 Hi, welcome to my show Friday p.m. My name is Luigi Scarcelli My guest tonight has got a very special memoir that I enjoyed reading quite a bit called the Ghosts of Walter Crockett. He's a state representative. He's also president of Eli soda His name is Ed Crockett and we're gonna sit down and talk to him a little bit about his book So hope you stick with us. Thanks. You grew up in Munjoy Hill in the 1960s 61 correct. Yeah born in 1961 and grew up on Kellogg Street, okay, right at the tip of Munjoy Hill Okay, okay, and what was the neighborhood like in those days? Well, it was quite different from what it is today, okay, and and the primary differences that I noticed won't anything is there were really No cars on the road A lot of the families that lived around Kellogg Street like mine did not have a car So and if the families did have a car it was parked in their one lane driveway So the streets were wide open and frankly the streets were our playground because that's where we played whether it was football or Actually hit tennis against the buildings all these different things and and of course in the early 60s That was the end of the baby boomers So there was a ton of kids right, you know live it up on the hill and of course back then it was it was a low-income neighborhood pretty much everybody there was most were often single-parent households and a lot of kids like I was the youngest of eight and All around us there were you know multiple kids in every house and And the other thing that really struck me was today versus then is I waxed nostalgic and I drive up on the hill all the time because I still live in Portland and You don't see any kids Driving around right and one of the things that struck me the most was when I was growing up on the hill there were six elementary junior high school schools on Monjoy Hill Today there is one and it's an elementary school So the kids are gone and now you can't find a parking spot Right exactly your your life story. I mean what I found really interesting is Really had a dramatic change at a very early age for you I mean it was the age of two when your father left home and it was a very Difficult time for him as well as your mother and you and your siblings And that's really the trajectory of the book. So can you tell me a little bit about that time and really kind of what happened? Yeah, well my dad was a Korean War veteran and After coming home from the war That's when he met my mom and now my mom already had five children from a previous marriage and but they they they struck up a relationship and in 1958 got married They had my brother Walter in 59 my sister Carolyn and 60 and then I came along in 1961 Now unfortunately for my dad. He was he was already an alcoholic You know, we would have we would have considered him an alcoholic today when he was 15 years old Because he was he was running around in bars at 15 and Interesting that they they called it. He had his own cut at most of the bars, which today is a credit card, right? So he you know, he was you know drinking heavily already And then I believe the added responsibility of Three kids on top of five others Probably was was too much for him And so the drinking just got out of control to the point where in 1963 when I was two My mom had to had to kick him out And the biggest reason that that happened because that was a very hard thing to do especially in those days And but my mom had some health problems of her own which limited her, you know employment opportunities and With my dad living with us we would not have qualified for state support, right and So that was it he he left Sadly dearly didn't have anywhere to go and Spent the next 17 years on the streets of Portland Yeah, he was a homeless person on Portland for you'd said that in the book I mean almost 20 years almost 20 years and do you feel like that was I mean that's as you're saying in those days I guess there really wasn't a lot of other Opportunities and you know and he also was afflicted with alcohol addiction. Yes No, there really wasn't the only We called it a flop house back in the day Was on India Street. Okay. That's what they was called the 24-hour club, which is the milestone recovery Center today and it was obviously it was a You know, it might have held 20 to 30 men primarily back in those days and it was you know first come first serve and There were a lot more than 30 people out on the streets so what you know Most of them ended up sleeping in the park or finding cover, you know behind buildings and getting out of the cold and the wind and interestingly enough that the jail was actually a haven Back in the day because if there was room in the jail the the police would would let them sleep it off in a cell and They and they walked out the next morning You know times have changed. That's probably not practical today, but Those are all the different things that was going on back in the 60s and 70s But as you were growing up, you know, you had you know it was a lot of struggle with what I read about was a lot of the struggle of Basically being in poverty. I mean the poor kids thought you were poor, right? That's you were you were right and you struggling to have coats that didn't look like the coats that were from The government