Matty's Legacy

A Mixed One



The last time I saw Matty Ryan (above right with Eddie Boland) was at Charlie Ryan's mayoral victory celebration in 2003. That night was a far cry from eight years earlier when Charlie lost to Mike Albano. At Charlie's Forest Park headquarters that year the champagne had been served despite Charlie's defeat, but everyone was so dispirited hardly anyone even felt like getting drunk. I may have been one of the exceptions.

As we were leaving that night, suddenly a car festooned with Albano stickers came roaring past Ryan headquarters with tires squealling, the car filled with what looked and sounded like young men. Suddenly two naked rear ends emerged from the front and back windows as people inside taunted "Ha, ha you losers!" As the car sped off a cop who had been inside came out and asked if anyone recognised who was in the car, but no one did.

However, in the days which followed I thought I did recognise in the newspaper some of the people in that car, as Albano announced his appointees, but I couldn't be sure because the photos were frontal ones, and I would've needed to see them from the rear.

But the victory celebration eight years later was much different. The roof was practically blown off the place by the partying crowd, and considering that this was at the John Boyle O'Reilly Club, which has seen some rowdy scenes, that's saying something. However, suddenly someone entered the room, someone of such stature that everyone who saw him had to nudge the person next to them to make sure they saw him too. It was someone no one had seen at political events for a long time, but who had once moved through Valley politics as a giant. It was former Hampden County District Attorney Matthew Ryan.

It impressed me that Matty Ryan had the power, by his mere presense, to momentarily calm that rowdy crowd. But as he and Charlie exchanged greetings, I realized it was more than the fact that no one had seen Matty much in recent years that caused everyone to pause and look. It occurred to me that many people present had never made the connection before that Charlie and Matty were related, and that failure perhaps was not surprising. After all, Charlie was Mr. Reform and Matty was considered Mr. Anti-reform. That Matty had come out to celebrate the fall of the corrupt Albano regime was something that few would have predicted.

But then Matty Ryan was a man of numerous contradictions. In his more than three decades as D.A. he had developed a devoted following as well as fierce critics. There were those who described him as a living legend, while to others he was the embodiment of all that was wrong with Springfield. In the end he was never as good as his supporters claimed, but also not as bad as his critics accused him of being.



Perhaps nothing is more criticized about Ryan's career than his refusal to prosecute the suspected murderer of Danny Croteau, the Reverend Richard Lavigne. But those critics have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and the passage of time. People forget how untouchable the Catholic Church was in those years, and how many would have condemned Ryan for attacking the church - to which Ryan himself belonged. In fact to this day there are those who say that the Croteau case was overblown in the media in order to embarrass the church. Lavigne was also a political figure, especially prominent in the anti-war movement. Had he been prosecuted, it would have splashed mud on an entire young generation of aspiring Democrat Party leaders, many of whom went on to become city councilors, mayors and beyond.

The Croteau murder also took place in an era of high homophobia. Trying the case would have brought out information about the victim's sexuality that would have been devastating to the family if revealed in public. Do any of these things mean Ryan should not have gone ahead with the prosecution anyway, and disgraced the church, subjected the victim to homophobic hate and destroyed a whole generation of the political party of which Ryan himself was a member?

Yes, despite these risks Ryan was still wrong. Danny Croteau was a victim of an evil web of hypocricy and denial in a crime that still cries out for justice. But it would have taken an extraordinary person to face the firestorm that such a prosecution would have caused, with no guarantee that in the end Lavigne would have been convicted. That Ryan was not the superman who could face all that may show that he was weak, and that he was human but not necessarily that he was evil.

Matty Ryan was also criticized for his alleged "mob connections" and in a sane world he should never have kept the company he sometimes did. But there was a weird libertarian sense in which his mob friendships made sense. In a world where the drug trade is forced underground by its illegality, it is difficult to have any control over it. It was said that Ryan had a deal with the mob that as long as they kept to the shadier side of business, like gambling and drugs and loan sharking, he would look the other way on some things, provided they stayed out of City Hall and didn't sell heroin. Of course heroin came in anyway through non-mob sources, but it was much less prevalent and the mob was unable to get their hands on public funds.

Once Matty retired, the streets were flooded with heroin, and it was through mob wiretaps that the corruption probes of the last ten years reached into City Hall, where the mob had quickly began infiltrating after Ryan was gone.

