters. We were all in a minstrel show when I first saw this, and I was amazed! Based on your news of that family, I believe Donald may be the last survivor of his generation. I remember Donald's arrival in town so clearly!. I was just starting second grade, and we had this new principal. He was very dignified and clear about what we were supposed to do. One day I lost a mitten my grandmother had knit for me, and I was sent to all the classrooms (three besides the 1st and 2nd grades, my own classroom) to inquire about my lost mitten. I was nervous as I approached the 7th and 8th grade room, which was upstairs, but I had been told to visit ALL the rooms, so I knocked on the door. After hearing my mission, Donald took some time telling all the students to think carefully as to whether they had seen a dark blue mitten on the ground or in the building. I was terribly impressed. I realize now that he was just a young whippersnapper himself and was putting on a very good show for the students. And it did have a good effect on us all. I wish the young people now had his influence, instead of Game Boy and all of those violent, ill-behaved characters in the TV shows, music presentations, etc., who worship violence. I believe it was he who chose me as one of the marshals for the graduation that year. The other marshal was a boy, who led the boys, while I led the girls. My mother dressed me in a very pretty dress and curled my hair. I wasn't exactly sure why I was there, but I was proud to have this honor. The next year, when we started at the new school, he looked at us all in our lines, ready to go into our classrooms, and in a haughty voice told us there were going to be some drastic changes. The first one was that we would make truly straight lines and stand up straight. I smile when I recall how concerned I was that I might not measure up. When we were in his classroom (7th and 8th grades), he initiated dance lessons for us. The object was to know how to behave with confidence and enjoy being at a dance. The boys had to walk up to the girls and ask us, "May I have this dance?" I think we had to say something like, "Yes, I would be happy to dance with you." I recall that he would sometimes ask me to dance when we were at a public dance at the Coop Hall, with the Blue Jackets band supplying the swing music. It took away some of my awkwardness. He was the one who introduced us to a love of poetry. Although we had read some in the earlier grades, we learned to soak it up, get it way down deep, and speak it with real meaning. Bob's brother Gene can still recite some of the poems we learned in that classroom. Looking back at what we had, and comparing it with what is available now in classrooms for middle schoolers, I see how truly fortunate we were. We were an extended family in many ways. He taught some subjects as separate grade levels and some for the full classroom, especially when we were to memorize certain grammar or math rules. In high school, I realized we were way ahead of the kids who had gone to larger schools, or even the schools run by nuns, which many people in Gardner thought was the best you could get. I graduated as the Highest Ranking Student from the Gardner High School class of 1949. Barely below me was a girl who had attended the French-speaking nuns' school in Gardner. So I guess they were right! As an adult long past childhood, I was amazed that Donald remembered things about me as a child. I wonder if he did that with all of us who passed through his school. Back in the day, as my African American friends here tend to say, we were allowed to celebrate Christmas in school. Donald developed a real manger scene, with a reader who read St. Luke's Christmas story. We also had a choir. One day my third (and fourth) grade teacher, Anne Novack, told Kathleen Woodland and me that we were to go to the rehearsal in the auditorium instead of our next class. We were not universally welcomed! Some of the older girls, including Kathleen's sister Gertie, were positively rude to us. They said we were too young. We wouldn't be able to memorize the words and music. I think they felt diminished by our joining them. Gertie said their mother wouldn't have time to make our choir robes. Miss Gleason, the elderly music teacher, drew herself up and said firmly that SHE would take care of the arrangements with Mrs. Woodland. I loved singing with the choir. And the Christmas story became much more real and more personal as the weeks of rehearsals went on. With only a few breaks, I have been in a choir since then. And the Christmas Eve service (at the Episcopal Church, which was originally Donald's choice) is still my favorite. So many ways I can feel blessed by knowing your cousin! Thank you for writing to us. This has been a great way to reminisce. And please bookmark The Murdock Muse and explore some of the old issues. I will let you know if I happen to run across any articles about him from the before-Internet years. We began our family newsletter in January 1991. Bob likes to use it as a reference for family history. I also have a really good photo of Donald about 10 years ago. As soon as I run across it, I will send it to you via email. We find it's easy just to scan things in and attach them to the message. Here is a link to the 8th grade graduation picture of my class. It's kind of interesting to think back to those times. I am on the far right, front. Bob's sister Lennie is next to me. Kathleen is the next girl whose face can be seen fully. Donald is in the back, behind a very blonde girl, Selma. You can probably recognize him by his high forehead and straight eyebrows. If you have seen the Muse, you know that Bob is 80 and I am 75. And Gene turned 75 just 8 days before I did. I'm guessing you're about a decade younger than Gene and me. Bob and I were married in 1950, when I was 18. I will send this by bcc to Tom and Gene. I think they will both be interested in your email. April 19, 2007: Dear Nancy and Bob, Wow! What a wonderful response to my inquiry. I feel as though I know you -- and I even know Donald a little better. I had only known him in his role as headmaster of Edward Devotion School in Brookline. No idea he once was principal in Hubbardston. You are exactly right, Nancy. Had he lived, Dad would have been 94 , about the same age as Don. Dad died in 1988 (heart disease; it has taken all the males in the Leake family at ages ranging from 48 to 74). I turned 65 last January and my wife, Rosalind (Roz) will qualify for Medicare in November. I graduated from BU on June 7, 1964, she graduated on the 14th, and we were married on June 20. Don and his good friend, Ben Courant, were among those who attended our wedding. We spent our honeymoon night at their apartment in Brookline (without them, of course. They were kind enough to vacate the premises). The next day, we drove to the Cape and had lunch at a chicken specialty place that was my Dad's favorite, "Ma Glockner's," I believe. (This just in. That restaurant still exists, http://www.maglockners.com/about_us.htm in Bellingham). Your writing reminds me of Ethel, a dear friend of ours from Auburn. Dad and her husband Bill were best friends most of their lives. After Bill died, Ethel began writing vignettes about their life together. By the time of her death a few years ago, she had amassed at least three bound volumes titled "Gleanings" to leave to her family. I suspect the Murdock Muse will fill a similar role, as well as serve as a treasure trove about life in Hubbardston for decades to come. Related topic (kind of, anyway): In case you haven't seen it, here is a new kind of living memorial, http://www.memory-of.com/Public/, that has caught my interest. This is one done recently to memorialize an old professor and longtime friend of mine: http://siddimond.memory-of.com/ . I am retired from the Naval Reserve, Walt Disney World, a small livery business here in Orlando and a half dozen other misadventures. My patient wife is winding down a 20+ year career as a pharmacy technician. Our son, Morgan, also a Naval Reserve officer, is a commercial pilot with DayJet, a new concept for shuttling business executives to meetings in remote locations using small, nimble private jet planes. Daughter, Kathy, is an associate VP at newly famous (thanks to the Don Imus flap) Rutgers University. Thanks for the invitation to check in with the Muse from time to time. I plan to do exactly that! Sincere best wishes, Dave Leake

