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He Had Mail

17 Oct

You’re all forgiven for the birthday cards that never arrived.

And now I think I know why I never got those issues of Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone too.

Apparently, they were all at Alan Gagne‘s house.

He’s one of the mailmen for the Coolidge Corner area — or was, until he was found dead in his apartment last week by a supervisor who was making sure Gagne was alright.

For many years (since the 1980s apparently), and for no apparent reason, Gagne had been holding onto people’s mail. Sure, much of it was junk (circulars and other crap), and I thank Gagne for not delivering it to me, but a good chunk of it was normal, everyday, first class mail.

Thankfully, Gagne never opened it, so I suppose there’s a chance I’ll finally get that card you told me you sent three years ago. Maybe I’ll also get my copy of the current issue of GQ, which still hasn’t arrived.

(In all seriousness, poor Alan Gagne. I hate to make fun of the recently deceased.)

Now I’ve Seen Everything

13 Oct

Randomly bumped into Joe and Marie as I was walking home tonight, so we grabbed dinner at the Coolidge Corner Clubhouse and then, of course, got some dessert at J.P. Licks next door.

J.P. Licks had changed some flavors since the last time I was there, and now they have some new ones, including Chocolate Macademia, Butter Brittle, and Manischewitz Wine Sorbet.

So our eyes …. wait, what was that? Did I say Manischewitz Wine Sorbet? Yes, I did.

Needless to say, we had no interest in that. Continue reading →

Booked

20 Sep

Back in the day, I was an avid reader of Swing magazine, which was published by Ralph Lauren’s son David and aimed to inspire twentysomethings to be active members of society (or something like that). In one issue, there was a profile of a young writer named Brad Meltzer, whose new book The Tenth Justice was getting good buzz. Brad was being hailed as “the next John Grisham.” Being a young writer myself, I was inspired by Brad’s success and decided to go to a book reading/signing and meet him in person. When the time came after Brad read from the book, I stood up and asked him a question about his web site and the character sketches, which I enjoyed. Or maybe it was a question about the movie rights, which had just been sold. Or actually, I think I asked two questions.

Anyway, Brad left a good impression on me that night, and when he came out with his next book a year or two later, I went to that signing too. Of course, just like I had done at Brad’s first reading, I stood up and asked a question when he opened things up to a Q&A. Brad remembered me, and later he wrote something nice in my book, thanking me for coming back.

Long story short, Brad is one of the nicest writers I’ve ever met, one of the real good guys, and that’s why every time he’s in town with a new book, I make a point of going to his readings/signings. And yes, every time I also ask him a question, and every time Brad remembers me (tho not necessarily by name) and writes something really cool in my book. So I’ve followed his career over the years; I own all his novels (plus the graphic novels Idenity Crisis and Green Arrow: Archer’s Quest) — though admittedly, I haven’t read them all — and I watched Jack and Bobby, the WB show he created two seasons ago. (And a fun fact is that he was Real World: San Francisco cast member Judd Winick‘s roommate in college.)

I tell you all this because Brad’s in town today (Wednesday) to promote his sixth novel, The Book of Fate, which has been getting some great reviews and debuted at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list last week. The book’s a thriller set in Washington, D.C., about an attempted presidential assassination, the secret society of Masons, and all kinds of other stuff. He wrote it with some research help from former Presidents Clinton and Bush. I’m not doing a very good job of selling the book, so I encourage you to check out Brad’s web site, where you can learn more about it. Brad will be reading from Fate at Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner at 7 p.m., and if you’re free, he’s worth listening to, meeting, and reading. Just thought I’d do my part and give him a plug here. Look for me. I’ll be there.

Bad Luck, Good Luck

8 Mar

Did anyone else happen to see the accident in Coolidge Corner this morning? When I got to the corner of Beacon and Harvard around 8:45 a.m., two cars had gone over the Boston-bound left side sidewalk, with one of them landing right on the T tracks. Wish I had my camera; it was quite a sight.

Needless to say, one man’s misfortune is another man’s good fortune. T riders were diverted to the outbound platform, where they were told a shuttle bus would arrive to pick them up. But there was already a shuttle bus there, seemingly heading outbound. I asked the driver where he was going, he said he was heading inbound and was about to turn around. So I got on, got a seat, and made it to work with little delay. Meanwhile, the hordes of other T passengers were left stranded on the platform because they didn’t realize the shuttle bus they were waiting for had already arrived.

Still, that was some accident. How fast must a car have been going — on Beacon Street in Coolidge Corner of all places — for it to not just go up on the sidewalk, but to knock down the railing, go through the bushes and land on the T track. And what was up that this accident involved not one but two cars seemingly right behind the other?

Is Zathmary’s Clozed?

