When we moved to Bond HIll in 1950, the first person I met was Mark Hyams. He lived across the street and was also 4. First we introduced ourselves and then we wrestled. Taller, heavier, and stronger than I was, he quickly won. That was our last physcial encounter. Over the next 15-16 years, however, we did battle in countless games of 1-on-1 basketball, tennis matches, and "fungo" games. As I recall, he won them all, but we kept playing. He loved pro wrestling and practiced his moves on the two younger kids who lived next door to him. At first I thought he was really dropping his full weight onto those little bodies. Then I realized that for all his yelling, histrionics, and facial contortions, he was barely touching them. He'd pick them up and at the last second carefully ease them to the grass. They loved it. Mark was a great guy. His family moved away when we were in our early twenties. I was shocked and saddened when he died. Many of our mutual childhood friends from our block on Franklin Ave. were at his funeral.
Barry Schwartz
When we moved to Bond HIll in 1950, the first person I met was Mark Hyams. He lived across the street and was also 4. First we introduced ourselves and then we wrestled. Taller, heavier, and stronger than I was, he quickly won. That was our last physcial encounter. Over the next 15-16 years, however, we did battle in countless games of 1-on-1 basketball, tennis matches, and "fungo" games. As I recall, he won them all, but we kept playing. He loved pro wrestling and practiced his moves on the two younger kids who lived next door to him. At first I thought he was really dropping his full weight onto those little bodies. Then I realized that for all his yelling, histrionics, and facial contortions, he was barely touching them. He'd pick them up and at the last second carefully ease them to the grass. They loved it. Mark was a great guy. His family moved away when we were in our early twenties. I was shocked and saddened when he died. Many of our mutual childhood friends from our block on Franklin Ave. were at his funeral.