TUMULTUOUS AFFAIRS
Uncertain Politics and Unlikely Romance
during a Turbulent Time, 1964 - 1975
Caldwell knows his Massachusetts politics and politicians. He’s covered them for broadcast and print outlets for more than half a century. His book’s central figure, TV newsman Buzz Buckley, has to cope not only with the competition but also with the moral myopia of a station owner aligned with the city’s big shots and the distractions of a rollicking, Rabelaisian romance with an old high school sweetheart and a growing fondness for his politically ambitious city councilor daughter-in-law.
Among the fictionalized versions of things that really happened: a news director called on the carpet during the height of the civil rights movement because the percentage of “black news” stories he was covering was out of proportion to the number of African-Americans in his TV station’s coverage area; “we can't consider adding minorities to our news department because it might offend our advertisers”; “they’re calling us ‘the nigger station’ because we’re broadcasting so many stories about civil rights and the black community.”
ROMANCE AND HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Walking down the aisle of the airplane flying him to San Francisco to cover the Republican National Convention, Buzz feels a tug on his sleeve. He looks down into a vaguely familiar face. It belongs to Marsha Antonelli, whom he hasn't seen in more than 20 years. In San Francisco, Buzz gets caught up in the excitement of the convention. He and Marsha see little of each other until they end up in the same dinner party on the convention’s final night.
Buzz’s tumultuous affair with Marsha survives geographic separation, political differences, Buzz’s bouts with his conscience, and even the unanticipated early arrival home of Marsha's philandering husband. When it unexpectedly founders, Buzz is increasingly drawn in a very unfather-in-law-like way to daughter-in-law Judy Ferguson.
THE LOCAL POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT: As colorful a bunch of characters as you'd expect to find in a multi-ethnic New England city: the mayor, Big Jim McCann, the man who broke the Republican monopoly on City Hall right after the war; City Councilor Rowdy Hennessy, the mayor’s boyhood chum; Domenico DiTotola, alias Mr. DDT, “real poison” in the mayor’s opinion; the council president, Max Feigenson, for whom bigger responsibiliites lie ahead; the belle of the council, Judy Ferguson; wealthy industrialist M.B. (Money Bags) Jardine; his spokesman on the City Council, Silent Joe DeRosier; the voice of conservatism on the School Committee, Lucille Cournoyer; and the voice of conservatism in the business community, Myra Heywood.
THE CIVIL RIGHTS ESTABLISHMENT: The NAACP president, the Rev. Dr. James Shoemaker; the husband/wife militants, Bobby and Lenora Clark; and Urban League director Jim Foster.
BUZZ’S COLLEAGUES AT BAKER BROADCASTING: Station owner H.B. Baker; veteran anchorman Jerry Finnerty; the boss’s secretary, Linda Kokoski; the cigar-chomping sales manager, Hy Golden; and the market’s first African-American reporter, Whitney Garland.
RACIAL TENSIONS: Like many Northern cities, Riverbridge in the postwar years has a growing African-American population. Newsman Buzz is right in the middle of covering the issues that arise, especially the questions about the city and its schools.
“TUMULTUOUS AFFAIRS”
Dr. John E. Deady, Freeport, Maine; former superintendent of Springfield, Mass., schools: “As Mary Ann (Mrs. Deady) said, she hasn't seen me enjoy a book so completely in years. . .you have combined the history of the era as it pertained to the local, state, and federal levels with great accuracy.”
Mary Turley, Jamestown, R.I.; former television colleague: “What fun, Durham! It is a most appealing read . . . especially the ‘behind the scenes’ parts in the newsroom at the station. Those parts, especially, were outstandingly real to me. And I liked your people.”
Barbara Bernard, Holyoke, Mass.; former television colleague: “It's a very interesting book. I had great difficulty trying to remember that except for names like Mossie Donohue, the Kennedys, John Volpe, etc., everybody else was ‘fiction’ — except I was so sure I could put a few people I know into some of your characters.”
Margaret Dietz, Akron, Ohio; former newspaper wire service editor: “What a treasure!!!!! I picked up your book yesterday while waiting for election results and found myself mesmerized—you will agree the timing was right! I remember lots of it—never knew some and have forgotten lots—and loved the part about getting the news off the wire.”
Maggie Cassidy, Falmouth, Mass.; retired social worker: “Just don't want to put your book down. . .Hate interruptions.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE COVER ILLUSTRATOR
You may order “Tumultuous Affairs” through
www.amazon.com. Or, if you want a signed copy,
postpaid in the U.S., send check for $14.95 to Durham Caldwell,
15 Ashland Ave., Springfield, MA 01119-2701. Massachusetts
residents add 93 cents for sales tax. Specify any special instructions for signing.
Massachusetts shoppers will also find “Tumultuous Affairs” on
the shelves at these
bookstores: Pam’s Paperbacks, Wilbraham; The Odyssey, South Hadley; Borders, Holyoke Mall; Holyoke Medical Center Gift Shop; Broadside Books, Northampton; Eight Cousins, Falmouth; and Red Brick Books, the AIC Bookstore, the Springfield College Bookstore, and the Baystate Medical Center Gift Shop, all in Springfield.
Note: Along with lots of history, romance, and humor, “Tumultuous Affairs” also contains adult situations and some coarse language.