And All That Jazz...
Uncle Lennie (the “Legend” as we called him) owned a club in Peabody, first known as the Turnpike Club. It started with jazz music and serving sandwiches (more about the sandwiches another time). As the club grew, live jazz was added… not just ‘live’ jazz, but some of the world's best and most famous played there. (Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich, Roberta Flack…). Lennie gave Jay Leno and Bette Midler their first 'gigs' - and we all know where they went from there!
Flash back to the beginning, in the late 1950's, when Uncle Len and his wife lived at the Henry Bay apartments (now million dollar condos). They had a paperboy named Carl Coffin. Carl faithfully delivered the Boston Globe to Lennie's doorstep early every morning, but somehow had a problem collecting the 49 cents a week payment. The problem was that Lennie would get home from the club in the very wee hours of the morning, and was still asleep when the kid would come to collect. This frustrated the kid.
Coffin grew up, learned to love jazz, and had a kid who actually played at Lennie's on the Turnpike. Carl never forgot Uncle Lennie.
Later, Coffin moved to Australia. On a trip back across the pond to attend his 50th high school reunion, Coffin went to lunch at the Landing restaurant and, lo and behold, who was sitting next to him but Uncle Lennie! The first words out of Coffin's mouth - "Do ya think ya could pay me the 49 cents ya owe me for the Boston Globe?!!"
Needless to say, the conversation turned to jazz and an old friendship renewed.
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About the author ~
Barbara Yozell is an avid, Champion golfer who hails from Boston’s North Shore. When not on the course, Barbara can be found selling real estate or walking the seashore. To contact Barbara:
Barbara Yozell
Senior Sales Associate
Cell: 617.834.1189
William Raveis Real Estate
11 Atlantic Ave.
Marblehead, MA 01945