Various personal items and from my long journalism career.

 


My birth certificate from St. Peter's General Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey and my first shoes bronzed.


My mom, dad, and together my dad, my aunt and my grandfather. And below my father and grandfather members of the Perth Amboy,  New Jersey Greek Society and an article about my folks in the Rutgers University magazine.


At the age of eight, I participated in the production of The Magic Whistle, a dance revue in three acts, performed on June 16, 1959 at the Rivoli Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey by the Christie Brown School of Dancing. I was listed at Louis Economos and I sang with the group in Act 1, Scene 1 the song You Gotta Have Rain.


From 1960 to 1965 my parents owned Helen's Snack Bar near the train station on Smith Street in Perth Amboy, New Jersey where I worked mostly on weekends.

One of the first jobs I had was working for Great Eastern department store in New Brunswick, New Jersey in the summer of 1967.  I had a hot dog cart outside the store. Great Eastern was owned by N.B. Food Services Inc. of Island Park, New York.

In the summer of 1968 I worked at the Bond Clothing Stores factory in New Brunswick, New Jersey which was a men's clothing manufacturing company and retailer. The company catered to the middle-class consumer. My job was to make sure the ladies who sewed had material to work with.

I also worked for the United Motors Service Division, General Motors Corporation (Detroit, Michigan), warehouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey in the summer of 1969. My job was to stock car parts.



Items from New Brunswick New Jersey Junior High School, 1964-1966.


Items from New Brunswick (New Jersey) High School, 1966-1969.


I attended a concert of The Who at the Fillmore East in New York City on October 2, 1969 with members of my class Writing from Experience at Livingston College (Rutgers University). The British rock group performed their rock opera Tommy.


One of the best concerts I ever attended was this one at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City on October 14, 1974 featuring Greek composer-conductor Yannis Markopoulos and a number of popular Greek singers and musicians.


In 1975 I was the Publicity Chairman of the St. George Greek Orthodox Church of Piscataway, New Jersey annual Greek festival. I was an active member of St. George from my birth until I left for Greece in 1978, serving at times as an altar boy with Father Anthony N. Pappas and also being a member of the church's Boy Scouts unit, Troop 32.


On the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on July 20, 1975 covering the Greek-American demonstration against U.S. military support for Turkey for The Voice of Greece (WRSU-FM), The National Herald and the Hellenic Times. Photo appeared in Time magazine, The National Herald and the Hellenic Times.


On my way to a soccer match in Philadelphia on April 1, 1978, I stopped for gas and here's what The Philadelphia Inquirer reporter wrote about that occasion without me knowing about a service station strike.




From 1979 until today I have been a member of the Foreign Press Association of Greece (FPA), first as an associate member, then as an active member and finally as an honorary member. From 1993 to 1998 I was a member of the Audit Committee of the association.

The Foreign Press Association of Greece was founded in 1916 and is the only officially recognized organization for foreign media representatives in Greece. The main goal of this non-profit association is to promote the professional duties of its members.

The total number of the association’s members is approximately 200. These include 120 Active Members, who are foreign correspondents representing 100 foreign media from 30 countries.
The rest are Associate Members, namely, employees of the Diplomatic Corps, Press Attaches, Communications and Public Relations consultants or other prominent people of Greek public life interested in keeping up with FPA’s progress and events. In addition, the FPA hosts a number of Honorary Members, who are retired correspondents.


Because of the air pollution problem in the center of Athens, the Greek government decided to restrict the circulation of cars downtown, but allowed journalists to circulate with special permits, as seen below.


Various press cards obtained in Greece throughout the years.