Valley Political People

Caught in the arena.

Continuing to rummage through the vaults, here is a small sampling of people in politics I've photographed over the years. I guess the highest ranking politician I ever photographed was then President Bill Clinton when he spoke in front of Springfield City Hall in November of 1996. Although the local media exaggerated the turnout, there was indeed a good crowd on what was a cold night. Thanks to the Walsh family I got right up front, close enough that if I wanted I could've bounced the rubber ball in my pocket off the presidential seal. I doubt the secret service would have liked that though, and I wisely took this photo instead. 

Dropping considerably in both stature and size, here is a picture I took of little Dennis Kucinich, the perennial peace candidate for president who appeared at UMass in 2004. I got too close to the Congressman and my flash startled him, resulting in this unflattering shot. 

I took this picture in Springfield in 1994 when Mitt Romney was running for the U.S. Senate against Teddy Kennedy.

Here I am with former Lt. Governor Kerry Healey at the Calvin Coolidge Banquet in Agawam in 2005.

Former UMass President Billy Bulger was a fountain of Irish charm when I took this picture of him in Chicopee in 2001. However charming he may be, nothing can forgive the terrible crimes he and his brother Whitey committed against the citizens of Massachusetts.

Sheriff Michael Ashe and Congressman Richard Neal at Charlie Ryan's 2004 inaugural. 

The late politician and educator Leonard Collamore (left) at the same inauguration. Who is that with him?

Also present that day was retired Bishop Joseph Maguire and WHYN radio personality Charlie Spencer.

Insurance guru, now School Committeeman Chris Collins (right) poses for me in the Mayor's office while Charlie Ryan and Wayman Lee chat in the background.

Chris' brother school union leader Timothy sits in the hallway of City Hall in this photo taken the morning after the murder of Ryan's aide Steven Pegram. Everything at City Hall was cancelled in the wake of the tragedy, but Collins, unaware of the murder, had unwittingly emailed teachers the night before urging them to come to City Hall for a meeting. He was waiting just case anyone showed up because they didn't hear in time that everything was cancelled. 

Here's Peter Sygnatore and Michelle Webber. Sygnatore is one of the most praised Commissioners in the city, but Webber, Ryan's Chief of Staff, was ousted soon after this photo was taken because of never substantiated allegations of racial insensitivity.

That Sygnatore really gets around! Here he is partying at the Aquarius with Springfield reformer Karen Powell.

One day I was walking down Main Street in Springfield and came upon the legendary Tony Ravosa, all done up in his military regalia, talking with his mailman.

For years Ravosa used to sit in his office on Court Square, whose front window was reflective so that he could look out but passeryby could see only themselves. None the less, the homeless were aware of his presence and called him "the man behind the mirror." Here is Ravosa's white car parked in front of his office. 

Well there's plenty more pictures where those came from, and as I sort through them I  will show you  the good ones.

This looks like a fun store to visit in downtown Amherst.

A cigar sign in the window of this antique shop in Northampton reminds me of an album cover by the Jefferson Airplane.

It was made to look like a cigar box. The album was called Long John Silver. 

 



Inside was a photograph of Jefferson Airplane cigars. No one believed that the cigars, if real, had tobacco in them.