~ Malden Musings ~ Brendan Duffy aka Mr. Duff Remembered

By Peter Levine

The following remarks are brought to you by Brendan Duffy’s son, Marko: “The OG of Ballantine Ale drinkers who also knew when to put them down. The guy who finished high school at the American HS of Berlin as he had to get out of Southie – or jail was a real possibility (LOL). That Malden Y guy! That Camp Madaca guy! That 82nd Airborne paratrooper who got nervous on his honeymoon when the plane was landing at Niagara Falls because as many times as he had flown, he had never actually LANDED in a plane! The guy who knew I was drinking on Waite’s Mount with the Y crowd but because he liked them all so much, he turned a blind eye (mostly)! The guy whose wake shut down Main St. as WE comforted the mourners who came through the line to comfort US, introducing themselves by ‘MHS Class of ….’! The guy who when our car was stolen outside of a MHS dance, told the cop on duty it had been stolen but he knew who did it and he was going to get it back (he did)! That guy?! And so much more… Yeah, that guy! The guy who won’t be forgotten because of the people, people like you Peter Levine, who keeps his memory alive. Yeah… I recognize that guy. Thank you!”

It is said in “Malden Musings”…

• Strolling down memory lane at the Italian American Citizens’ Club hand in (very small) hand with lantzman Harvey Nadler over Miller High Life and Ballantine Ale found “Nat the Cat” freestyling of the many memorable nights spent at the Shipwreck Lounge on Revere Beach. The Cat watching Preacher Jack destroy yet another piano while consuming yet another case of Bud in the process. It also had Harvey lamenting the demise of all the hot spots he frequented that were once part of Revere Beach nightlife – popular destinations, such as the JoJo Room, General Edwards Inn, Ball of Confusion, Victors, Jacob’s Ladder, The Banyan Club, Alphonso’s Monkey Lounge, Ebb Tide (later called the Beach Ball), Hurley’s Palm Garden, Libra Lounge, Jaws and Pixies Beer Garden. Harvey’s yesterday Malden recall is also remarkable – an invaluable Maldonian whom I proudly call friend.
• Ran into Ken from the band WildFire outside the Big Y in West Peabody last week (like Madonna and Prince, Ken goes by just one name). Much like the Wizard in “The Wizard of Oz,” Ken is the man behind the curtain (and in front) who makes his 5-piece pack the punch of a 10-piece! They are wicked good and if you haven’t seen them yet, you gotta put them on your bucket list. We hired them once again to play at the best outdoor party/celebration Malden throws every summer, the Saint Rocco Feast (don’t call it a festival)! No need to thank us. WildFire are scheduled for Saturday night, August 10, from 7 to 11 right in front of Johnny Spadafora’s house at 288 Pearl St. As I’ve stated in the past, get there early for the best seat in the house (I know former Malden Police Chief Kenny Coye and his lovely wife Leslie will), cuz they are like wicked popular – likely to be SRO by the time WildFire hit the stage.
• How very strange to wake up in a Malden without Bob Rotondi. I do not think I can put better words to paper than Steve Freker did last week on these pages. In the future, I will try. With a little help from my friends (Hello, Deano Summers and Kevin Benner), I will attempt to cobble something together to honor this amazing Maldonian.

Malden, beyond Edgeworth… In 2024 Malden celebrates 375 years as a kick (expletive deleted) city, place to live, or village to grow old in! Settled in 1640 by stout-hearted gentlemen, becoming a town in 1649, finally hitting the big time as a city in 1882 only after hiring Elisha S. Converse as mayor. Think about those first explorers for a moment. They dealt with wolves, bears and snakes in 1640 Malden as well as no 7-Eleven to pop into for a snack! The terrain was wild: dotted with hills, creeks and untamed forests. Yeah, Malden 1640 bears little resemblance to Malden 2024 and thank goodness for that (imagine living in a time without All Seasons Table!?)! Fuhgeddaboudit!

So, in the spirit of Malden Pride I bring to you a small glimpse of Malden’s past; a gentleman I briefly wrote about a couple years back, Ed Sheehan. Briefly because I hit a dead end on Ed Sheehan information, until (the late) Frank Russell’s mom, Denise, hooked me up with some really cool Ed Sheehan history. Denise and I are on a mission: to bring Ed back from obscurity into his proper place in Malden history; to be remembered and honored for his contributions to the world and his Malden upbringing.

