Links, Connections, and History

I was asked to be interviewed this weekend about things that are happening in Youngstown, so I met Saturday morning with a long-time Valley resident. As a former mill worker whose father was CEO of a steel company, I fear her story was far more interesting than mine, so I spent as much time asking questions of her as she did of me. We had an enjoyable morning discussing mutual acquaintances, and I was particularly eager to get the dirt she had on so many public figures past and present.

Growing up in bland suburbia, as I did, you aren’t (or at least I wasn’t) aware of political gossip, so the twisted history of corruption in Youngstown is still something whose scope I don’t quite fathom.

I’ve been doing a little more catch-up this weekend, and I ran across a great quote from a neighbor that I must share. It says quite succinctly something that I and, I think, many of my compatriots believe in fiercely but perhaps may not ever have said so articulately.

“When a town loses its past, it can believe whatever is told about it. In order for a city to prosper it must recover its identity by embracing its past and refusing to let others destroy and humiliate it.” John Russo said this in 2001 in an interview with the New York Times here. As a neighbor of John’s, I have the privilege of hearing him speak often, but the Palermo trip must have been quite an inspiration, because I think that’s about as eloquent as I’ve ever heard him.

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