issued coats. I mean it was it was a lot of working your way through a lot of that And that's that's very difficult. There's probably a lot of shame involved and just a very difficult thing about being in that circumstance and and Compounded was that you know, your dad was a reminder of that often and what I called from the book that was really Difficult was the time that you talked about when you were in grade school I think you were going to school at Chevrolet at the time as a freshman at Chevrolet Freshman at Chevrolet's waiting for the bus. It was on Munger Hill Washington Avenue area Actually the corner of Lincoln Park corner of Lincoln Park and your dad came upon you and your friends panhandling And so that's the horror of it that oh my god and your friends knew the situation Some did some did but the compounding part that was the most horrific part was that he did not recognize you and He's panhandling from his own son and didn't even recognize you because probably because he was drunk or things like that I mean and he said you ran miles. Yeah, so not that I've already explained a lot of it to you But can you tell me a little bit about how that felt? Yeah, no, I'll Extend a little bit of that story and I won't go there. There are there are a number of Situations where you know the two forces met, you know during during my youth That was one. I won't won't get into all of them because we want people to write actually read the book and buy the book Yeah, I was I was a freshman going to service and this was interesting I too for the time, you know kids that went to the Either Chevrolet McCauley that lived in town Picked up the bus at Lincoln Park Okay, now that sounds pretty reasonable on the on the face of it, but Lincoln Park at that time was where all of the You know the the bums and the transients and the homeless basically lived So it was quite common that as we waited for the bus there would be you know Guys on the benches, you know passed out, you know reeking of alcohol Often panhandling I will give my father credit if he had his Senses in that moment and he recognized Who we were he went the other way, right this particular morning He was he was too far gone, right? and You know was was needing that next drink and panhandling was the way So he was going through the kids and then landed in the group of kids that I was standing with and Pretty sadly looked me right in the eye and asked me for for change. Yeah, and I panicked and I just ran away and I Never can never went back to Lincoln Park to take the bus again, right? That's Before we get too much further in depth about this and we don't want to drive you up too many things Let's take a look at a few photos from your book And then it gives us more context about it growing up in those days And then we'll come back on the other side and we'll talk a little more about your relationship with your dad As you got a little older and and how that evolved that'd be great. Okay. Thanks. We'll be right back We're talking to Ed Crockett about his book the ghost of Walter Crockett. We just saw some photos Got it kind of an understanding of that time I kind of wanted to also touch a little bit on as you got older you went to college you'd worked hard you got into You're at or no undergraduate Boston College for your graduate studies Around that time and you're I think it was your undergraduate studies is when you and your father had that Second chapter you were able to reconcile a little bit with him you talk a bit in the book about the story where? He finds you he knows where you're at school He's working as a custodian up in the Bangor area And he wants to talk to you and before me telling too much about it Can you tell me about that chapter where things restarted a little bit? Yeah, the the real miracle is that after 17 years You know On the streets He was drying out For what proved to be the final time at Togus and while there He met this intern they took a shine to each other and About a year later they were married All of this was News to me, you know, I wasn't aware of any of this because I hadn't actually seen my father Since that incident in Lincoln Park, right when I was 14 so fast forward to my junior year in college and I was in my fraternity house and it was it was April of 1982 and My father showed up at my fraternity house and and He had been two years into sobriety His wife was getting her master's degree in psychology at the University of Maine Yeah, so that's what brought them to Bangor Bangor in area and they actually had settled in an apartment in Orno in Orno so and so he'd been there since September and He finally worked up the you know the the courage to try to re-enter and And that was the start of a 30-year second act and a relationship with his children and You know that was that was You know unimaginable, you know, certainly for me at the time. It was also an incredible blessing I was wise enough not to Totally push him away. I Did not open him with welcome him with open arms initially But over time We were able to You know get to know each other and eventually You love each other It's kind of like a better late than never in a sense, right? It took it took some extra years. I mean that Probably difficult it took it took