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From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

The film stars Irish actor Ray Stevenson as Greene, Vincent D’Onofrio as Nardi, Paul Sorvino as mob boss Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno, Val Kilmer as a Cleveland detective, and in a stroke of inspired casting, Oscar-winner Christopher Walken playing Birns.

it is based on the book “To Kill the Irishman: The War that Crippled the Mafia” by Lyndhurst Police Chief Rick Porrello. A new edition of the book will also hit stores next March….

Porrello, who grew up in Cleveland Heights, had his own colorful past. He toured the world as a drummer for Sammy Davis Jr., and later became an author with the book “The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia,” which featured his own grandfather and great-uncles as players in the bootleg wars of the 1920s and 1930s.

But Porrello was also a kid who longed to be a cop, ever since his parents gave him a police scanner for Christmas when he was 10. His day job for the past 22 years has been on the Lyndhurst police force.”

As Reid pitched his movie dreams in Los Angeles, Porrello waited. And waited.

“There were times when I was on the road on the midnight shift, I’d go sit on that spot where Danny was killed and have coffee and I’d wonder, ‘Will that movie ever get made? Will they be filming right here in this parking lot?’ ”

via Cleveland gangster Danny Greene’s explosive life captured in ‘The Irishman’ and two docs | cleveland.com.

September 3, 2010 Jillian’s Meet & Greet (FREE)

*September 4, 2010 Progressive Field* ***September 4, 2010 7:00pm – Midnight*** attire is “casual”

Terrace Club

Great Dinner Buffet, Cash Bar, Unlimited Soft Drinks, Parking in the attached garage (can park overnight if needed)

ALL are welcome and encouraged to attend

$95.00 per person August 1^st or later

September 5, 2010 Family Day Forest Hills Park (FREE) Canceled Aug 25 2010

A block of rooms have been reserved at the Hilton Garden Inn Cleveland Downtown

The rate is $95.00 and can be reserved by calling the hotel directly @ 216-658-6400

Ask for the Cleveland Heights 1980 Class Reunion Room Block- MENTION CODE – CHTS

For updates and info go to www.chhsreunion.net, visit us on Facebook at

“Cleveland Heights High, Class of 1980 Reunion” or email map888@aol.com

Make Checks payable to:     “Cleveland Heights High School 1980 Reunion”

Mail Payments to:     CHHS 1980 Reunion

Martin Davidson

P.O. Box 780

Lakewood, Ohio 44107

The 30th re-union committee is pleased to announce that Saturday September 4, 2010 is the day. This is Labor Day weekend which hopefully will allow for more people to attend that may traveling from near and far.

The committee has met on numerous occasions to discuss, plan, argue (a little), taste test, etc. In addition to the “big event”, we are planning other events during the weekend that will allow for families to attend (or you can leave the kids and spouses at home)

In an effort to keep the cost at a level that makes it palatable for everyone, we are planning a bowling fundraiser this winter. Date and time TBA.

Any one interested in joining the committee is welcome.

Gary S. Gordon
Gordon, Gary S., 47, of Sunrise, Florida passed away on November 22, 2008. Born to Edward and the late Judith Weltman Gordon in Cleveland, Ohio, he was employed by the City of Sunrise, Florida. He is survived by his father, Edward Gordon, and sister, Deborah Gordon of Tamarac, Florida. Graveside services today, Monday, November 24, 2008 at 1:45 pm at the Star of David Funeral Chapel, 7701 Bailey Road, North Lauderdale with Rabbi Jonathon Kaplan presiding. Interment follows on the grounds of Star of David Memorial Park Cemetery.
Published in the Sun-Sentinel on 11/24/2008

If anyone wants to share memories of Gary- please use the comments.

From several blocks away, the clock tower atop Cleveland Heights High School seems frozen in 1926, when builders raised it 92 feet above the farm fields and new subdivisions of one of Cleveland’s outermost suburbs.

The landmark is forever young, too, in the simple and graceful line drawing of the logo that graces the letterhead, Web pages and other officialdom of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District.

Get closer, though, and you will see the face is aged, and the venerable is vulnerable.

via Cleveland Heights alumni try to save school clock tower – Cleveland.com.

If anyone from the Cleveland Heights High School class of 1980 is donating or working on this- please comment below and fill us all in.

Me, I still remember when it had Mickey on the main face- and the time someone added a third leg to him for Senior Crazy Day.

I’ve known David Anderson since third grade at Fairfax. There were three David’s in Mrs. Rosenbaum’s class (and, no, I still don’t know if it’s true she was once in Playboy- but, I thought she could have been). To keep us straight, I was David, Anderson was Dave and the last of us- was just “Pokorny”

To this day- I prefer David- and Anderson goes by Dave. He’s also thumping his bass like a superstar in New Orleans- check it out:

David Anderson | Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Dave Anderson is a professional double bassist, joined the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans in September of 1996 after winning their Principal Bass audition.

Prior to that appointment, he performed and recorded regularly with the Louisville Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, among others. Since 1994, he has served as Principal Bassist in the Britt Festival Orchestra in Oregon.