Ironically it was not any of these alleged sins that caused Matty Ryan to retire. In the end, Ryan's brand of blunt, in your face advocacy had become considered old fashioned. With the arrival of the era of District Attorneys with blow-dry haircuts and focus group tested campaigns, someone like Matty had become slightly embarrassing. It wasn't the scandals that led to the conclusion that Matty should go. It was the sense that his crusty style had become "unprofessional."

So the passing of Matty Ryan is rightly called the end of an era. We are unlikely to see his like again. In some ways we are better off for that, but we have lost something too.

In Hamp Windows

For enlightened bumpers.



A mistake.



Elvis in Faces.



It's a new dawn.



Today's Video



As promised, something from Northampton's Lookstock - a killer version of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. (photo of the sky over Lookstock by Greg Saulmon)

Stalking Teddy

My Convention Capers



It is almost impossible to live your whole life in Western Massachusetts and never have been in the presence of Ted Kennedy (above with Charles V. Ryan in 1965). I saw him marching in parades and from a distance at political events where he spoke, but the closest I ever got to Kennedy personally was the time during the 2004 Democrat Convention in Boston when I met him coming out of a back door behind Fanuel Hall. Here is an excerpt from my coverage of that convention which includes my encounter with Kennedy.



No matter what your political persuasion, the 2004 Democrat Party convention in Boston was a major event. In fact it was probably the most important political event ever held in Massachusetts during the lifetime of most people now living. There have been bigger and better national conventions, but they were not held in Boston, so to us Massachusetts political junkies this was like the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards rolled into one. So despite the fact that I wouldn't vote for John Kerry or John Edwards for dogcatcher, let alone president, I decided I must go.

In this quest I faced many obvious disadvantages. For one thing there was the post-9/11 security. Just four years ago, when people talked about "convention security" they were referring to keeping bums and pickpockets out and making sure the drunken delegates didn't get too rowdy. Anybody with the right combination of schmooze and chutzpa could probably manage to get inside and stay there as long as they behaved themselves. But those days are long-gone, perhaps forever. Security at both party conventions reached near police-state levels.

Another problem was that I knew few people in Democrat Party circles of influence likely to help me. I could approach the challenge to get in from the media angle, perhaps using my radio gig with Tony Gill at WAIC, but how much would the Democrat poohbahs be impressed by a request from a small college radio station? Even if I could get inside that way, Tony Gill told me that with the students gone for the summer, there was no staff to set up a remote broadcast.

But just when my prospects looked darkest, who should come to the rescue but former City Councilor Mitch Ogulewicz! Mitch and Democrat nominee John Kerry have been friends since the beginning of Kerry's career, with Mitch having served as Western Mass co-coordinator for both Kerry's Lieutenant Governor race and first Senate campaign. Ogulewicz had really gone out on a limb in that Senate race by backing Kerry, since everyone else in the Valley was backing favorite son David Bartley. Mitch's loyalty under difficult circumstances was something Kerry never forgot.

Therefore Mitch received a special guest pass for Kerry's nomination speech, enabling Mitch to listen to the address from a special VIP section reserved for Kerry's friends from throughout his career. Would Mitch's status as a Friend of John be sufficient to get me in as well? Probably not, but it would be worth a try. Besides in any case I would be able to phone in a report on the convention scene to WAIC and gather stuff for this website no matter what went down, so it was really a can't lose proposition for me to accompany Mitch to our state capital. Besides, maybe Mitch's pass could also get me into some of the official convention shindigs taking place throughout Boston.

Mitch is usually a great person to go anywhere with if there is a big crowd and attendance may be difficult. Somehow Mitch always manages not just to get in, but to also get the best seats. I remember going with him once to see John McCain, and we got so close the press photographers were trying to aim around us while the CSPAN broadcast of the rally showed Mitch and I in virtually every shot. At Charlie Ryan's inauguration, Mitch and I had front and center seats in the row directly behind the family. The only way we could have gotten any closer was to have gone next door to City Hall and change our name to Ryan. Mitch likes to get right into the belly of the beast, and of course that is exactly where I want to be as well.

Upon arriving in Boston around 8 a.m. the first test of Mitch's pass was the Massachusetts Delegation breakfast at the posh Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel, where the cream de la cream of Massachusetts Democrats were gathering to eat gourmet eggs and bagels beneath crystal chandeliers. As we approached the elegant entrance to the hotel, we were immediately confronted by security. Wisely, I had let Mitch walk a little ahead of me, so that security would address him first. They asked him for his pass, and appeared immediately impressed. At this point I positioned myself beside Mitch like a shadow, and the security person simply said to me, "Are you with him?" I answered yes and Mitch nodded in agreement. Zip - it was that easy as I was waved through security to venture safely deep inside to have breakfast in the very beating heart of the Democrat Party of Massachusetts!

