I am an avid genealogist. The past is very important to me. I spend a lot of time in cemeteries photographing tombstones to upload on website the FindAGrave.
I enjoy recognizing long dead people by putting memorials to them online. However, every once and a while something grabs me about a specific grave. It could be the name, or the dates or a ceramic photo. In those cases, I feel compelled to dig a little deeper. That's what this series of blogs is about: The tales behind those graves. Some of my subjects will be heroes. Some will be villains. Some will be victims. And some will linger in between, like most of us. However, don't be surprised if the tales are inherently tragic. These are grave tales. They all end in death.
-----
Walls Fail To Hold Leaping Tony Brown
By Bob Ibach
The phone rang and Tony Brown's lazy voice was barely audible across the wires. "Hey man, you just caught me gettin' outta bed. Coach had us runnin' all afternoon at practice." For Dunbar's talented 6-2 senior forward, life has been one chase after another and Brown is usually the one being chased. As a pre-teen, he led the neighborhood kids who ran through the local building projects at night. "Scaling those walls, that's where I got my jumping skills."
Recruiters Chasing
This spring, it will be the college recruiters turn to chase the Poets' leading scorer, averaging around 23 points a game for the Sunpapers No. 1 ranked (6-0) team. But for the present, he content to run circles around MSA opponents.
For his 187 pounds, mostly muscle, Brown is best along the baseline area, whether popping a 10-15 jumper, a follow-up shot or a twisting layup. He's virtually unstoppable underneath.
Brown, who recently turned 19, was brought along on the blacktops of Madison Square recreation center as a youth along with Barry Scroggins, Nate Barnett and Rodney Floyd. But it wasn't he was 12, quite late by today's standards, that he became interested in basketball.
Big Boys Played B-Ball
"I was playing softball one day and saw the big boys playing basketball," Brown, who once scored 75 points in a 15-and-under league summer game, remembers, "I never really played the game myself. The ball bounced over in my direction. I picked it up, shot it and it went in."
MSA foes wish he hadn't started. Even without Brown, Dunbar would be hard to stop. With Tony, well, forget it.
A Famous Cousin
Brown credits much of his early enthusiasm and roundball education to a former Dunbar graduate Charley Moore. "We used to go down to the gym in the evenings . . . Charley could jump to the moon. He played me tough one on one, sorta taught me what the game was all about."
Brown is the first cousin of Harvard star James Brown, a former DeMatha high great. "I didn't even know it until we played Fairmount Heights over in Washington three years ago."
"Kareem," as he's called by his teammates after his pro idol, Tony spends his summers working at Project Camp Concern in Bainbridge, instructing youngsters. "I figured I got help when I was young, now it's my turn to help someone else." He hopes to attend a basketball camp this summer to tune up his talents for college.
And where will college be for Mr. T? "I hope down at Lefty's place," says Brown, with a 78 (classroom) average in his favor. Maryland has shown quite an interest in Brown and with Driesell state-talent conscious, perhaps his wish will come true.
While awaiting upcoming showdowns with Northern and City, Brown remains Dunbar's unofficial ambassador with the school's front office.
"I have a lot of contacts here. The principal knows it and anytime there's a problem he comes to me. Is there a drug problem at Dunbar? Believe, me, there isn't. People assume there is because of the school's location." The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 23 February 1972:
16-0 Record on the Road
-----
Dunbar Quint Makes History
By Bob Ibach
History was made yesterday among 125 lonely witnesses at City College. Yet years from now that crowd figure will swell, and with it tales of Dunbar's quint of traveling gypsies.
16 Wins--On The Road
"I don't think any high school team in our area ever won 16 road games. Perhaps you'll never see anything like it again."
A eulogy well stated. Dunbar may very well have closed one segment of the record book classified "Unbeatens." Yesterday the Poets' road show came to a successful halt, 16 games--all played on foreign sites.
"I'm just glad it's over," sighed Dunbar coach Sugar Cain, drained of almost all emotion as he sat by a now silent court, reviewing the last three months.
Just Another Title
"Back in December we never dreamed about finished 16-0. Winning 16 games is a tough job alone, but all of 'em on the road? That sounded a bit out of reach."
Yet Cain was not over ecstatic in praise. He's had six MSA champions counting this edition and some undefeated quints along the way, the last in 1964-1965. "I'd say the 1955-1957 team was a bit better. Maybe the 1958-1959 and 1959-1960 teams too."
For a while yesterday, it seemed the Black Knights would break the string. Jethro Crum and Jim Shannon authored a first half 38-37 lead before Cain cracked the whip.
"(James) Owens had trouble penetrating and we were just throwing the ball away in the first half," said Cain the dean of MSA coaches. "How can you win when you give the other team 25 chances?"