Michael, 2006

WINTER AGAIN Nancy Murdock March 17: We had an interesting day yesterday, with the weather doing some crazy stuff. After our days of early spring, we got a flashback into winter. It was raining as we got into the car to do a couple of errands in late morning, but in less then a mile, we started getting some hail or sleet. During the course of the day, we had rain, sleet, and snow. But I did find my book club selection for April at the second library we tried. In the evening, one of our church members who lives in a group home (like the ones Darrel takes care of) had arranged to take us out to dinner. We had suggested Pizza Hut about two miles up the way on Rolling Road. We picked Michael up at a little after 7:00, after scraping down the car. When we got to Rolling Road and Security Blvd., the traffic lights were out. And when we got to the intersection right before the Pizza Hut shopping center, those lights were out, and we saw that the entire shopping center was dark. So we turned down Dogwood Road toward a strip mall, where Michael said they had a pizza place and a Subway sandwich shop. Thank goodness, those lights were all on, even though there was only one other car in the parking area. Michael said the pizza place also had pasta, so we opted for that one. They had a large assortment and it all sounded delicious, so ordering was fun. While we were waiting for the meal to arrive, Michael noticed that either a snowplow or a tow truck had hit a car. Within only a few minutes, the whole place was crowded with emergency equipment of various types! Apparently there was no serious injury, and they all gradually disbanded. When one emergency vehicle came to the door later, we saw that the snow was really coming down heavily, so we decided to wrap up our remaining dinner and get home before it got any worse. Of course, the car had to be scraped down again! I didn't have any trouble driving, though, because hardly anyone was out on the road by then. Apparently a lot of sensible people live in this area. (Ahem!) I walked Michael up his walk, because he's terrified of falling again on ice, after he had a nasty fall a few weeks ago, and his young girl cousin fell on ice at his house and had to go to the hospital recently. Fortunately, my left leg was cooperating and it was no big deal to help him up the walk. If I had needed the crutches, Michael would have had to make it on his own! My friend Shelley got a huge kick out of this episode on the phone this AM. She thought it was hilarious that the elderly woman with the bad knee was walking this large, 43-year old man up the ice. Of course, the reason it worked was that Michael trusts me and assumes all will go well. It was a very eventful day, and we got a lot of chuckles out of how different it was from the way it was planned. There is life left in the old geezers still - and life left in this Winter 2007, also!

