Al Sforza's Page...
...History as a personal experience
below: Al Sforza, from the '57 yearbook (yes, we'll put up a better copy when we get one)--many of us knew him.
right: Al with his wife Barbara in a recent photo--Barbara is the former Barbara Albin ('58). Al and Barbara are lifelong residents of Huntington
Dr. Alfred V. Sforza
During a recent trip to Huntington, I had an opportunity to meet with Al, in what was one of the warmest and at the same time most informative discussions I've had in a long time...with a successful dentistry practice (on West Neck Ave just north of Main) and an academic involvement as well, not to mention his activities on the Board of The Huntington Historical Society, one wonders where he's gotten the time to research and write his books...
And these are very solid works of history, well researched and entertainingly presented...but just as importantly they are written with a humanity and a passion for the town and its people that is truly pleasurable to read and very nostalgic ...this man is on a mission, and into Huntington like milk in coffee...
Since I think a number of you might be interested in these books (one not shown here is on the Bella Hess estate), we elected to put up the two brochures shown below...and an order form follows should you be interested..
I am informed that one of our classmates bought five copies of one of them for various members of her family...Jack
Order Form
You don't really need the form, of course...just write Al at the address shown...
Note
Since there is no business relationship between this website and Dr. Sforza,
please don't e-mail the site
for orders...
... and a wonderful recollection of "Fred the Shoemaker"
...happened to recall a recent
e-mail from Judi Lopman Miranda following a most pleasant phone conversation
in January regarding her submission of current photos for the bio section...and
as is usually the case when I (and I'm sure you all) talk with classmates,
the conversation extended well
into the past and the world of memories...here's a subsequent e-mail from
Judi:
Hello
Jack,
Just a quick note to tell you how much I enjoyed our conversation the other
evening. It tweaked my memory into searching for a book that I knew I had
somewhere in the house, written by Al Sforza (DDS). Do you remember Freddie
the shoemaker
in Huntington Station? .......when there still was a Hunt. Sta.........Freddie
never had a proper surname, it was always "the shoemaker." Freddie
was an amazing man....you could take a pair of shoes into him for repair,
and he had his own marking system placed on the shoe sole (pre magic markers)
with
a black crayon... and you never got a receipt. He would toss them on a long
shelf that ran the length of his shop with 900 other pairs of shoes, thusly
identified. But when you returned to retrieve them, he would grab the correct
pair of shoes as you entered his shop. You never needed to mention your name
as he
knew who
you were. He is a fantastic gentleman. Al Sforza, the author of "Portrait
of a Small Town" about H.S. is his son. In his book he has a picture
of Toaz taken in 1939 while it was under construction. The train wreck at
Pulaski
Road....do you remember that? I have to look as I think I might have pictures
of that. But in any case there are also remembrances by Florence Bowes, Leon
Gimpel,and Beatrice Teich (wife of the late Dr. Teich)....among others. I
will bring it with me to the reunion, or if you wish I will mail it off to
you if
you wish to read it before then. It's a quick but great read. I'm also going
to check with my brother-- he's a class of '50 grad-- to see if he has any
old pictures he can loan us. Talk to you again. Take care, stay healthy.
Fondly,
Judi
...and Fred, well into his eighties, is still plying his trade as actively as ever, but now on NY Ave just north of Main--if we can get a photo, it'll be here!
