Jeanne Reed was as beautiful girl who died, very sadly, very very young. Something happened that she had to have a leg amputated. She lived with her sister, Becky Reed, in St. Albans, not too far from Holley St., near Annie's market, in a big white house. I thought about going to see her after I heard she was sick, but never was in that house. I don't know if she was supposed to have cancer or what, why the doctors had to amputate a leg. She was a beautiful, beautiful girl. I guess I had a kind of crush on her, which developed just before she quit coming to school. The strange thing about people who die in their youth, is that we remember them for the rest of our lives as YOUNG. John F. Kennedy will be forever young in our minds. He died when I was 11. The 1960s should have been a wonderful decade, the Flower Children seemed to be happy and (often) naked. I was younger than the Beatles and younger than Elvis, and everyone that was having fun seemed to be older than me. The Beatles came out when I was in the fifth grade. Freddie Heindl and I sang soprano in the choir. Sister Anna Constantia was the organ player. She liked us because we "gave a high, metallic sound" to the singing. She showed me one day the scale on the piano. I could hit F above high C. (Only Gallicurci, the opera singer could sing that high). Boys in Italy were often castrated to keep their high voices. I sang all three masses on Sundays. IF CCHS had not cut the Choir budget, and had had 4 years of Choir in the late 1960s, I probably would have gone on to study Voice at Ohio State and then on to the Met to sing Opera. People asked me if I were related to Caruso, since my name was Russo. I had never heard Caruso sing (on recordings) at that time. I had no idea opera singers made money. It would have been a good field of endeavor for me. If Vietnam had not ruined the sixties, (and the seventies), we would not be in the mess we are in now. They say that the evil that men do lives after them. A lot of evil things were done during and after World War Two. One thing led to another and we ended up where we are now, broke, disgusted, and facing a future of no water, no food and no fuel for transport. America is at the end of her ropes. When I saw The Village of the Damned at the movies, a long time ago, in St. Albans, I decided St. Albans and St. Francis was the village of the damned. My (baby boom) generation was sold down the river. 58,000 men died in vietnam, in a racist war, killing people who never attacked us. It was an undeclared war. The US has not declared a war since 1941. My father fought Japanese in World War Two. We did not need any wars after that, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan. Jeanne Reed died when America was still thought to be a great country. Now it is a country divided. I am sorry that she died. I probably would have dated her, if she had lived, and married her. She had light brown hair, and blue eyes. A truly beautiful All-american girl. May her soul be rested.
Dan Russo
Jeanne Reed was as beautiful girl who died, very sadly, very very young. Something happened that she had to have a leg amputated. She lived with her sister, Becky Reed, in St. Albans, not too far from Holley St., near Annie's market, in a big white house. I thought about going to see her after I heard she was sick, but never was in that house. I don't know if she was supposed to have cancer or what, why the doctors had to amputate a leg. She was a beautiful, beautiful girl. I guess I had a kind of crush on her, which developed just before she quit coming to school. The strange thing about people who die in their youth, is that we remember them for the rest of our lives as YOUNG. John F. Kennedy will be forever young in our minds. He died when I was 11. The 1960s should have been a wonderful decade, the Flower Children seemed to be happy and (often) naked. I was younger than the Beatles and younger than Elvis, and everyone that was having fun seemed to be older than me. The Beatles came out when I was in the fifth grade. Freddie Heindl and I sang soprano in the choir. Sister Anna Constantia was the organ player. She liked us because we "gave a high, metallic sound" to the singing. She showed me one day the scale on the piano. I could hit F above high C. (Only Gallicurci, the opera singer could sing that high). Boys in Italy were often castrated to keep their high voices. I sang all three masses on Sundays. IF CCHS had not cut the Choir budget, and had had 4 years of Choir in the late 1960s, I probably would have gone on to study Voice at Ohio State and then on to the Met to sing Opera. People asked me if I were related to Caruso, since my name was Russo. I had never heard Caruso sing (on recordings) at that time. I had no idea opera singers made money. It would have been a good field of endeavor for me. If Vietnam had not ruined the sixties, (and the seventies), we would not be in the mess we are in now. They say that the evil that men do lives after them. A lot of evil things were done during and after World War Two. One thing led to another and we ended up where we are now, broke, disgusted, and facing a future of no water, no food and no fuel for transport. America is at the end of her ropes. When I saw The Village of the Damned at the movies, a long time ago, in St. Albans, I decided St. Albans and St. Francis was the village of the damned. My (baby boom) generation was sold down the river. 58,000 men died in vietnam, in a racist war, killing people who never attacked us. It was an undeclared war. The US has not declared a war since 1941. My father fought Japanese in World War Two. We did not need any wars after that, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan. Jeanne Reed died when America was still thought to be a great country. Now it is a country divided. I am sorry that she died. I probably would have dated her, if she had lived, and married her. She had light brown hair, and blue eyes. A truly beautiful All-american girl. May her soul be rested.