Joan (Lovewell) Freeman. Worcester Telegram photo

R.I.P. JOAN (LOVEWELL) FREEMAN Nancy Murdock As I was sending a scanned copy of my 8th grade graduation photo to Valerie on her birthday, I wondered how many of my classmates were still alive. I thought of Joan Lovewell, whom we had seen a couple of times when we visited Lennie (Murdock) Schlicke at a care center in Athol. Joan was always cheerful and fun to talk with. Lennie had died in December 2004, but maybe we could plan to stop in briefly to see Joan on our next visit to Hubbardston. But then I had a strong feeling that I would never see her again. The next day my brother Tom sent me Joan's obituary from the Worcester Telegram and Gazette and the following day my brother Steve sent one from the Gardner News. (The timing was more than alittle eerie.) Here is part of the one from the Worcester Telegram. "Joan L. (Lovewell) Freeman, 75, of 821 Daniel Shays Highway, Athol, died Monday, April 16, 2007 in the Quabbin Valley Healthcare, Athol. She was born in Holden, on July 24, 1931, the daughter of the late Roger and the late Edith (Johnson) Lovewell. She was employed in the housekeeping department at Athol Memorial Hospital and was a member of the Athol Congregational Church. "She leaves one daughter: Janet Baczewski of Gardner, and three sons: Alan Freeman of Winchendon, Gary Freeman and his wife Linda of Orange, Paul Freeman of Carthage, NY; two sisters: Madeline Freeman of Lancaster, Janice Lovewell of Brewster and one brother: Roger Lovewell of Hubbardston; nine grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her son, David Freeman and by a sister, Marjorie Stewart." I signed her obituary and left a short message. The good news was that Ruth Wells, who lives in Florida, had also signed the book. So at least two of us are still around. I have reached the point in my life when I read obituaries. My literary tastes seem to change as years go by.

GONE FISHING Gene Murdock April 2: When I was a lad I spent many a day fishing. I didn’t bring much fish home, but I had loads of fun and tons of enjoyment. Fishing is more than fish; it is the vitalizing lure to outdoor life. --Herbert Hoover We lived just a short distance from a pond and had two boats – a large rowboat that my grandfather had custom made, and a small sailboat that came as a gift from some neighbors. Although the boat had regular oarlocks, Grandpa would sit in the narrow tapered prow and propel the boat with a single oar like a canoe. The sailboat could be fitted with a cabin-boy sized sail, or paddled with an oar. One year my Dad even built and attached a set of paddle wheels on the sides of the boat! A fisherman must be of contemplative mind, for it is a long time between bites. --Herbert Hoover There were a bunch of fishing poles always available in the shed, along with lures and other paraphernalia. Grandpa kept worms in a wooden keg out on the north side of the house, and we could dig our own in the garden or across the street down towards the swamp. Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. --Henry David Thoreau The fish available to us were mostly pickerel, horn pout, suckers, bass, dace and kivvers and there were many frog ponds in the area. Up the stream were trout, and in winter we chopped a hole in the ice and fished for pickerel. Angling is somewhat like poetry. --Izaak Walton But the best part of fishing was the solitude and being in the presence of nature. I was going to describe some of these things, but I recently got a letter from my sister Margie who described them so well, that I got her permission to repeat them here: “You will find me where still water runs deep, is clear enough to see the bottom at 20 feet, and has resident frogs, fish, turtles and snakes, seasonal kingfishers, cormorants, mallard ducks and perhaps an occasional loon or great blue heron. There are flat stones for skipping along the shore, freshwater clams on the islands, crawfish or salamanders in or near shallow waters, and insects with oars….My peanut butter and cucumber sandwiches in the basket will be replaced with pretty stones, samples of leaves and blossoms to research later, and notes about what I have seen, heard, smelled, tasted or felt. I will be at peace for a day.” Thank you Margie, I couldn’t have said it better. A bad day fishing still beats a good day working. --Fisherman’s saying "You gone fishin’, well there’s a sign upon your door Gone fishin’, you ain’t workin’ anymore There’s your hoe out in the sun, where you left a row half done You claim that hoein’ ain’t no fun, You ain’t got no ambition Gone fishin’, by a shady wady pool, I’m wishin’ I could be that kind of fool I’d say no more work for mine, on my door I’d hang a sign Gone fishin’, instead of just a-wishin'. --Louis Armstrong on Bing Crosby’s Chesterfield Show in April 1951.

