"On the Edge" with Peter Lik

Knuckledragger

Anybody else see this? A new show advertising on the Weather Channel... I just thought it was amusing considering our previous discussion about gay weather personalities.

What kind of parent would name their kid "Peter Lik"? that's gotta be a stage name, probably by someone trying to make some waves?

Cngevpxhaqrefpber

Knuckledragger

how would you have liked to grow up with a name like Dick Butkis?

genoski

Knuckledragger

genoski

I used to hang around a park on the south side of Chicago where Butkus and a few of his friends would also hang out at from time to time. He was prolly like 19 at the time, I was maybe 12. I remember me and my friend Mickey, who was 14, played basketball against him and another guy and we beat them, or more likely they let us win. Then again you can be great at football and suck at basketball, so who knows.

The "Gang" at the park was The Maniac Dukes. Neither me or my friend were in the gang, or wanted to be, and I know Dick wasn't in the gang, but we were all at the park one evening when this Italian gang from around 79th and Ashland rolled up in their cars to start trouble. Every kid in the park, whether a member of The Maniac Dukes or not ended up in the fight that ensued and I had a birdseye view of Dick taking out 5 or 6 of the dudes in their wife beater shirts and black chinos. Us little dudes were up on the railroad tracks which were on the north side of the park, hurling down rocks on the degos. As they ran to Paulina to get to their cars to get away, we'd run the tracks to the same street and peppered the cars with rocks and bottles. Of course this was a time when the deadliest weapon gang members carried was a switchblade.

Afterwards someone got a case of quarts from the bar on 59th St and were all celebrated passing the quarts of beer around. Us little guys would barely manage to get a swig or two as the older fellers would prefer they got the most of it.

Cngevpxhaqrefpber

Cngevpxhaqrefpber

Knuckledragger

iggy8n

Was that Gage Park? I knew about Dick Butkus because he was a Lugan. There weren't that many that made it to the big time.

Cngevpxhaqrefpber

iggy8n

It sounds pretty true to me. Things like that were happening all over the Southside of Chicago. I participated in a couple of altercations between gangs from my school
and neighboring ones. I also never belonged or even asked how one would join. There were always older guys in cars that would patrol the area. I don't know if they were
trafficking in any illicit substances. I did know that I could buy a car from these guys for a good price. The cops knew it too.

genoski

iggy8n

I grew up fairly near Sherman Park. I lived on 51st and Peoria. I still remember the address - 900 W. 52nd St. - ATlantic 5-3582. I would walk those streets named Aberdeen, Rockwell, Maplewood, Lowe, and out to the big street - Racine. It's weird trying to remember street names that I knew like the back of my hand back then. I had a paper route for the Southtown Economist which made me drag my wagon along them after I folded the papers around 6 AM on Sundays and Wednesdays. It was my first steady job. So, I knew the street names and the subscribers on them.

I have certainly visited Hermitage Park. It was a bit out of the way for me until I got my bike. Then, I'd go way to the North Side to visit the hobby shops out there - TROST on 63rd and California was too expensive. Sometimes I'd spend the day going 20 miles to buy a $5 servo for my electric boat - which I would run at the Market Park Lagoon. It's all in the past now. I remember thinking how it would be in the future. Now, I know ...

Cngevpxhaqrefpber

genoski

iggy8n

You are right. I'm mixing up the streets between the two places I lived. I just started remembering names of streets that friends lived on. I first lived on 52nd and Peoria (in 1953) and went to Catholic grammar school. I think it was named St. Rita - like the high school - but that could be fuzzy data, too. Then, in 1959, we bought a house on 7256 Campbell Ave (PRospect 8-8698) - that's when I rode the bike and would go watch (and eventually participate) in the RC boats. That was where the paper route and most of the street name memories are from. I went to Nativity BVM grammar school and finished 8th grade there. Then, St. Rita High School. The street names really didn't have any relevance in my normal life. I did walk by them almost every day until I finally got a car. Then, I had to know the streets to find the people. I would often just drive around until I found the right street because I would forget the sequence of street names.

I left that area to go to Navy Pier - the University of Illinois on the mile-long loading dock in Lake Michigan. It was really cold most of the time. The neighborhood all around the school was pretty slummy. I would watch Paul Revere and the Raiders, Mamas and Papas sang California Dreamin, The Doors sang People are Strange on TV after walking in to the Student Union from the outside parking lot. I still remember shaking from that cold walk. I was deciding to go somewhere warmer that provided something more interesting to do.

I still lived on Campbell until I finished going there in 1968. I got married and moved to Santa Monica in 1969. I've only been back there (to Chicago) to sell that house as my mother got Alheimer's and moved out to California with me. I'm sure I could remember the street names again if I did some mapquesting. But, it's OK, I know I'm rusty. It's been about 40 years since I walked those streets. I've lived in a few other places since then and don't remember any of the nearby street names. There's always been a car. So, I'd have to get directions to the destination.

Yeah, I always thought of Marquette Park as Market Park. That's what it sounded like - English is like that. I can't remember seeing the name on any sign at the Park anywhere. They would generally have a sign at parks telling what the rules of conduct were and offer some map to find the playground etc. Maybe I just never looked at the spelling of the name.

Thanks for straightening out some of my rustiness, Geno. We have spent time on the same sidewalks a while ago. As I look back, it wasn't that terrible. I thought it was when I was living it day to day. I was sure that things would improve when I got to California. Well, they did in the beginning. The beach was warm, the surf was something to learn to harness, the girls were all beautiful. I was married - but it didn't last. There was a hippy life that was showing me something I never saw in Chicago. I guess everyone goes thru dem changes as they grow older. The feelings of growing up in a disfunctional family did change. But, I got divorced because we definitely weren't ready to commit to house payments and diaper changing. So, the pain continued until I could sort that all out. Some of the memories aren't rusty. I'm glad I got past them.

genoski

iggy8n

kakamojo

Knuckledragger

Cngevpxhaqrefpber

TechGuy