more time And that was probably more about me because My mom is is my hero, right? you know she sacrificed everything you know for us and She was always going to be first, right? So That was a good built an excuse if you will to keep to keep my dad at arm's length Unleash at least until I was sure that you know This sobriety thing was for real now. What what are your thoughts as a father? Learning all these experiences. I mean is that change who you know who you are as a father to your your children? For sure. I mean I I hope this doesn't sound corny, but Having the experience of you know a terrible parent Turning it around and and redeeming themselves Certainly softened My heart right and and how I looked at things it Luigi really taught me probably the biggest thing I got out of it was it Taught me and helped me understand what forgiveness is all about Because I hated the guy right and I had good reasons, right. I had good reasons and but slowly but surely You know by Accepting, you know the disease and and working hard to have a relationship Made me a better guy and as a result I Think hopefully a better a better parent myself Because I'm much more forgiving I'm probably Maybe sometimes too understanding right right But you know, we certainly talk about it freely because alcohols a beast and If you if you can't be honest and and Direct about it You're probably just the one kidding yourself. Exactly. I did want to mention you are gonna be doing a book signing on December 9th Which is a Thursday at the it's a public book signing at the shipyard Tasting room testing room down on Newberry Street. Okay down in the old port. Yep from 5 to 7 p.m. Okay, and Never done one of these before yeah, so very excited right hopefully a lot of people can get out there and Be happy to sign any and all books. Well, thank you very much for your time this afternoon Thank you for having me. Yeah, I want to thank my guest Ed Crockett his book Ghost of Walter Crockett. It's great. Definitely pick it up My next guests are a band from Bideford called side chick syndicate. They're a lot of fun They're a good funky band. We're gonna hear a song from them and then we're gonna talk to them on the back end So thanks a lot stick with us. Take care I'm right here with the side chick syndicate Chris on vocals. Yep, Rick is on guitar. Yep. We have Brian on bass keyboards and Haley on drums. Is that is that right? Yeah, that's correct. Yeah, tell me a little about your guys origin story So I was in another another band Brian came on board towards the end of that band as a keyboard player And then once that dissolved as bands do We decided we didn't want to stop doing what we're doing So we started up the side chick syndicate Brian came with the name and mostly that just the name started as a Kind of a kind of a joke is so a lot of things that were going on around us at the time And the things that we were seeing and you know We've experienced and every one of us has probably had one or been one or had something that takes you away from your focus You know anything that you've got on the side can be a side chick, you know, so it's almost more metaphorical. It's in a sense Yeah, absolutely and and love is something that's got two sides. It's just like any coin does so it's got its good side It's got a bad side. We just like to shine a light on the bad side sometimes That's kind of where it comes from interesting interesting and so Brian you're you do a lot of the writing of and kind of mixing Tell me a little of that process. Yeah, so um, you know, my influences come from groups like datpunk chromio The high-energy groups and I've always want to have that electronic vibe to it. So it's been fun to experiment You know the two Taylor fit music to a lyric is difficult because we're always trying to find what mood are we trying to portray sonically and So we've gone through so many different versions of songs in the past where I say we put something out there For us to rehearse. I'm gonna say I just not working. We're not really trying projecting the exact Feeling we're trying to have our audience get out of it. And so it's a lot of trial and error I mean what I like about music. It's the opportunity to create doesn't have to be right every single time It's good to have colleagues week to work with say, you know, I like it I don't think of this think of that we work with each other. We bounce ideas off each other So the biggest thing for me is just trying to find the right timbre or color You're trying to get out of the emotion when it comes to words Is there a website to look you guys up social media to find you guys? Yeah, we're available on Facebook Instagram currently building a website as we speak it should be available in the next couple weeks But we're available in YouTube. We have some promo videos and other fun things to find on there Is there a place where we can see you guys next? Where would that be at? Absolutely champion sports bar in Biddeford December 4th 8 p.m. We're gonna be opening up for signal to noise So that promises to be a really really good time. We'd love to see as many people out there as we can Champions December 4th 8 p.m. Biddeford and that's our show. Thank you guys very much. We'll see you later. Take care