24 North Shore Towers Courier n April 2016 At our meeting on March 10th, we were treated to a talk by a man who is obviously in love with his chosen profession, boxing, and whose profession loves him, as witnessed by the fact that he will shortly be inducted into the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame. For about an hour, without any notes, our neighbor, Dennis Rappaport, regaled us with stories about the manly art of boxing. A sport he described as poetry in motion at best, and cruel and ugly at worst. Rappaport began by reciting a brief history of boxing as a sport. Although there is a record of boxing in ancient Greece, boxing didn’t become a sport until the 1700s. Interestingly, Dennis noted how large a part it played in elevating minorities into the mainstream of American life. As an example, he noted that between 1910 and 1930, one third of the boxers in this country were Jewish; legends, such as Barney Ross and Benny Leonard. Think of the waves that followed—Irish, Italian, African-American, Hispanics— and how they have melded into American society. But by far and away the most entertaining part of Dennis’s story was his description of the Damon Runyonesque cast of characters, with whom he associated, and the antics that he and his partner, Mike Jones, pulled to promote their fighters. They were nicknamed the “Wacko Twins” for good reason. For instance, they once had their fighter present his opponent with a rose just before the match started. Another time, their boxer had a bout against a fighter, who for some strange reason, had a phobia about Leprechauns. Sure enough, Dennis hired a midget, dressed him as a Leprechaun and had him jump into the ring before the fight started to psych out the opponent. What creativity! What Hutzpah! As the old saying goes, you just can’t make this stuff up. Dennis is proud of the fact, that even though he’s just a Brooklyn boy from the corner of Utica and Church, he was able to associate with this country’s movers and shakers because of his creativity. So Dennis, why isn’t there a movie about your life? I know a great promoter. Dennis’s talk was recorded and will be available on the house channel #995. And for a 100% change of pace, our speaker at next month’s meeting on April 14th will be Lou Uchitelle. This will be Lou’s second appearance before the Men’s Club, and if it’s anything like the first one, it should be a fascinating and lively one. The topic certainly will be. Lou will speak about how our current economic situation—declining manufacturing output—leads to unemployment and under employment. Millions of people have jobs but don’t earn enough to support a family. Millions more no longer hold jobs or even bother to look for work. This has spawned the populist MEN’S CLUBBY appeal of the candidacies of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Lou will point out that these populist movements are nothing new. Think of William Jennings Bryan, Henry Wallace and Ross Perot. Lou was formerly the Editor of the New York Times Sunday Business Section. Currently, Lou writes on economic issues in this country and abroad for the Times and other publications. In his long and varied career as a correspondent, he was the Associated Press’s Bureau Chief in the Caribbean as well as their Bureau Chief in Buenos Aires. Lou is currently writing a new book entitled “Making it: Why Manufacturing Still Matters.” It should be Dennis Rappaport and boxing legend Muhammad Ali out in the summer and explains what happens to the economy when manufacturing shrinks. Just as predicted at the last meeting of our Current Events Group, the major topic of discussion on March 14th was the coming election. We went over the “what ifs” regarding the primaries to be held the next day, the phenomenon of the rioting and the possibility of a brokered convention. What can be done about the high cost of some pharmaceuticals also was a topic that caused a lively discussion, as well as what can be done to combat the movement on college campuses to boycott Israeli products. Also regarding Israel, the subject of Obama’s PAUL NETTLER was brought up. And to prove that once in a while we discuss something humorous, approximately 15 seconds was devoted to Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit. The next meeting of The Current Events Group will be held on April 18th at 10:30 in the Coleridge lounge. Ralph Edwards will be our leader. For additional information, you may call him at 347-235-0472. Ralph will also lead the Book Group’s discussion on April 11th at 10:30 in the Coleridge lounge. The books being discussed are “Ally” by Richard Oren and “Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson. Both books are available at the Glen Oaks Library. We know that the eating habits of some of our members who live alone might be a bit boring or perhaps suspect. With that in mind, the club has arranged for a former Home Ec. teacher to teach the basic fundamentals of cooking, i.e. terminology, measuring, how to read a recipe, etc. There will be no charge and the lessons will be in her apartment. If you are interested, call Paul Nettler at 347-408-4318. Planned April events include lunch at Anthony’s on April 12th, dinner at Papa Ciro’s on April 19th and Bingo on Sunday April 24th in the large cardroom near the theater. There will be a door prize. Speaking of door prizes, at our last meeting the winner of our Chuck-A-Buck drawing was our speaker, Dennis Rappaport’s mother! Our breakfast get-togethers are getting more popular. They happen every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:15 a.m. at Buffy’s. The French toast is very good, and we hate to admit it, but guys do gossip. If you want to join the club or want to get additional information, check out our website at northshoretowersmensclub. org or contact our president, Toby Horowitz, at tmhmgt@yahoo.com or 718-279-0082. Dennis Rappaport shares stories at our March 10th meeting relationship with Netanyahu
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