A reference question

Received a call from a Newsday reporter, Carol Polsky, doing research on Harvey Milk. There's a new movie out about him, aptly named Milk. He went to school in Woodmere, or perhaps was from Woodmere (yes, he was; Google searches, including looking in Randy Shilts's book, The Mayor of Castro Street, confirms that), though he graduated from high school in Bay Shore.

I looked at the Hewlett High School yearbooks from 1946, 1947 and 1948, at the reporter's request, to see if I could find any mention of Milk. I did not. All I did find was the name of Mrs. William Milk in 1947's book.

Interesting request. I told her she should get a look at some of the faces in the yearbooks, but she said she was under deadline.

A Library encounter

This is the manna of librarianship. A man came in and told me he would "like to donate to the library a copy of the book I just wrote." It's entitled "Revolutionary War - Battle of Brooklyn: The Battle of Long Island". I asked him to sign it, and, in a shaky hand, he did: Sam W. Galowitz. It is 202 pages, including maps, appendices, and tables. It pains me, a trained indexer, to say that it has no index.

He was back in a couple of minutes to tell me he is currently working on a book about Richard Hewlett. A Tory sympathizer and gun-runner, he was one of the men most wanted for capture (he was to be given no quarter, Mr. Galowitz told me) by the Revolutionary forces. Yes, his family lived in this area which is now Hewlett. One of his descendants has the local high school named after him, G.W. Hewlett. We agreed it would be rich irony if the GW stands for George Washington, as is, of course possible, given his ancestors political sympathies.

I asked him if he knew of the American Revolution Round Table; he did not. I told him it meets at the Williams Club, once every other month. He knew of the Williams Club, and recognized the name Tom Fleming.

We talked a bit about Hewlett, just two history buffs chatting. What fun.