First, I’d like to start with these poignant words Ed wrote some years ago. Ed was born in 1918 and passed in 1992 – those 74 years filled with spirited adventure, professional accomplishments and exotic world travel but always with a deep-seated love of Malden. Ed was an actor appearing in the original (1968) Hawaii Five-0, 1980’s Magnum, P.I. with Tom Selleck, and the acclaimed 1960 film “Twelve Hours to Kill” with Barbara Eden, Gavin MacLeod and Nico Minardos. He was also an author (“Days of ’41: Pearl Harbor Remembered”), worked as a “ship fitter” at the Pearl Harbor Shipyard in World War II and was a renowned radio personality later in life in Honolulu.

If you are Malden, these words go straight from the Ed’s heart to yours. They jump off the page and grab you much like Elliot Paul and his culturally relevant volume, “Linden on the Saugus Branch.” Where you can see, hear, and smell our beloved Malden of yesteryear: “There is a part of me that will always be Malden. Our family was wealthy in everything but money. My father was a sheet metal worker and my mother, a nurse…moved to Malden …thinking it a nicer place to raise a family. They were right. Our clothes were always clean – our stomachs full. I left high school after the first year to go to work. After that I got my education at the Malden Public Library. I went to Pearl Harbor in 1940 – where it was always summer – I have always been happy. But I need only to shut my eyes to bring back the faces and places of Malden – its streets of brilliant autumn, moist spring, and silent snow. Summer sassafras and lilac, fresh bread, crisp apples – the slap of a screen door and my mother’s voice summoning me to supper. In my memory there is a Malden that will never change. I am grateful to it – I wish it could have happened to everybody.”

In 1984 this appeared in our beloved, late great (David Brickman published) Malden Evening News. I thought it apropos on many levels to include this week: “Malden’s Ed Sheehan wins noted travel writing award

Israel honors Ed Sheehan by David Brickman

“Malden and the State of Israel have something new in common. Malden native Ed Sheehan, he of the facile pen, and flowing prose, who makes his home in Honolulu part of the year and during the warmer months in London, where he presently is sojourning with his wife, Sally, has won the 1984 Benjamin of Tudela Award, the Israel Government’s prize for excellence in travel writing on Israel, it was announced last week in New York City.

“Sheehan visited Israel in the fall of 1983, to attend the convention of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) meeting held in Jerusalem. His winning article appeared in the Honolulu Sunday Star-Bulletin and Advertiser, the Toronto Star, and in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

“Those who know Sheehan and recall his earlier years before World War II in Malden, are not surprised at this new honor. His travel writings published in four continents over the decades, have won many accolades before this one.

“The Tudela Ward is named for the medieval Spanish Jewish writer whose visit to the Holy Land in the twelfth century was the basis of a book, ‘The Itinerary of Benjamin Tudela,’ published in 1953 in Constantinople.”

More on Ed in the future.

As Peter Falk’s iconic TV character Columbo would say, “Just one more thing, sir” – sufferin’ succotash! Time for another “Corrections & Amplifications.” Seems my “1985” article struck a raw nerve or two with a couple of readers. Some thought the portrayal of My Honey Fitz was a bit harsh, that it lacked a balanced representation. Point taken. I had written that the Fitz was known for “brawls, good, stiff drinks and partying until you dropped or heaved.” That’s only partially true – I kid. I spoke to a half dozen or so former patrons and asked for thoughts on the former Malden Square hotspot. To a person, they mentioned what a fun joint it was, that some of the best times of their lives were played out between those four walls. Marty Gately noted how his political acumen was greatly enhanced at the Fitz when the powers that be gathered for cocktails after council meetings – networking, old-school style. Many mentioned Thursday nights at the Fitz as some of the best times of their lives as well as, of course, Saint Patrick’s Day. My time at the Fitz was usually after a hard workout at Y with my bud Greg Phaneuf sitting at the bar with his uncle drinking expertly poured pints of Guinness. Don’t get me wrong, the crowd was loud at times, overindulging a bit (at times) and on (rare?) occasions spilling out onto Pleasant Street. But my experiences were always a pleasure and were in line with the sentiment of those I spoke to. Customers also spoke of very large doormen that had them feeling comfy and cozy – most of the time (LOL). In retrospect, my intention wasn’t to place the Fitz in a harsh light, just to poke a little fun at the memory of the cherished old bucket of blood. Tell you the truth, wish we had more joints in Malden today like the Fitz (Hello, Patrick’s!).

—Peter is a longtime Malden resident and a regular contributor to The Malden Advocate and can be reached at PeteL39@aol.com for comments, compliments or criticisms.