Tony Brown and Larry Gibson didn't give City many in the final 18 minutes. Brown, who scored a game-high 28 in his prep finale, popped home two buckets and Gibson another to project a five point Poet lead in the opening minutes of the third period. Freshman Gibson holed 10 of his 16 points in the quarter, ending with Dunbar four points ahead.
"That's when it happened," Parker moaned. "I must have died 1,000 deaths. We've had one bad quarter every game and it happened again. Dunbar was able to take advantage of our mistakes."
Suddenly--Laughter
With Brown, Gibson, Billy Snowden and Skip Wise all taking turns, Dunbar ran a 23-point string and suddenly a close game was a laughter. Ironically, it was a near carbon-copy of the first meeting won by Dunbar 83-64.
Snowden and Wise added 18 and 10 points for the winners, Crum (16) Lyles (17) and Shannon (16) pacing the Collegians.
Dunbar basketball will once again return home. And that's bad news.
"Sometimes you get the idea that they're just toying with you," said Parker. "I wonder how bad they'd beat you if they played 32 minutes of solid basketball. And now they'll be back home. Wow!"
The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland). 28 March 1972:
CAGE STAR TONY BROWN STABBED TO DEATH
Tony Brown, a 19-year-old Dunbar High School basketball star reputed to be the city's top player this year, was stabbed to death early today in a southeast Baltimore apartment. Police later today charger Marjorie Jefferson, a 22-year-old telephone operator, of the 200 block Roberts street, with the murder, the 76th in the city in 1972. The homicide occurred in her apartment.
Police said the Brown youth was stabbed once in the chest at 4:57 A.M. after he and Miss Jefferson had had an argument. Police and Miss Jefferson's mother described the two young people as "just friends."
Homicide squad investigators recovered a butcher knife from the kitchen sink of the apartment.
The Brown youth had spent the night at the woman's apartment watching television, police said. They also said that no drugs or alcohol were found at the scene.The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 17 April 1972:
LATE TONY BROWN GETS ALL AMERICAN HONOR
By Bill Free
When Tony Brown poured in 28 points in the leading Dunbar to a 79-to-64 season-ending victory over rival City, Poet coach Sugar Cain proudly called him "Our Number 1 Mr. Prep All-American." Yesterday, Coach and Athlete magazine confirmed Cain's predictions by named the late Poet star to its 1971-1972 High School All America team.
Brown, the driving force behind Dunbar's 16-0 record and top rating in the Sunpapers poll, was tabbed as one of the "Top 100" senior basketball players in the country.Since there was no evidence of deliberation on the part of Margie L. Jefferson, the prosecution did not pursue first degree murder charges against her. During the trial, she claimed Tony attempted to rape her and she acted in self-defense. The prosecution argued that no attempted rape occurred. They attempted to prove instead that the two had argued and that she stabbed Tony as he attempted to leave the apartment. On 20 September 1972, Miss Jefferson was convicted of manslaughter with the possibility of a ten year prison sentence. A month later on 20 October 1972, she was given a five-year suspended sentence, and placed on probation for four years. Judge William J. O'Donnell said incarceration would serve no purpose. The fact that she retained her job during the trial proved she did not need to be rehabilitated, and that sending her to jail would not deter other murderers....
I hate to editorialize, but the jury obviously did not believe the attempted rape story. If they believed she acted in self-defense, they would have found her not guilty. But then the judge essentially decides to let her go?.... I don't get it.
Tony has not been forgotten. For years, only a simple cross stood over his grave in Mount Auburn Cemetery. In June 2015, over forty years after his death, some of his old friends and teammates raised money to place a stone monument on his grave.
Sadly, the caretakers of Mount Auburn cemetery haven't made a similar commitment. Although his grave itself is relatively clear of debris, I had to walk through chest-high grass and weeds in order to find it. But it was worth the trip.
Remember, there is a story behind every grave. You never know what you're missing when you walk past one....
Grave Tales:
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Chapel Street is the tale of a young man battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting.
Learn more about the book, click
Here.
Listen to me read some chapters here:
Read about the true haunting that inspired the novel here:
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 1, An IntroductionThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 2, The HouseThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 3, This Is UsThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 4, ArrivalThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 5, MethodologyThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 6, Clara's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 7, Clara's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 8, My Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 9, My Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 10, My Tale, Pt. 3The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 11, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 12, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 13, John's Tale, Pt. 1 The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 14, John's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 15, Come Inside!The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 16, Marion's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 17, Marion's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 18, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 19, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 20, Lisa's TaleThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 21, Recap, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 22, Recap, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 23, Recap, Pt. 3
Let's stay in touch:
No comments:
Post a Comment