He has performed extensively with many diverse ensembles including, the Aspen Festival, Chautauqua (NY) Festival, Colorado Philharmonic (NRO), Colorado Music Festival, the LaSalle Quartet, and as a soloist with Richard Stoltzman, Gene Bertoncini, Nigel Kennedy, Bobby McFerrin, Doc Severinsen and many others. He has served as Bass Instructor for the Music School at Loyola University and also on the Board of Directors of the International Society of Bassists (ISB) as bassist/composer.

Mr. Anderson began his pursuits in composition in 1984, recognizing that the solo repertoire for his instrument was limited. The influence of Frank Proto, one of his finest teachers, also led him to turn to involved composition. Since then, his published work has expanded to other solo instruments, as well as for chamber orchestras and small ensembles. He has published bass duets and quartets, including a bass quartet that was performed to acclaim at the Chamber Music Festival at Indiana University in 1993. Anderson won first prize in the 1995 Allen Ostrander International Trombone Composition Competition, sponsored by Ithaca college, for Elegy for Van, a work for solo bass trombone and brass choir, which he composed as a tribute to the late Lewis Van Haney, former trombonist with the New York Philharmonic. Several years ago, Anderson completed a concerto for Bass Trombone, commissioned by his father, Edwin Anderson, former bass trombonist with the Cleveland Orchestra. His Concerto for Double Bass, Strings & Harp, commissioned by Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Bassist Hal Robinson was premiered at the ISB Convention in June of 1997 and performed on the 1997-98 subscription series of the Philadelphia Orchestra season, Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting. His current work includes a second symphony, as well as several commissions.

Also a prolific electric bassist, Anderson loves playing with pedal steel guitarist, David Easley. The group known as the Anderson/Easley Project perform original music of many genres including free jazz, funk, bop, minimalist and many wonderfully unique approaches to dynamics and expression. Anderson also plays with Algorhythm Method, and SOFA KING BIG SOUL, bands that fuse many different styles including hard rock, funk, blues, jazz, and New Orleans R & B.

Anderson has jammed with The Radiators, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Roy Pope, Darryl Brown, and many other great New Orleans musicians including a killer performance with guitarist Brian Stoltz of the Funky Meters as a main highlight of the French Quarter Festival 2002.

In 1984-85, Anderson played for and took lessons with the legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius in New York, who firmly encouraged the idea of being able to cross over between classical and jazz.

Here is some of what the Press has said in Anderson’s past:
Review of Anderson’s Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola & Bass, Louisville Courier Journal music critic Andrew Adler wrote:
“Anderson’s new work is splendidly fresh and provocative, ingenious in how it distributes material … the jazzy syncopations and ethnic flavorings reflect a diverse, expertly distilled inspiration. Thoroughly absorbed by yesterday’s performance, the piece offered sustained pleasure.”

Reviews of Anderson’s Bass Concerto:
Houston Chronicle music critic Charles Ward :
“ … thoroughly appealing … his rich scoring of the orchestra and expansive solo melodies came from a composer exuberantly in love with music.”
Lesley Valdes, Philadelphia Inquirer:
“ … a melodious work, whose moods cohere… the thoughtful, the nostalgic, the provocative. Ideas are fertile and cohesive.”
Thomas May, Washington Post:
“Anderson shows a gift for fashioning readily accessible music from unusual combinations of timbres.”

Recent Jazz Review:
Jazzin’
By Martin Z. Kasdan Jr
The Anderson/Easley Project at the Jazz Factory
This intriguing group consists of former Louisville Orchestra bassist Dave Anderson (now Principal Bass with the LPO in New Orleans) and pedal steel guitarist Dave Easley, with drumming by Steve Tidwell. While steel guitar is not usually associated with jazz, Easley demonstrated both proficiency and inventiveness in a program of mostly original material. Anderson’s arco intro to the opening number of the second set (sorry, I didn’t hear a title announced) led into a spacey pedal steel segment reminiscent at times of Jerry Garcia’s experimental playing on the instrument on his first, self-titled solo album. Anderson also opened the second piece, “Blues for Frank” with an arco introduction, before switching to pizzicato during the ensemble playing; Jaco Pastorius’ “Teen Town” was cleverly woven onto this song as well. Other highlights included “12-Tone Hip Bop,” dedicated to Charlie Parker and Arnold Schoenberg. Overall, this was a delightful evening of provocative and highly
enjoyable music!

And, yeah, I jammed with that dude- back in Junior High school.

these are the e-mails I don’t like to get.

PHILIP EPSTEIN

Philip S. Epstein, who worked in real estate management and sales, died on May 15, 2006 at age 44.
At one time, Mr. Epstein was a salesman in his family’s candy and tobacco business. He enjoyed golf and music. Starting from the time he was in college, Mr. Epstein played drums and guitar with several bands. A graduate of Cleveland Heights High School, where he was captain of the swim team, he attended Kent State University. He was a confirmand of Park Synagogue.

I’ve been remiss at updating the site-

but the great news is it’s a blog- so if you have news to share-

add a comment. It won’t post right away- but I’ll get it up asap.

David