2 Mar

Stores in Coolidge Corner seem to close often enough that when another shuts its doors, it’s hardly newsworthy — much less blogworthy. But something’s up at Zathmary’s, and I can’t seem to figure out if the store has closed for good or what.

All week, the delivery trucks have arrived, dropping off the daily breads, newspapers and produce, and leaving them right out front or just inside the front door. And there they stay.

When I pass by at night on the way home, the place is empty, half the lights are off, chairs are still stacked on the tables, display cases still empty. Continue reading →

In the Globe Again …

8 Nov

Hey y’all. I’m in the Globe again today, the centerspread of the “Sidekick” section.

There’s a sizable quote from my recent posting about Coolidge Corner — although the quote cuts off a bit prematurely.

Still, it’s good to get the exposure. I’ll pat myself on the back for a job (still) well done.

For those out of town, I have scanned the quote for you, just like I did last time. Just click on the image and it’ll show up in a bigger size.

Coolidge, I’ve Got You Cornered

4 Nov


So it seems that Brookline is celebrating its 300th birthday — again — next weekend (November 13). And at least according to the Brookline Tab, this must be the actual birthday weekend — not the one on September 19 when the first celebration took place.

As a warm-up to the festivities, this week’s issue of the Tab includes all kinds of cool Brookline historical info, including a great list of the “300 Things You Never Knew About Brookline” and a special magazine-style insert with comparisons of past and present, and a timeline of important dates.

Call me stupid if you will, but one of the things I’ve always wondered about Brookline is which specific corner is “Coolidge Corner.” I mean, the whole area around there is referred to as Coolidge Corner, but there has to be one particular corner that has that name, right? Is it the one where Best Cellars is? Where the Bank of America is? Walgreens? CVS? (That’s assuming the corner is at the corner of Beacon and Harvard streets.) Sure, there are some older buildings in that intersection, but given the passing of time and construction and all, it’s possible that one of the newer buildings could have been erected on the site of the actual Coolidge Corner.

According to the Tab, on their list of the 300 things, number 182 is “Coolidge Corner began as the Coolidge and Brother general store at the corner of Beacon and Harvard Streets.” Well, that doesn’t really provide anything new, but it does confirm the intersection (not that I really thought the corner was at Babcock and Harvard streets).

The Coolidge Corner Theater’s web site discusses the Corner’s history, but doesn’t specifically say where the Coolidge Corner is. In fact, by saying “the S.S. Pierce Building (1898), went up near ‘Coolidge’s Corner,'” it implies that “Coolidge’s Corner” wasn’t actually on the corner!

I think I found the answer on the official Brookline 300 web site, which says: “In 1898, the famous S.S. Pierce Building was constructed at ‘Coolidge’s Corner.'” Which means, I guess, that what I assumed all along is true: the corner of the Harvard and Beacon intersection where the S.S. Pierce Building is, where Walgreens is — that is the true Coolidge Corner. Mystery solved. (I think.)

Anyway, to see the full calendar of events for the second Brookline 300th birthday bash — featuring a performance by Entrain, one of my favorite bands — check out Brookline300.org.

Happy Birthday, Brookline!

18 Sep

My (current) hometown celebrated its 300th birthday today with a huge street fair in Coolidge Corner, so Joe, Marie and I went to check it out. Booths stretched from Beacon Street all the way down Harvard to Fuller Street, where Kupel’s is. They were all organized into sections by theme, including “Get Involved” and “Memory Lane,” and tons of people came out to take part in the festivities. There was food, music, community info, fitness demonstrations, and basically, something for everyone. And it seemed that a good time was had by all. (Even Joe, he wanted me to point out, since the picture above might imply otherwise.)

I particularly enjoyed the few minutes I spent inside the Coolidge Corner Theater, where the World Series Trophy was in attendance, accompanied by Red Sox prez Larry Lucchino, who was participating in a panel discussion called “Diverse the Curse.” Good stuff, despite the typical posturing by Lucchino when asked something about how the team is more diverse now but when will the other Fenway employees be more diverse. (He said it was his and the owners’ goal to diversify all parts of the Red Sox organization. Of course.) A young girl stood up to tell Lucchino that she lives right near David Ortiz, and he responded “Thanks for all you’ve done to improve his playing lately.” That got a few laughs. If only my camera had cooperated so I could have taken a better picture of the trophy.

Anyway, after we’d made a loop around to see all the booths, Joe, Marie, and I headed over to Newton to get some ice cream at Cabot’s. (mmmmm … Cabot’s) Two frappes and a hot fudge sundae with Oreo ice cream, mellowcreme fudge, marshmallow, and whipped cream later (they had the frappes, I had the sundae), we were all full and ready to head home.

If you’re interested, here are a couple of other pictures from the Brookline 300th festivities.

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