The Explanation
(for those who require one)

And, of course, that is what all of this is -- all of this: the one song, ever changing, ever reincarnated, that speaks somehow from and to and for that which is ineffable within us and without us, that is both prayer and deliverance, folly and wisdom, that inspires us to dance or smile or simply to go on, senselessly, incomprehensibly, beatifically, in the face of mortality and the truth that our lives are more ill-writ, ill-rhymed and fleeting than any song, except perhaps those songs -- that song, endlesly reincarnated -- born of that truth, be it the moon and June of that truth, or the wordless blue moan, or the rotgut or the elegant poetry of it. That nameless black-hulled ship of Ulysses, that long black train, that Terraplane, that mystery train, that Rocket '88', that Buick 6 -- same journey, same miracle, same end and endlessness."
-- Nick Tosches, Where Dead Voices Gather

Annals of Crime #82


Original Caption:

Teenagers Stand In Precinct After Arrest

New York -- Nine of the twelve teenage members of the "Dragon" gang, charged with the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old polio-crippled rival, Michael Farmer, and the wounding of Roger McShane, are booked on homicide charges. Five other teenagers were arrested on felony assault charges for the attack which took place near a swimming pool in the Highbridge Park section of Manhattan. Farmer and McShane were members of the "Jesters" gang. (1957)
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4 comments:

Maureen said...

Interesting ethnic mix, even for now much less 1957.

December 14, 2009 9:21 AM
la peregrina said...

Wasn't a book written by Evan Hunter based on this incident? They made the book into a movie staring Burt Lancaster but I can't remember the title.

December 17, 2009 3:15 PM
sabo76 said...

Growing up around this time, this gang as well as other gangs in the five boroughs were making the front page of the NY Daily News on almost a daily basis. Usually, not as ethnically diverse as this group.

February 07, 2010 4:32 PM
redbird said...

I wonder how their live's turned out?

February 13, 2010 5:53 PM

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