Famous faces were everywhere, and the first person to approach us was former State Representative Ray Jordan. Although Mitch and Jordan have had many disagreements over the years, they greeted one another more like old friends rather than old rivals. The members of the Pioneer Valley delegation to the convention were all there. Some of them looked startled to see me, but no one was rude. Only one member was conspicuous in his absence, Congressman Richard Neal. That was too bad, I had hoped to try and trap him into posing for a picture with Mitch.

While most of the speeches at the breakfast were predictable and dull, U.S. Congressman Barney Frank's brief remarks stood out as both interesting and passionate. He denounced the heavy security at the convention, accusing the authorities of being too afraid of dissent. Frank declared that protestors "should be allowed to be as rude and rowdy as they want, as long as it doesn't turn violent." He even took a verbal swipe at the Boy Scouts who had earlier led a flag procession into the breakfast, saying that he was "so moved by the flag presentation that I wished that the Boy Scouts would let me be a member," a thinly veiled zinger delivered at the organization's refusal to admit homosexuals.

After the breakfast we were all shooed out the door to make room for the next event. Mitch and I were walking down the street, discussing what to do next, when we ran into former Springfield Newspapers reporter Jonathan Tilove, whom Mitch has known since his city council days but hadn't seen in many years. That is one of the nice things about attending affairs like this, you run into people you haven't seen in ages. Tilove now works for the Newhouse Corporation's Washington bureau.

Eventually we decided to go over to historic Fanuel Hall, near Quincy Market, where a big Democrat Party shindig was supposed to be held. By the time we got there the event was already underway and filled to capacity. However a loudspeaker had been set up outside to accommodate the overflow crowd and there was no mistaking the booming baritone of the current speaker, Senator Edward M. Kennedy. We stop to listen, and after a few minutes Mitch noticed a black Chevy SUV with its engine running parked by an unmarked door. There were security guys hovering all around it. Mitch told me that it is probably waiting for Senator Kennedy.

The sad truth is that because Ted is the last surviving Kennedy brother he was a target of special interest to sickos who wanted the distinction of taking down the last Kennedy brother. Therefore Kennedy usually arrived late to public events and left early, the better to confuse a would-be assailant. As Kennedy ended his speech Mitch and I decided to wander over closer to that SUV and see what would happen. At first no one bothered us, but when I reached into my knapsack for my camera, all of a sudden this big guy in sunglasses with a wire in his ear was right on top of me with an intimidating expression on his face. I slowly took out my camera and once he saw what it was he backed off. However the eagerness with which he seemed prepared to pounce on me was unnerving.

Then suddenly the unmarked door swings open and there he is, being hustled toward the car by a swarm of security, our U. S. Senator and the brother of the late President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.



He's so close to me that I'm caught totally by surprise, but not so much that I fail to swing into action with my camera. The Senator spots Mitch, whom he recognizes from having done radio interviews with Ogulewicz in years past. He greets Mitch warmly, but when I try to get a shot of them shaking hands this security goon gets in the way and I have to twist in an awkward manner that cuts all but Mitch's hand out of the picture. Great shot of Big Ted though.



All this takes about thirty seconds until Ted is in the car and they're moving, but not before I get off one last shot of Senator Kennedy looking through the window, perhaps wondering who this pesky photographer is that has been shadowing him all the way. Then again, he's probably very used to it.



Finally Mitch and I decide it is time to head over to the convention hall itself. We arrive at the Fleet Center, which is the hall where the convention is being held, only we can't see it. There is such a wall of security barriers that the building itself is invisible. Is this our post-911 future, a world of steel and razorwire as armed soldiers look down upon us? It was all very creepy. A few minutes of this Orwellian environment and all hope of my being smuggled into the convention evaporates. They would never let an old outlaw like me into this uptight joint, even if I am accompanied by a Friend of John.

So Mitch went into the convention hall, and I caught a bus back to Amherst.

Today's Video

Yesterday was the big Woodstock show at Northampton's Look Park - prompting the event to be billed as "Lookstock." Unfortunately no videos have surfaced yet, but a few photographs have.

