Stories
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Struggling with the United Nations
The Culture of Peace News Network continued
After splitting from Lindsay and leaving Short Beach in 2009, I found an apartment in New Haven on Lyon Street. The apartment had just been renovated by Jerry Smart, the friend of Penny Rogers, with whom I had been working on neighborhood organizing in New Haven.
From windows on one side of the apartment I had a view of downtown New Haven, only three blocks away. Here is a view painted by Kiki on one of her frequent visits with me during those years. Being only a short walk from downtown, these were years that I spent much of my time on the New Haven Greens: the central green with its three churches, fountain, and summertime concerts; and the Wooster Green that I often circled running barefoot, and where we went each Sunday for the farmer's market. Or I would simply go downtown for an espresso coffee at the Starbucks. |
The backdoor of the apartment opened on a second-floor balcony overlooking a small backyard shaded by a giant, centuries-old elm tree that was an ecological niche for many animals, including some who came to visit us. Our favorite was the squirrel that Armand named Bob on one of his visits. He often came to beg some food from Kiki and me when we had our little picnic on the balcony. Another visit one night was an oppossum. The tree was the niche for many other animals. For many hours one spring day two raccoons made love in the crotch of the tree. Another time a sparrow hawk tried to rest in the upper branches but was harassed by all the squirrels of the neighborhood who gathered around him chattering. |
Kiki and I hosted many memorable dinner parties at the Lyon Street apartment. There were the dinners with Penny and Jerry with many a funny moment. With Craig Gauthier, my friend from the Black Panthers and the Communist Party, with my oldest friend, Laura Manuelidis, including once when we had a falling out over her certainty that war is genetically programmed.
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Stages
1986-1992
Fall of Soviet Empire
1992-1997
UNESCO Culture of Peace Programme