Wednesday, June 18, 2014

In his own words: Grandpa Elmer Gorry reflects

Elmer Gorry reflects on his career/life before working at NBC in the Fall-Winter 1998 Peacock North newsletter.
My dad recently showed me this page from an old NBC magazine, in which my grandfather, Elmer Gorry, reflects on his days before working for the television network. He talks about his days working as a longshoreman in Brooklyn in the late 1940s-early 1950s (think the classic movie "On the Waterfront") and delivering baked goods to homes in Queens in the early 1950s. I knew about his working as a longshoreman but it was so cool to "hear" about it in his own words. These are the kinds of stories - the stories about life in general in a particular time period and place and about life in particular for individual members of our families - that really round out our genealogy research and make it come alive. These are the stories we try to get when we interview family members, glimpses into their lives, the stories that become part of our families' oral tradition. My grandfather, who passed away 8 years ago, was always very funny and had a sharp wit, and it was nice to "hear" his voice again in reading this vignette.

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