Here's WHMP's Bill Dwight as Wavy Gravy. Pretty good, and extra points for including the Merry Prankster overalls that Ken Kesey used to have them wear during a certain phase.



Brian T. Marchese performed as Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann. Here's a picture of him as Kreutzmann.



The real Bill Kreutzmann as he was in the Woodstock era.



Bill Dwight took this photo of Northampton's Mayor Clare Higgins in high hippie fashion.



Until I get some video from the show, here's more from the official Woodstock 40 anniversary concert to tide you over.

Quick Sketch

Of Hamp

The bus came by and I got on; that was how it all began....



Soon I was back in my beloved Northampton, where the scent of bacon was wafting across Coolidge Park from the hotel.



It's too bad that bacon doesn't taste as wondrous as it smells, but then much of life is like that.

Soon I felt an alien presence.



Sometimes you need flippers in this town to wade through the bullshit.



And superheroes to rescue Hamp Hipsters from their crashing egos.



But that's all okay, if I can contemplate a ray of the setting sun as it shines through a window of the Haymarket Cafe.



Today's Video



Ken Kesey was in prison on drug charges when Woodstock (whose official anniversary is today) took place and therefore couldn't go. However his famous psychedelic bus did attend, driven cross-country by Ken Babbs. For once the bus did not stand out that much, among so many other psychedelically painted vehicles. However, there was at least one bus present with a straight paint job - a Peter Pan bus from Springfield, Massachusetts as you can see from this three minute Woodstock home movie posted on YouTube. Along with the Valley reference, this home movie captures what it was probably like for the average person to be in the crowd at Woodstock as any documentary.

Woodstock

Valley Edition



This week is the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock music festival. I was alive at the time but too young to attend. However, there was a place in Saint Michael's Cemetery in Springfield's ol' Pine Point where we kids used to party after dark which we called Woodstock. I'm not sure exactly why, although like Woodstock there used to be plenty of pot smoking and occasionally Karl Mayfield would show up with a guitar.



It seems weird to me now that we used to party in a cemetery, but at the time we thought nothing of it.

I'm surprised by all the attention the anniversary is receiving. The Academy of Music in Northampton is showing the film version this weekend.



I was never a big fan of the movie, which despite its excellent music is otherwise preachy and sloppily filmed. Especially annoying is the split screen technique they used. Oh well, I guess you had to be there.

Someone who was there is promoter Michael Lang, who came to Odyssey Bookstore in South Hadley for a book signing recently and posed with local writer Alex Ross.



This is Lang (right) at Woodstock with Wavy Gravy.



Of course the whole thing is being commercialized. Have you bought your official Woodstock sneakers yet?





After the big bash of '69 there were subsequent concerts held under the Woodstock name, each of which had their musical moments (Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Woodstock 1999 below) but of course none of them could compare to the original.



The only Western Massachusetts resident to perform at Woodstock was Arlo Guthrie (below with Western Mass restauranteur Alice Brock). In recent years Guthrie has been a supporter of libertarian causes, and released this statement in 2008 in support of libertarian presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul.



“I love this guy. Dr. Paul is the only candidate I know of who would have signed the Constitution of The United States had he been there. I'm with him, because he seems to be the only candidate who actually believes it has as much relevance today as it did a couple of hundred years ago. I look forward to the day when we can work out the differences we have with the same revolutionary vision and enthusiasm that is our American legacy.”




Flashback

I like this old photo of the original Masslive crew in 1998: Jaime Damico, Scott Brodeur and Dan Muse. Dig how the screen is showing a primitive version of the site.



I'm sorry to hear that former Masslive boss Jeff Jarvis has cancer. May he make a full and speedy recovery.

Speaking of Masslive, I ran into Greg Saulmon the other day, whose Local Buzz has a great series on what is really going down regarding gang prevention in Springfield.



Check it out here.

Around Hamp

I am surprised and saddened by the closing of Dynamite Records on Main Street in Northampton. For decades it was a mainstay in the basement of Thornes, but apparently couldn't make it when they struck out on their own.



Once upon a time it seemed like there was a record store on nearly every corner in the Valley, and where there wasn't a record store there was a book store. Now both are nearly extinct; killed by the internet.

Speaking of the basement of Thornes, have you ever been to Acme Surplus? They have the cheapest batteries in town.



A poster lying on the ground.



Saturday night in front of First Church.



Last night in front of City Hall.



Today's Video

Here's another gem from Woodstock.