I LOVE BASEBALL Ian Murdock April 30: I love baseball. For those of you who may not have heard, I treated myself to a tattoo of the Dodgers' "LA" symbol earlier this year. I wrote this in my de facto journal after Thursday's game vs. the Giants, which I attended with Natalie: "The creased and crumpled stub, the bobblehead, the mustard-stained shirt; all prove now that it had not been not a mere dream. For nine beautiful innings, an assortment of fifty-thousand-odd imperfect beings sat together in the round within the brightly shining temple of transcendence, roaring with joy and passing smiles of hope from one pair of eyes to the next. Sorrow held no ticket to the sold-out game; it found no place to sit. In the end we lost by a run, but it didn't matter. We had reaffirmed as a body the truth that life can be wonderful, and that would be enough." In other Dodgers news, they held on for four hours and fifty-five minutes -- 17 innings -- last night to eventually best the Padres 5-4 in Petco Park's longest-ever contest. Persevere.

A GREAT WEEKEND Gene Murdock And what a great weekend it was! Boston sweeps the Yankees in Fenway Park and includes a Home Run Derby as part of the entertainment! WOW! What a weekend! And they did this in spite of the amazing Yankee A-Rod belting out homers towards a new all-time record! The beaming faces and cheering fans were a sight to see. The next day the whipped Yankees flew down to Florida to play the Marlins in less than 24 hours. They were beat (and beaten). Watching the Yankees and Sox rivalry and the great battle going on between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets is making this season a great one! I enjoy watching the Mets shortstop Reyes play! He’ll go a long way. And of course I always have the Cubs to root for, win or lose, rain or shine. I love the Cubs, the Cubs Fans, the upper management that keeps the fans important, the great announcers in both TV and radio. I usually just monitor the TV ball games while I am working on something else, but when the Cubs approach the 7th inning I sit down and concentrate on the game so I won’t miss the Cubs Fan-Cam where they scan the stands for interesting fans. The team record is poor right now, only four teams in the whole MLB have worse records, but I love them still. I was surprised to see Coach Maddon of Tampa wearing number 70! Very few players have numbers higher than 40, and here he is with the big 70!

BASEBALL,ETC. Jerod Davidson May 2 - Baseball is kinda on the back burner at the moment. The Sharks and the Warriors are really in the thick of the playoffs right now which is awesome. The Warriors haven't been there in 13 years, and they might beat #1 seed Dallas. Most of their games have been given priority over Giants baseball because they share stations. I went to opening day vs San Diego, what a horrible game! And I went to another Friday night game vs the Dodgers, both losses, but we usually start slow. As of right now the Giants are in the middle of the pack, but the team is really just getting going. We have a pitcher in the minors, Tim Lincecum, who should be up soon to take the 5th starter spot from Russ Ortiz. Bengie Molina is probably the best catcher the Giants have ever had. I might have to get a SF tattoo now that I read Ian's email! Wasn't that the same guy cheering for the Angels a few years ago? Oh that's right all the teams down there start with LA now! LOL! I really think the NL West is going to come down to the last week if not the last game, which may be an advantage for the Giants because they had a couple games rained out already that may have to be made up at the end of the year. As far as the business is going we had 4 decent contracts last year, made a little $. We set up 5 Wireless networks @ 4 locations, purchased 6 computers for one site, ran data and telephone cable for 2 of the sites, networked all the computers @ the different sites. Things have been a little slow this year. The first contract I have for this year may not start until November, ouch! So I've been talking with a long time friend of mine to see if he'll help with the marketing side, but I think it'll pick up with the summer and fiscal year coming up.

Polly, 2005

NEW CHURCH Polly Soberg April 8: I'm looking forward to seeing you again. Nancy might be interested to know I am now attending the Anglican Church in Concord. They meet in the Lutheran Church as they have no church of their own. Very small congregation but wonderful minister or priest. I went to a Good Friday service where they did the stations of the cross which I had never participated in. It was very nicely done. I'm enthused, and maybe you would like to attend with me while you are in the area.

Dan and Carolyn Leskinen, 2006

THANKSGIVING 2006 Bob Murdock Nancy and I went to Dan and Carolyn Leskinen's house in Hanover, PA last Thanksgiving. We saw Dan's family and Carolyn's as well as my sister Barb, Dan's mom. Nan wrote about this visit in the Jan-Feb 2007 Muse, but there were no photos - our film got misplaced. Now we have a few pictures. One, of that devoted couple Dan and Carolyn, is at the left. A couple more can be seen in the May-June gallery.

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